Wedding activity wins for kids 3-14?
February 11, 2020 6:50 AM   Subscribe

All the kids were bored to tears at the last family wedding. I would like ours to be slightly less boring for them, so we're putting together activity packs. So far, we have wedding coloring/activity books and crayons for the smallest, sketch books and colored pencils for the older ones (who like to draw), glow stick bracelets and glasses, candy, Jenga, and some plastic maze toys. We have extra space. What else can we stick in there? What would be a hit with your kid?

The venue is one large room (with an outdoor balcony), so activities can't be outdoor-only, messy, or disruptive to adult guests. The room will be dark, so I don't want to get board games with small pieces, but large ones are ok. We can't stick them in a room with a movie.

All-ages-activity-wise, we're having a photo booth and a live band, but the kids didn't dance at all at my cousin's wedding.

We're going to have at least one three-year-old girl, one seven-year-old girl, three twelve-year-olds (two girls, one boy), and a fourteen-year-old girl. Hit me with your best recs?
posted by marfa, texas to Shopping (27 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Pay the 14 year old to be in charge of the 3 and 7 year olds.

Enlist the 12 year olds to help with something - do you have a favor table or something like that they could help with? Could they help with the photo booth? get them some disposable cameras and ask them to take some candid pictures of the guests?
posted by domino at 7:03 AM on February 11, 2020 [7 favorites]


Depending on light levels:
- some paperback graphic novels if they're into them?
- some card games - Uno, Clue the Card game, Spot It (younger)
- board game: sushi go party
posted by Geameade at 7:05 AM on February 11, 2020


Bubbles! (Assuming you don't consider this messy...)
posted by DoubleLune at 7:07 AM on February 11, 2020 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: The kids are not mature enough to be given jobs, so no job recommendations please.
posted by marfa, texas at 7:09 AM on February 11, 2020


A bag of half-ball poppers, like these. Guaranteed kid enjoyment; adult enjoyment may split.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:11 AM on February 11, 2020 [2 favorites]


An instax camera was a big hit at my recent wedding, particularly with my 7-year-old cousin, for whom concepts like a "viewfinder" were novel. It was a fun thing for adults, too, and for both to use together. Not sure if a flash would be considered disruptive.
posted by mosst at 7:11 AM on February 11, 2020 [2 favorites]


with some masking tape/ painters tape you could set up a small hopscotch "board" on the ground which might provide a nice amount of limited/contained physical activity
posted by raccoon409 at 7:14 AM on February 11, 2020


Blank comic book. They can draw/tell the story of the wedding, their own story, or whatever interests them.
posted by amtho at 7:48 AM on February 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


And if you gave them a tiny light to go with it, since the room is dark -- bonus!
posted by amtho at 7:48 AM on February 11, 2020


You can hit the dollar store for small craft kits, for the lighted portion of the evening at least. One that has been very popular with my crew of all ages are scratch-off bookmarks (they are black, you use the stick to scratch patterns), foam sticker kits, and snap together models. While there you could get a few book lights too, and that will help with the light issue.

Jenga is a good pick and probably your best bet for a board game. It really depends on the kids but if they are not used to board games, the chances that they'll play one without someone leading the activity are unfortunately low. Uno is also a good pick for your mixed group. For the 7 year old I'd recommend Connect 4, you can play it in pretty low light, but the question will be a partner. For 12 year olds if you can get them to play a board game playing Clue with a flashlight might work well and the 7 year old can join in.

The 12 and 14 year olds very well may bring their own devices, at least they would here. The three year old probably isn't going to be able to play on her own.
posted by warriorqueen at 7:56 AM on February 11, 2020


Fidget toys are a winner, particularly if its going to be dark and you want something non-disruptive.

Slime/putty has been a consistent favorite for my daughter and friends ages 7-12. This stuff is not messy and comes in cool colors including glow-in-the dark versions. Speks are also a big hit (though not appropriate for the 3 year-old).
posted by googly at 8:07 AM on February 11, 2020


Wreck This Journal for the 12-14s, and maybe this quasi Wreck This Journal for the seven-year-old.
posted by BibiRose at 9:01 AM on February 11, 2020


This is going to sound silly, but hear me out: You get the limo driver to take them for a ride (in the limo) to get fast food. You pick a few adult chaperones, and they all go for a ride around town.
posted by Wild_Eep at 9:14 AM on February 11, 2020 [15 favorites]


Honestly, you just need to occupy the 3 yo and 7 yo. I would hire a person to watch and entertain the younger two. The tweens and teen want to do what the adults do.

