One of my biggest pet peeves is attending a party or wedding and seeing all of the adults having a great time celebrating while the kids are bored, tired and cranky…but what about the kids?
When my kids were younger, I would often pack and “activity bag” for them when heading to a celebration. Hubby and I would keep them in the car, and if the host had kid activities they would remain there, if not, a trip to the car to retrieve them was in order. My “activity bag” grew a bit as my little “social butterflies” often met friends at the events and they wanted to share. (Yay kiddos!)
Are you hosting an event and want ensure the your “little guest” are entertained also? Here are a few ideas and tips to help you host your event with kid friendly activities in mind.
Designate An Area Just For Kids
One way to make kids feel special at your event is to have an area especially for them. This can be as simple as a table set up with activities that they can choose and take back to their main seating or setting up smaller tables with kid sized chairs, bean bags or plush pillows that they can longe on while creating. Another option, if your venue allows, is setting up a “Kids Zone” in a separate room with books, craft activities, video games or movies (especially popular with older kids).
Provide Activities
Add age appropriate activities to your kids area. (A trip to my local dollar store comes in handy here.) Activity and coloring books, dress up items like necklaces and bracelets, cards games and board games (for older kids), bubbles, lego blocks and easy crafts are great additions to your kids area. I often use disposable table covers or butcher block paper along with washable crayons and markers to avoid ruining the kids adorable clothing.
Glow in the dark necklaces, bracelets and sticks are also a hit for “Kids Only” time on the dance floor. Let the DJ know ahead of time that you would like some kid friendly songs added to the playlist.
Add Kid – Friendly Snacks
Candy, Popcorn, crackers, cookies, and fruit snacks along with boxed drinks are some of my “go to” items for kids activity areas. Also offering pre-filled goody bags with age appropriate snacks add mobility to kids returning to banquet seating. The idea here is to keep snacks simple; I tend to avoid foods like cupcakes with frosting at my Kid Activity areas; to avoid the area getting sloppy and sticky.
Implementing some of these ideas will not only make your event enjoyable for parents, your little guest will have a blast also! For more ideas on adding kid friendly activities to your next event check out Pinterest.
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