Entertaining Children
As a parent with two small kids, entertaining children at social gatherings is one of my top priorities. Being able to go to a wedding, or any party really, without worrying about my children getting bored is the greatest gift anyone can give me. Here are ten simple and inexpensive ideas to keeping your littlest guests entertained so your bigger guests can relax.
Building
Kids love to build, regardless of age or gender. It’s why Lego specify their recommended ages of use up to 99. Set up a table with building blocks and let the kids use their imagination. If you don’t have any yourself, or don’t want to share, you can usually find second-hand boxes of Lego, Duplo and Blox on buy and sell websites and when you’re done, you can sell them on again.
Crafts
This is just like the first one but instead of building blocks you have crafting materials available. Paint, paper, crayons, feathers, glitter, glue, scissors, all things you can get from bargain shops that will keep little people happy during the formal parts of the wedding. Just don’t forget some old shirts to use as overalls for party outfits.
Colour
For an even simpler idea you could just get away with paper and crayons. Or get some colouring books and take the pages out. I wouldn’t be surprised if the grown-up children join in too.
Place mats
You can get large place mats for children which they can colour in while they’re up to the table. This should keep them quiet and happy during the speeches and while they’re waiting for food to be delivered.
Bubbles
At Capesthorne Hall, we have large wide spaces perfect for children to play in. These next few ideas are to help you utilise the gardens. You can get bubble wands for very little money and they guarantee happiness.
Skipping Ropes and Hula Hoops
Again, these are ideal for venues like ours with wide open spaces – Capesthorne Ground and Gardens. You can pick these up from a variety of different shops for next to nothing and the children will use their imaginations to do more than just skip or hula.
Tents
Play tents are a great idea for the lawns at Capesthorne Hall. They’ll provide cover for the children in the heat of the day and give them a space to chill out and play games in.
Board Games
Depending on the age of the children, the board games from charity shops would be a great idea. Nothing too complicated like Monopoly, but easier games like Guess Who or Connect Four or Operation would provide something different to entertain children.
Jigsaws would also fall into this category too, and again charity shops are a great place to source them without breaking the bank.
Fancy Dress
I’m not suggesting full outfits, they’re not necessary, but the accessories would be perfect. Hats, pretend ears, eye patches, shields, masks, maybe even pretend vet or doctor kits. Kids’ imaginations just need a little push to get them fully immersed in play.
These are all simple ideas but we can overlook them because they are so simple. From experience, I can say that hand a child a bubble wand and at least one adult will offer to wave it for them while another helps to pop the bubbles. These ideas are not age exclusive.
Why not follow Capesthorne Hall on Facebook to hear about upcoming wedding fairs and events – https://www.facebook.com/CapesthorneHall/
