My brother is getting married at the end of the summer and I'm in charge of the kids room. There are a lot of kids! Here's the count: 5 one year olds, 2 twos, 2 threes, 1 six, 3 eights, 2 nines, 1 ten, 1 eleven, 2 twelves, and 8 between 13-18 years old. I wasn't kidding when I said a lot of kids!
The wedding is at my parents house and I've got a nice big room with attached bath to work with. The wedding is outdoors. The room I have is up a few (maybe 6?) stairs right off the main outdoor area. It has a medium size deck. It will be HOT outside and this room is air conditioned.
I live out of state so I'll only have a week in town to prepare this stuff. I'm flying so I can't take much with me. My parents are currently visiting and are driving home so I can send some stuff with them.
Here's what I'm thinking... Put a (walk through) baby gate at the top of the stairs to contain the kids on the deck and in the room in question. I'll have 3 areas within the room.
Area #1 - Teens. There's already a couch in the room. I'll move a TV in there and set up a Wii. The teens can escape there if they want to.
Area #2 - Kids. All 9 of the 8-12 year olds are girls so I think I'll set up a craft area. I'm not exactly sure with what but I'll hit up Michael's and/or JoAnn's and pick up some stuff. I'm thinking along the lines of friendship bracelets and apron painting. Maybe coloring books? Do kids that age like coloring? I'll have a couple of comfy chairs and a table for the crafts. This will be right next to the teen area.
Area #3 - Toddlers. I think I want to separate the toddlers and the older kids so the toddlers aren't jumping on the teens or getting into the craft stuff which will likely have small pieces and paint. I already have this wooden playpen (it has an easy to maneuver walk through door). The way the room is set up I should be able to block off a big portion by attaching the playpen to 2 parallel walls (not in a circle but as sort of a fence between 2 walls - similar to the second pic in the Amazon link). I might need to buy the extender but I don't mind.
My mom bought a pop up tent and tunnel thing with a small hoop on one side. I have a ton of ball pit balls that I'll send home with them. There's a twin bed in that room that I will set up for diaper changing. I'll try to borrow some toys from friends who live in town but does anyone have any ideas on good group toys for toddlers?
How does that sound? Am I forgetting anything?
Here's the layout:
