Birthday Party Bags

We gave big, shiny helium balloons one year (big hit!) and another year gave a book that was my son's particular favorite at the time (also a big hit, more so with the parents!)

Last year for my son's 4th birthday instead of party bags we gave each of the kids a book. My son is really into The Magic Treehouse series so we gave everyone one of those. They run around $3.00 a book which is about what you would spend on a bag full of candy and such.

You could get some inexpensive water bottles and paint the kids names on them since the party is a sports event. Also you could get balloons and tie one on each water bottle.

Dear K.,
Hello! Walmart and Kmart sell plain white lunch bags that are pretty reasonable. You could have your son decorate each bag with a thank you message and use them for gift bags. Another idea is to get plastic cups and then put the party favors inside of them; include a curly q straw and a bow and there you have a bag and something the child can use again and again. Or you can go to a hobby store and get plain cheap canvas bags that the kids can decorate with paint markers or maybe include a tube of fabric paint with each bag so that the kids can decorate it themselves at a later time, depending on how old your son is. If your son is younger and crafty items are not appropriate, use a silly hat as a gift bag or make or purchase pillow cases that can include the items and be tied with a rope to simulate a goody bag and then the kids can use it for their bed pillow at home. Or if your child is older and really not into the goodie bag thing, get coupons to a local bowling alley, skating rink admissions, or hand out movie theatre ticket passes to each child to use at a later date. Hence not wasting your time making the bags and them not wasting by throwing the bags away. Good luck with your search! ~T.

Hi K.--I usually do books....I individually wrap each one, so that each child has his own gift to take from the party. I agree that many times goody bags are thrown away...a book is something that every child can use! I usually order them from a Scholastic book order, as you can get many copies of the same book, and they are reasonably priced. When my son was younger I did picture books, but this year we actually did chapter books, which everyone loved! Good luck!

Hi K.,

If you know how many boys and girls are coming an easy gift to give is to have a collection of various small gifts (try to be generic if both boys & girls are coming) to send each child home with. A small box of LEGO's, Match Box cars, $5 McDonald's gift cards, some dollar store toys, those giant boxes of candy (juji fruits, milk duds, gobstoppers...) have all the gifts wrapped and numbered one through however many guest there are. Then before the kids leave they can pick a matching number from a basket/bag and then find the thank you gift on the table that matches the number they picked from the basket/bag. I found the $3-5 gifts received more of a WOW! factor then gift bags. Have fun!

K.,
I have a good friend who owns her own party planning company in Manhattan, KS. Below is her website and contact info if you'd like to check it out. She has really unique ideas for parties and goody stuff if that's what you're looking for.
Diana

Nancy Montenegro
Creator
###-###-####
www.curiositiesparties.com

" Imagination is everything it is the preview of life's upcoming attractions"
-Albert Einstein

For my step-daughter's spring birthday I put together a bag w/outdoor items like frisbees, jump ropes and sidewalk chalk. Everything was $1 or less at Wal-mart or the dollar store. It was a HUGE hit.....you could also find a cool item at the dollar store and just send everyone home w/a gift instead of a gift bag....you'll be a big hit w/the parents too because they won't have a bunch of junk and candy.

Burn a music CD of your son's favorite songs and title it "Sam's Birthday Party Music." I so agree with you about the goody bag thing. I really dislike them! Or make and decorate a special cookie for each child and wrap it pretty. I hope this helps you.

Not sure about eh ages of the children, but if you are crafty and can sew, you might make I Spy Bags. They can be modified for older kids and even adults.

http://rosie-baby-crafty.blogspot.com/2007/08/i-spy-bags....

Hi, K.. Well, I hope this doesn't sound aweful, but how 'bout skipping the gift bags? My kids are older now, so I'm a bit out of touch with current trends (but not way out of touch... they are 15 and 13). Anyway, I stopped doing gift bags after a few years because I ended up being so bugged about my kids getting them at parties!
However, if you really want to do gift bags, I would suggest a fun project that we did a few times here: take regular brown paper lunch bags, decorate each one with the child's name, a fun stamp, stickers, or whatever your imagination comes up with. Try filling them with things like fruit snacks, sugarless gum (age appropriate!), and chex-mix... or something they can consume that won't end up being more junk your mom-friends will wish their kids didn't get at birthday parties! Either way, have fun... you know your child's friends will have a blast!
T.

I'd consider something active like a jump rope.

