We just had four children at our reception, little boys who were all about four years old. Ours was a wintertime, indoor, evening reception so there was nowhere for them to play outside. Although there was an observation deck around the reception room so they did go out there some.

I made them each a bag with a post-it notepad in the shape of their initial, a coloring book, crayons, a matchbox car, ring lollipops (cause it's a wedding... get it!... I don't think they did but it sure amused me), and some cute little plush toys from Ikea. The plush toys were a big hit - polar bears, bats, spiders & frogs.

It made me feel really good to do something for the kids; I think that renting tunnels for them to play in would be really cool. But a budget's a budget, and if it's hard to afford, they'll have a great time no matter what if they have a place to play outside. I have a croquet set and kids LOVE it - it keeps them busy for hours.

Those are great ideas Anita, I love the ring pop idea. The kids will definitely have room to run and play and because it's someone's backyard there is a toy room inside...the only thing about that is that it's unsupervised.

I was trying to think of some kind of sport (or something likethe crouquet) that they could play but one of mine is a budding athlete and is always losing balls (and everything else) because he throws/bats/kicks them farther than he can see.

I had a handful of kids at my reception. Age range from 2 to 12. We had specified an "adult reception", but when there are kids in the wedding party, you gotta include them.
My 4 year old flowergirl and the 9 year old ring bearer spent the entire night on the dance floor! They had a BLAST!
I had put some Pez dispensers at their place settings, but they had so much fun dancing and socializing, they took the pez home, but didn't play with them during the reception.
I think the kids ended up having more fun than the adults.
Penny

When there are a number of young children at an outdoor reception, some of my brides (I'm a wedding coordinator) rent an inflatable jump. The kids love it and it keeps them occupied the entire time without them chasing each other through the reception. I have even had groomsmen take a turn on it with their own children.

Sweet Pea, I had considered doing that as well. Does the couple usually hire someone to supervise or does the rental company usually provide a staff member to supervise the children in it?

The rental companies don't provide staff, at least not in my area. Often, an older child or teen is willing to keep an eye on the children. You can also place the jump in a location where parents can see it from their tables. If you don't have older children or teens who will be attending the wedding, you can usually hire someone fairly inexpensively to supervise.

Another thing that I didn't mention is having a candy toss before the bouquet and garter toss. Most people don't appreciate having 7 or 8 year olds attempting to catch the bouquet or garter. Therefore, if you have a candy toss for the children first, then you can ask the DJ or band leader to announce that only singles of marriagable age (such as over 18) are invited to catch the bouquet or garter. You can purchase individually wrapped hard candies in the bulk foods section of your grocery store for the toss. Also provide sandwich bags or other small bags for the children to collect their goodies.

>You can purchase individually wrapped hard candies in the bulk foods section of your grocery store for the toss. Also provide sandwich bags or other small bags for the children to collect their goodies.>

What a cool idea : ) I would like to add, get those little tiny fun size m&m's, nerds, sweet tarts, etc (the kind you buy at halloween), since I don't think little kids really like hard candy that much

We had 100 guest, 22 of them were children at our outdoor reception. We spent $30 on kites, beach balls (the big hit), and frizbees from Oriental Trading Company. That kept them out of our hair all night long.

We had about 10 kids at our reception a couple of weeks ago. They were all between the ages of 1 and 10. We were going to have a pinata for the kids, a special table for them with PB and J, coloring books, and a couple of other things for them to do but it ended up we ran out of time and didn't do them. I don't think any of the kids got board at the reception....they were all out dancing and just having a good time. They made some really cute pictures. I'm glad we didn't go thru with the PB and J--I think it would have been way too messy!!

I was at a wedding a couple of years ago and they had a sit down full coarse meal for the adults and for the kids, they ordered McD's Happy Meals. It was a really cute idea, the kids loved it. And they all got their own toy to play with.

I stole the idea of making a flowergirl Barbie as well. My FG was 5 and when I gave it to her, her face just lit up. I think after the rechearsal, her mom put it up for her so that she will always be able to remember when she was my FG.

Springbride04

At my wedding 7 1/2 years ago my MIL who was a retired teacher thought we should set up an area just for the kids. It was the hit of the night. We took a far corner of the room and set up a table with paper, washable crayons, matchbox cars and a mat for them that looked like a road. Some little party favor type stuff for them to play with and they were out our hair and having fun. Got lots of compliments from our guests.

We had children at our wedding. We put bowls of candy on the children's table - M&Ms, sour candy, etc. It was pretty, and it helped tie them over before dinner was served. I bought some games - Uno, Memory, card games (Old Maid, Go Fish, etc.), Trouble, and a few other board games. Trouble was perfect because the dice are inclosed and cannot be lost. We didn't bring out the games until after dinner was served. It worked out really well. Many of the parents told us how great it was that we provided candy, child appropriate food, and games. We had children ranging in age from 4 to 13. There were a few babies, but we didn't bring anything for them.