Exegesis:

ho de Iēsous prosekalesato auta ‘but Jesus called them to him.’ The aorist tense of prosekalesato after two imperfects indicates the beginning of the main part of the narrative. auta refers to ta brephē. For proskaleō cf. on 7.18.

legōn lit. ‘saying,’ i.e. either ‘by saying,’ or ‘meanwhile saying to the disciples,’ preferably the former.

aphete ta paidia erchesthai pros me ‘let the children come to me,’ cf. 8.51.

tōn gar toioutōn estin hē basileia tou theou ‘for to such (as these) belongs the kingdom of God,’ i.e. people such as these will have the right to share in the kingdom of God. toioutos means here ‘having the same qualities as little children.’ For hē basileia tou theou cf. on 4.43.

Translation:

Called them to him, or ‘called out for them to (or, that they should) be brought to him’ (cf. Phillips, to indicate that the children are not addressed directly, see Exegesis). Them is often better specified, ‘those (little) children.’

Saying, or, ‘and said,’ ‘with the words.’

Let the children come, i.e. allow the children to come.

Hinder, i.e. ‘(try to) stop,’ sometimes coinciding with the rendering of “rebuke” in v. 15.

To such belongs the kingdom of God, or, ‘(it is) they (who) possess the kingdom of God.’ The structure of this clause may have to be changed more radically, e.g. ‘as are these children, so are the people who can enter God’s hand that he may rule over them’ (a San Miguel El Grande Mixtec dialect), ‘their-place shall become where God is governing’ (Tzeltal). — Such, or, “such as these” (New English Bible), ‘people who are like these (children)’ (Bahasa Indonesia).

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.