I agree about the goodie bags - they can be a waste of money. One year I made t-shirts (half price at Hobby Lobby - 1.50 each) with iron on transfers. I made a design on the computer that said "Mason's Train Birthday Party 2006" and printed them on the transfer paper. I rolled them up and tied a train whistle on the top with ribbon. When we were considering having a dog party, I bought stuffed dogs at Dollar Tree and was planning to make little collars for them that I could personlize with the dog's name (once the kids named them at the party). OrientalTrading.com has fun little trinkets and toys to go along with every theme imaginable. you might find something there that kids can use or play with after the party's over. There are also lots of ideas online if you enter a Google search for goodie bag alternatives. Good luck, and have fun!!

How old are the kids at this party? That could depend on ideas as to what you might want to buy for gift bags. And how much do you want to spend on each bag? If they are teenage, then perhaps personal hygine items, colone and such, or coupons to a video rental house with some candy and microwave popped corn. I guess for any age that might be a good idea. Get a $5.00 coupon rental for each bag and buy a box of microwave popped corn that come 10-12 in a box. Then buy one of those big bags of candy bars and put one in each bag. Good Luck... have fun

Hi K.. For one of my kids' parties, I filled the gift bag with 1 Kool-Aid squeezer, one granola bar, and a sticker sheet, then tied a helium (latex) balloon to the bag. It was decoration + take-home prize. Kids LOVE balloons and usually aren't a take-home treat. It was pretty cheap too.

My son went to a party where he got one of those mini lego kits instead of a gooodie bag.

Instead of a bag, you can get a toy or book at the dollar store for each kid and wrap it! All the little party favors my son gets in goodie bags usually don't last more than a day! They break and often are a choking hazard for my other kids. I think its a waste of money.

Buy some cheap paper bags. Go to craft section and pick up the sport foamy pack and a pack of markers/crayons...the kids will have a blast! They can each make their own sports themed bag. L. B

I recently did the same thing, party for his friends at a play place. I went to the dollar store. I bought placemats for everyone, books, memory cards, playing cards, coloring books and a package of crayons, I also went to Shop and Save, they have a 4 pack of puzzles for about a dollar each. Put a themed packaged of fruit snacks in the bag with a juice box along with the smal individual containers of playdoh that you can buy in bulk at Target, added a baloon tied to the childs chair for them to take home and I was all set. Each goody bag may have cost me about 6 dollars and they have everything that will go home and no junky toys that end up in the trash.
I hate that stuff, would rather not get anything at all, just go have fun at the party.
Hope this help you with some ideas. After the party I overheard most of the mom's say that was the best idea for the goody bags that they had seen.
Tks T.

boy reading these responses sort of blew me away. Around my kids' friends no one spends this much on goody bags....I do know that I have heard that in some areas it has become a competitive thing from party to party....

I agree that it may be fine to skip them --- If you WANT to do them I would suggest being practical....

When my dd had a skating party at least one kid came barefooted..SO last year I did goody bags that they got when they arrived. They included a pair of socks and quarters so they could play the video games. THey still went home with the junk they bought from the game tickets. (But some just took home the money).

I know most of the gyms require socks so that might be an idea...I know some have video games too.....

I also liked the waterbottle idea.

I fall into the group of parents who would like to see this stopped. I mean my kids already have so much that more is just clutter. (Even if it is something they LIKE - they probably have 4 or 5 similar items.....)

charlotte carter Girard ks.Go to dollar store and purchase a bundle of white bags or brown for a dollar and you can decorate them with ribbons or stick ons or whatever you like,tie with ribbons.

Our kids' favotire gift bags are part of the party-the kids use cut outs, crayons or markers, glitter or whatever to make their own bags as part of the activities, then fill them with the little favors and presents we have set out. The cut outs are party-themed to make it all fit together. J.

Use one of the canvas shopping bags that stores like Price Chopper are selling as an alternative to plastic. Cheap ($.99) and promotes recycling, a good thing to teach young ones. They have to live with the results.

Depending on the size/age of the group, you could ask vendors for coupons for discounted or free items; such as a free Big Mac or order of fries.

What I've started doing, instead of spending $50-60 on goodie bags, I take the money and buy the girls a present. Wrap it in bright paper and put the girls name on it. If you have 10 girls attending get them something around $5.

We went to a party and there were 20 or 25 big round rubber balls. The kids got to pick which they wanted. Much better than the usual junk!

Hi K.!

