"Activity bags" for children at weddings

[lunne34]

Hi all

Getting married in 2 months and realised we have quite a few kids attending between age 1 - 12 so I want to put together some sort of activity/ fun bag for them to use during the meal maybe. So they're kept entertained during the speeches etc.

The question is .. what should I put in them 🙈
Any ideas? And would a 10-12 yo be interested in one? Would feel mean to leave them out without a bag 🙈

TIA xxxx

Tiny pot of bubble mixture
Little mini notepad and crayons/pencils (not felt tips)
Sheet of stickers
Packet of plainish treats - ritz mini crackers or similar

Older children may well be irritatingly superior about not wanting them but they’ll be far worse if they don’t have one!

A little kit to make a friendship type thread bracelet
Little puzzles - little wooden ones that fit together
I've done a few over the years for family weddings & mostly I went for a wander around places like B&M/Poundland, Tesco party bag aisle & had a nosey at cheap/multi pack party gifts on Amazon

DD is ten and she would be sad if she didn’t get a bag and the other children did - even if she did secretly think she was a bit old for it.

Glow sticks are always ridiculously popular

Some nice things in Baker Ross etc

https://www.bakerross.co.uk/pocket-money-toys/party-bag-fillers?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI173J0oLi9gIVBuztCh1FMwfLEAAYASAAEgLf1DD_BwE

https://kidspartycraftforless.com/products/eraser-cubes?variant=37046971990179&currency=GBP&utmmedium=producttsync&utmsource=google&utmmcontent=sagorganic&utmmcampaign=sagorganic&utmmcampaign=gs-2020-01-02&utmsource=google&utmmmedium=smartcampaign&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI173J0oLi9gIVBuztCh1FMwfLEAQYASABEgLNQvDDBwE

https://kidspartycraftforless.com/products/finger-traps-14cm?variant=36860996255907&currency=GBP&utmmedium=producttsync&utmsource=google&utmmcontent=sagorganic&utmmcampaign=sagorganic&utmmcampaign=gs-2020-01-02&utmsource=google&utmmmedium=smartcampaign&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI173J0oLi9gIVBuztCh1FMwfLEAQYBiABEgLI-vDDBwE

www.kidspartytime.co.uk/party-bag-fillers

https://www.theworks.co.uk/p/sticker-books/555-sticker-fun-dream-wedding/9781784453046.html?CAWELAID=720011340002924300&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5a07ITi9gIVFO3tCh0lBwY7EAQYASABEgKK-PDBwE

We went to a wedding and my dd4 at the time got a wedding sticker book in her activity bag (like this one) which she absolutely loved

There was also a colouring book
Crayons
Bubbles
Sweets

The older kids had puzzle books and disposable cameras to go round and take photos with, and then the venue organised a treasure hunt which went down well xx

Go to tiger and get a range of things. Stuff for younger kids and stuff for older ones.

What a brilliant idea

I got one at 13 I think, I was secretly over the moon.

Wedding word searches/ quizzes/ word or number puzzles etc. Older kids tend to like that kind of thing, I’ve found.

Was at a wedding on Saturday and only 10s and under got one. There were two very bored and unhappy 12 year olds! I think it's a great idea. There are also table games for kids in places like the Works or WHSmiths.

fidget toys would go down well even with older kids and you can probably get a bundle suitable for across the age ranges. stickers for wee ones, maybe a puzzle cube or similar for older ones. nothing messy or noisy (i’d say no to bubbles tbh) and set a budget…

Oh wow thanks so much everyone for your suggestions 🤩 some great ideas!
Will get the bags sorted this week & thank you for advising on getting the older kids a bag too 😄That was exactly my thinking. I wouldn't want to leave them out 😊 xxx

Some air drying clay (doesn’t stick to things) but is nice / sensory
Treasure hunt type wedding quiz with prizes at the venue with staff
Play Mobil or Lego figures
Pencils and plain paper
Marbles and jacks or magic tricks for older ones

I've purchased an assortment of travel games for the kids table. They were reduced in WH Smith

www.whsmith.co.uk/products/hasbro-connect-4-grab-and-go-travel-game/5010994861988.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw0PWRBhDKARIsAPKHFGinMtNdovrqPR_nufJZozoj0y8zMqhXgpDo5WOBnZqXBJnY-hQq23IaAgbGEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

If covid hadn't got in the way we were going to play wedding speech bingo with a prize for table who got all the phrases first

If they're going to be at the evening event stick some glow sticks in there for the dancing/disco bit.

Other things

• cheap disposable cameras. Ask them to leave the camera at the end and collect them up and get them processed, you might get some good action shots of your wedding

• put different things in each bag so they can play them together so pack of playing cards in one bag, top trumps in another, travel connect 4 or guess who in another, a balloon modelling set. You can buy supermarket own brand versions of loads of these kind of things or pick them up from the works for £2-3 each.

• make a personalised wedding activity sheet for them all to do

- find auntie Marge and give her a hug - draw a picture of uncle Bob - how many grandkids are there in the smith family - what colour flowers are on the bouquets - find cousin Jerome and tell him a joke.

Aww, @lunne34, what a lovely, thoughtful person you are. That's so kind. I hope you have a fab day - you deserve it.

My dd is 11...we recently went to a younger child's party and the hosts had assumed my dd was too old to want a party bag. My dd lost the plot over this...so yes, give the older kids bags! I'd include a mini origami kit/friendship bracelet kit

Not bubble mixture! It always get spilt and they’ll be in their smartest outfits.

Glow sticks would be a winner depending of the kids will be around when it’s dark.

My four yr old girly girl would love a wedding sticker book or similar. Colouring only amuses her for a short time. My older boy (7) loves word searches/word puzzle kind of things.

I bought this for an older girl (about 10/11 recently) so maybe something like that? www.crafts4kids.co.uk/kids-party/presents-under-a-5/djeco-scratch-boards-lush-nature?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvpScpYzi9gIV9GDmCh2msA82EAQYAiABEgLQ0fD_BwE Or www.crafts4kids.co.uk/kids-party/kids-presents-under-10/janod-scratch-art-animals-of-the-world?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl86HxIzi9gIVvYBQBh2-xA6mEAQYAiABEgLMVfD_BwE

Can’t think for older boys!

Oh God yes definitely give the older kids one as well. One of DHs young cousins was 12 so we didn't get him one and he just kept asking why he didn't have one all night! The only thing that placated him was when we let him have a go on the casino tables that the young children weren't allowed to play on.

In ours we put bubbles, little colouring book and crayons, a little Teddy bride and groom, a disposable camera and some little bags of sweets

I did a scavenger hunt. We didn't have a formal sit down breakfast, more of a BBQ so was great at getting the kids to mingle and play together.

Bubbles near the dance floor would be a no from me, sorry

These are amazing will keep quiet for a while

I think in theory that bubbles are a good idea, but is there a risk that they might mark guests clothes. I suppose they could be asked to go outside.

We had a mix of ages and around 10 kids.
The older ones had their own stuff to keep them entertained, but I still did them a bag which included bamboozled jelly beans and fidget spinners (this was 5 years ago)

The younger girls (between 5 & 10) got little "pearl" bracelets along with mini colouring books, pack of mini colouring pencils, small pack of stickers.

The babies (3x 6 months) all got mint teething toys.

We also had a table set up with more colouring books, pencils/crayons, stickers, games like connect 4 & jenga and our favours were either chocolate bars or lollipops

Sorry I meant to say, I think it's great that you're having lots of children at your wedding.