For the tweens/teens:
- Nthing Instax
- Add some group dance songs into your music selection (like YMCA, electric slide, etc.)
- Picture scavenger hunt - You could do general ideas ("something blue", "something made of glass", etc.) or be more specific for the venue.
- Rent some Nintendo switches for the night

If they don't want to do any of this stuff, they probably won't do anything. There's nothing wrong with a few bored kids.
posted by jraz at 9:52 AM on February 11, 2020 [6 favorites]


Seconding bubbles. You can get spill-proof containers like this.
posted by BlahLaLa at 9:55 AM on February 11, 2020


my kid loves and will play with Thinking Putty or Silly Putty for ages. It's not too messy and I haven't found it to stick to clothes or anything like that. Also consider maybe some paper craft kits, like to make paper wreaths or garlands or something tangible. Paper Source and Target tend to have these a lot. Or maybe something like a jewelry kit or just beads/string? I think these activities would probably be best for 5+ years.....
posted by cheese at 10:35 AM on February 11, 2020


Really consider if they are the type of kids to do those things, or if you are wasting time, effort, money to get "stuff" that may or may not be appealing.

Or touch base with their adults and see what they might like rather than guessing.
posted by Ftsqg at 10:52 AM on February 11, 2020 [2 favorites]


These wax-coated bendable Wiki Sticks were a hit with my kids when they were little. I always had some in my purse to pull out as a distraction. I kinda liked playing with them too. They're kind of like pipe cleaners but shorter and since there is no wire they're not poke-y.
posted by selfmedicating at 11:25 AM on February 11, 2020


We put PlayDough in ours, big hit.
posted by chainsofreedom at 12:24 PM on February 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


When I was in high school, friends of the family I babysat hired me and another friend to man the kids table at a wedding. I think we just kept all the crafts and games organized. Might be a good idea for this? Then the parents can relax a bit.
posted by radioamy at 1:39 PM on February 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


Uno.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 1:45 PM on February 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


Unpoppable bubbles, glow in the dark balloons, glow sticks, glow tape for hop scotch and roads (give little toy cars to drive around).
posted by jrobin276 at 2:06 PM on February 11, 2020


Do you want them to interact with other guests, or just kind of be doing something in their own space? If you can dig the former and it's a casual vibe with the kind of adults who actually enjoy being diverted by kids, you could give them a pre-made scavenger hunt of imaginative things they have to get from the guests involving the bride and groom: a memory, a story, a wish, a joke. Provide cool little notebooks and sparkly pens for them to write or draw the answers they scavenge. Be sure to tell the 3 year old (who presumably can follow one of the older kids around to join in): Wow your picture looks EXACTLY like Grandma telling the joke!
posted by nantucket at 3:15 PM on February 11, 2020 [2 favorites]


Florescent highlighters to draw on themselves with, plus mini black lights. Ta-da! Or purpose-made UV-reactive face paints like this.
posted by cocoagirl at 4:15 PM on February 11, 2020


Rubik's cubes and variations! I have an 11 year old, and the puzzles are popular at his school right now.
posted by banjonaut at 6:29 PM on February 11, 2020


As someone who attended many weddings as a kid, the very best ones had something memorable that kids just happened to like as well (as opposed to: you’re a kid, you must like this thing). Things I remember: carriage ride, hot chocolate bar, soda fountain bar, kids allowed to make DJ song requests. You said no jobs, but I’ll also just mention that I loooved being asked to help with low-stakes stuff like the guest book or gift table. It meant I got a corsage, another kid or two to hang out with, and a feeling of importance.

The biggest thing though, I think, is to connect the kids in some way, arranging things so they can have fun together. Weddings are so communal - they are fun because of who you’re with, not because the chicken was awesome. Is it possible for the older kids to sit together at a special table? That would give you a lot flexibility around games/activities. Whatever you end up doing, it’s so thoughtful for you to think of the young ones ... that in and of itself will go a long way.
posted by WaspEnterprises at 6:54 PM on February 11, 2020 [1 favorite]


Is setting up a video game system somewhere possible?
posted by zizzle at 5:11 AM on February 12, 2020


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