Every year I make T Shirts for my son's birthday party. I buy long sleeved shirts on clearance at either Target or Old Navy. I make a design on the front that says Willfest '08 and each guest's name. The back I make something horiibly clever. I do these on iron on computer paper. Usually costs less than $4 per child and it is really a hit! No pixie stick sugar in the carpet of the SUV, either!

make your own bags from newspapers or wrapping paper (recycle is the name of the game).

Save boxes - like cracker box - cover with wrapping paper and use ribbon to make a handle. Cut in half and get 2 small boxes out of 1 big box.

J. W

Go to the dollar store and get each kid a water bottle. Then at the craft store get paint pens write each child's name on the water bottle. You could also put a baseball, football, basketball or soccer ball on them with the paint pen there is a website that personalizes stuff with paint pens that you could get design ideas from http://www.mybambino.com/designs.html, but remember to practice on paper first! Then wrap curling ribbon around the top and you have a gift that the kids can use during the party and they can use in the future when they play sports ect.

K.,

I have handed out homemade CDs of music that my children listen to. The children and their parents have really liked the gift. Also, it does not cost much: Just a little effort on your part.

A.

My friend had given the girls mcdonalds and DQ gift certifiacates, and then each of the girls got a cute set of hair things. You could do the gift certifcates and a matchbox car or somehthing like that.

I think she only spent around 3-4 dollars per girl...that's about what the "junk" bags wouls usually come out to anyway.

if it's for little boys why not get bouncy balls and hot wheels cars, the cars cost less then a dollar and the balls you can probably get in bulk. I know my son who is 8 loves both these things, you could also go into Old Navy and they have the "gumball" machine that has the large bounsy balls for .25.

we just had a birthday party for a 2 yr. old and a 4 yr. old and instead of party bags we made a pinata out of a punching balloon. We added 5 layers of paper glued with the cooked flour and water (5 c. water with 1 c. Flour, boiled for 3 min.) We painted it like a basketball after we filled it with candy, small toys, wrist bands, little things.... We set it on a milk crate and let the little ones hit it with a wiffle bat. They loved it. We gave them ziplock bags to carry their treats home.

One of the most popular gifts my mom did for my birthdays growing up was a bottle of bubbles for each kid. They went over so well! She also included a few stickers, etc.

my daughter recently had the same party and we gave valentines plastic cups with candy and a pencil the boys liked it also

Have you thought of doing something like a medal on a ribbon or a mini trophy for all the kids instead of the tradtional treat bags. You could even do a mini ceremony to present the medals at the end of the party. I know I've seen them at Target in their party aisle and for reasonable price, but I'm sure any party store would have them. We've been to a gymnastics party that did that and the kids loved it. My son still has his medal in his room.
I have stopped doing the traditional bags for the same reason you said. They just get thrown away. I have started doing a mini gift item per child for about what I would pay to make the bags up. I have done little princess figurines for Princess party ( $1 a piece at the dollor store) A hot wheel car for each kid for a car party. A set of Cat ears to wear for a Cat party.... you get the idea. It has been a big hit.

We went to a party that gave out the McDonald's after school coupons (I think they are $1 for about 10 of them). That was a great idea. We used them and it did not cost the host much.

If you have the time get some reg. small lunch bags & let your child help decorate them w/markers....or stamps if you have them....markers work well & each will be a "work of art"! As for "goodies" the dollar store usually has little things you can divide...depending on age. I like to get something like the little sets of math cards,etc. or puzzle games...!

A fun thing to do if you have the Time and Money: Buy each child a T-shirt from a craft store, and buy some puffy paint so everyone can design a shirt to take home. If you have enough time before the party day, contact each parent about bringing a plain T-shirt from home. (That will save a few $$)

Instead of getting usual party favors, I get them useful things that relate to the party. You might get them each a jump rope and wrist sweat band. I like the water bottle idea- or even just a bottle of gatorade.

when my oldest had a camping party the boys got a flashlight, compass and a canteen. My middle son is having a cooking party this year, so I am going to the dollar store and getting aprons, utensils and a mixing bowl. That way they can remember the party when they use it.

YOu would be surprised what you can find at Dollar Tree.

I honestly wouldn't spend the money on the goody bags. You are already paying to rent a gym and doing cake. The group of friends my children have seem to have stopped doing goody bags. I think it is a good idea to not have them. Teach them that they are going to celebrate someone else's special day and they do not need anything given to them for going. Just my opinion. Have a great week! C.