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The Thanksgiving Kids' Table Seating Plan for a Big Family

When the cousins outnumber the chairs, the kids' table stops being an afterthought and becomes a seating plan. Here is how to split a big family's children by age, how many tables that takes, where they go, and what's worth renting.

In a small family, the Thanksgiving kids' table is a card table and four chairs. In a big one, it is a logistics problem: twelve cousins between one and twelve years old, a dining room that already holds every adult chair in the house, and a meal that runs longer than any child's patience. The children need their own seats, at their own height, in a place the adults can see, and the plan has to work before the turkey comes out.

Our Thanksgiving kids' table guide covers how to set one table properly: height, styling, food and keeping them seated. This post is for the bigger version: when there are enough children that you are really planning a second dining room.

Step 1: Count by age, not by head

Write the children down in age bands before you think about tables. The bands matter more than the total, because each one sits differently:

• Under 2: a high chair next to a parent at the adult table. They are not kids' table guests yet, however cute that would be. If you have more than one baby, rent a second high chair rather than juggling laps.
• Ages 2 to 5: the core of the kids' table. They need kid-height chairs with their feet on the floor and a table low enough to reach their plate. See table and chair heights by age.
• Ages 6 to 9: still happiest at a kids' table, but they want some distance from the toddlers. A second table, or the far end of a long one.
• Ages 10 and up: ask them. Many would rather join the adults for the meal and drift to the kids' table for dessert and games. Promotion to the grown-up table is a Thanksgiving rite of passage; let them have it.

Step 2: Work out how many tables

Once the bands are counted, the tables follow:

• Up to 5 children, ages 2 to 9: one round table. A round top keeps everyone in the conversation; the Daisy Table seats five.
• 6 to 10 children: one long table with chairs on both sides, or two small tables pushed into an L. Our Mini Scalloped Oval Table is 75 by 30 inches and seats a long row of little guests.
• 11 or more, or a wide age spread: two tables, split by age. Toddlers and preschoolers at one, the six-to-nine crowd at the other. It is calmer, it stops the big kids from feeling babied, and it puts the spills in one place.

Add one or two spare chairs either way. Someone always brings a friend, and a ten-year-old who chose the adult table often changes their mind at pie. Our guide to how many kids' chairs and tables you need has the full math for other party sizes.

Step 3: Choose a layout that fits the room

The parallel table

The kids' table runs alongside the adult table in the same room, a few feet away. Best when the dining room is long. Everyone eats together, the adults can reach a toddler's cup without getting up, and the photos show one family rather than two rooms.

The L or the curve

The kids' table sits at a right angle to the end of the adult table, or curves around a corner. This works in square rooms and open-plan spaces. A curving table like our Serpentine Table can bend around a sofa or a window bay where a straight table won't fit.

The next room, door open

Fine for a second table of six-to-nine-year-olds, especially if the dining room is full. Not for the under-fives: you'll spend the meal walking back and forth. Put the younger table in the main room and send the older cousins next door.

Whichever you choose, keep the kids' tables out of the line between the kitchen and the dining table. On Thanksgiving that path carries hot dishes all afternoon.

Step 4: Decide what to rent and what to borrow

Most families already have plates, cups and a tablecloth that can be spared. What they rarely have is twelve kid-height chairs.

Worth renting:

• Kid-height tables and chairs. The one thing that makes the whole plan work, and the thing borrowed sets get wrong: mismatched heights, folding chairs that pinch, a coffee table that's too low to eat at. Ours are delivered, set up in the room you choose and picked up after the holiday. See the Thanksgiving kids' table rental page.
• High chairs for the under-twos, so no one eats with a baby on their lap.
• A dessert cart if pie is a big moment. It moves the sweets out of the kitchen and gives the kids a destination after the meal. More on our dessert cart rental.

Fine to borrow or buy: kraft paper for the tabletop, unbreakable plates and cups, crayons, and a printable activity. Our "I'm thankful for" placemats are made for exactly this table.

Step 5: Give each table a job

A big kids' table goes wrong when everyone finishes eating at once and has nothing to do. Plan one activity per table, matched to the age band: coloring placemats and stickers for the little ones, a paper fortune game or a gratitude card for the older cousins. Put a grown-up "table captain" on duty for the first twenty minutes (an aunt or an older teen), then let the tables run themselves.

Step 6: Book before November

Holiday dates fill early, and the days around Thanksgiving are no exception. If you are hosting in New Jersey or New York, lock in the tables and chairs in October or early November, then adjust the count once the cousins confirm. You can hold your date now, or ask for a quote with the number of children and their ages, and we'll suggest the tables.

Hosting more than one gathering this season? Our holiday kids' party rentals page covers Hanukkah, Christmas and Noon Year's Eve too.

Frequently asked questions