I know there is plenty of debate over whether goody bags should be given at all, but I believe in giving them. I also usually received them as a child, so to me, this is not a new trend. Anyway, I am putting together goody bags for my son's birthday - turning 7 - and I'd love to hear from other moms what the best goody bags your kids have ever received )or given) contained.
Right now, I'm definitely giving every child a book (already purchased) and am thinking about a pack or set of Pokemon cards. I definitely don't want to give junk, anything from Oriental Trading, or a lot of candy in them. Trust me, I am one to throw away the bags of junk and always work hard to come up with stuff to include that I would be happy to receive. I almost always include a book. I don't intend to spend more than $5 total per child (the books this time around were only $1 each).
So, what was in your best goody bag?
Thanks for all the great ideas! I'm excited to go shopping now. If I remember, I'll update in a couple of weeks with what I get.
Packets of seeds so they can grow their own flowers/veggies. Cheap and they love to watch them grow!
My kids recently got a ball on a long elastic string that is attached to a Velcro wristband. So you can play catch alone. Very cool.
Pokemon cards would be a great idea.
one year my friend got all of the kids a t-shirt from the Disney store. They were $5 each and my kids loved them.
I don't do goody bags. I DO do pinatas if we have a kid party....which normally we don't, it's just family.
L.
For Easter I put a lot of goody bag type toys in the hunt and the best one was a punch balloon. My niece who is in high school had never seen one and didn't know how to play with it. The look of surprise once she began to punch the balloon was worth every penny.
Best goody was a water bottle with our kid's name on it. Otherwise, I detest goody bags.
I agree with the punching ball. We did those as part of ours one time, and I always used them for things like Easter Baskets and tooth fairy stuff, too. The kids love them. They always get popped eventually, lol, but they are fun while they last and unlike plastic toys, they don't break and leave little hard parts to step on on the floor. :P
I remember having them as a child, myself, and I always enjoyed them, too. If you can find a cheap kazoo, those are neat, too. (not a plastic one, though).
Pokemon cards are a great idea.
Lego blind bags would also be big hits--they contain a mini-figurine and kids love to get them.
A few years ago, my son had his first Paintball Party. We were out in the field playing, and while it was March - playing hard - each goody bag had a great water bottle in - with granola bars. That's WWWAAAYYY more than your $5 per bag...
What have we received that we loved?
Crayola Crayons
Coloring book
Box of pencils
Pencil top erasers
(I think they were 5 or 6)
For 7 year olds?
Pokemon cards would be great...
if you have kids that love to learn new things - Target sometimes has a pack of cards for $1.00 each - kinda like Brain Games - lists of Presidents, US Geography, etc.
Happy birthday!! Hope your son has a fantastic party!!
Best "bags" we've given (IMO):
--small ($4-6) Lego kits
--real baseball and baseball cards at a baseball-playing party
--kit to build a small model log cabin/fort at a party at a nature preserve in which the kids built a log fort with a nature guide.
The one real winner that I gave over the years was when my oldest son had a skating party when he was 10. I was able to get hockey pucks with the Boston Bruins logo on them for a reasonable price. The guests are now 16 and I still hear that many of them still have that puck and take it out during the Bruins post season as their lucky puck.
since Little Golden Books have gone the way of the dinosaur, a full-sized candy bar would be it. cheap candy and cheap junk- blerg.
khairete
S.
The best things we have received have been a full sized candy bar, a five dollar gift card, a book and science experiments (from a Mad Science party).
some of the best items over the many years (my kids are 14 & 17 so it's been a while)
- goody "bowls" or "cups" instead of bags they were in an ice cream sundae dish, a cereal bowl (from a sleepover) and a tall lucite drinking glass
- seed packet
- book or puzzle
- water gun (my son has a July birthday so the party invite asked boys to bring their super-soakers, we had made buckets of water balloons, had the splip & slide out, etc.) and it was a blast in the backyard
- coloring book and small box of crayons / markers
- kits to make braclets and hair thingees from the dollar bins at the craft store
- inflatable beach balls
Played out items:
pencils, rubber balls, too much candy (some candy is a nice treat)
I appreciate anything that isn't just candy. DD got a spa day goodie bag from a friend this year, and enjoyed most of it. One friend makes sure the baggies contain something educational. One year we gave away inflatable dinosaurs and some of the guests still have them.
We always do a pool party so it is easy. We give either pool noodles or beach balls to take home. The kids have a blast playing with them at the party and then they take them home. $1 each at the dollar store.
One year we had a beach party when we were living in California, we did swim goggles and beach towels (I know a person that does "give-aways" for companies so I got the towels for real cheap).
The best we have received over the years?
when they were younger they got a package of sidewalk chalk with the writers, you know? You can put three pieces of chalk and make designs? They had a BLAST with that for hours!! Each one got something different.
Hope that helps. If you can tie a theme into the goody bag, I think that's nice.
the best goody bag item we've ever rec'd from a b-day party was a baskin-robbins coupon for an ice-cream cone!
Last year my son took 5 of his friends to play lazer tag so our give a way item was a nerf gun. The year before that were water bottles b/c we went to sky high and I brought them each their own with their name on it filled with nice ice cold water.
I usually appreciate goody gifts that have a ticket or pass to a fun family activity- like bowling or a train ride at a local amusement park. All that other stuff goes directly in the trash 95% of the time. :(
My son went to a 7 yr olds pirate themed bday party and came home with his own pirate kerchief, gold deblume and plastic machete. He loved it.
At his party, I gave out goody bags with colored pencils, a small colorful notebook for doodling, a sucker and popping candy. They each got a big balloon to take home too.
Once I realized I was spending about $5-7 per goody bag anyway, I started giving $5 gift cards to Jamba Juice or fro yo place. Sometimes with a lollypop or bubbles for instant gratification :)
I like to do little coloring books and crayons with mine, or notebooks and a pencil. I also do a little candy, but I don't go overboard like the ones we get at other parties. Maybe a piece of chocolate or fruit snacks. I also like to do books, so yay that you've already got those!
My kids loved getting stuff they could actually use. So for this season how about a
baseball
frizbee
whiffle ball and bat (available at dollar stores right now)
sidewalk chalk as they played street hockey and drew out lines with it.
$1 mcdonalds gift certificate as bookmark for the books you have bought would get them an ice cream cone.
pool toys
goggles for swimming
sugar cookies shaped as a pokemon ball were a big hit for my son sams birthday one of those with a little note saying thanks for sharing my birthday
packages of koolaid
and all time favorite were the milk straws they were filled with the mix to make your milk either chocolate or strawberry
I'm right there with you about the junk toys and candy.
I did Disney towels once. They cost about $8 each (I had coupons) but all the kids still use them years later.
Most people would hate this but I loved it. We went to a party where they gave Betta Fish to all the kids. So , we ended up with 2 on our mantle in flower vases.
A little late in the response, but I always put bubbles in the goody bags (no matter the age of my kids - who doesn't love bubbles!?). You can get a six-pack of "good quality" bubbles at Walmart for around $1-2.
My kids also always love getting the little jumping frogs (the ones that have the little tab on the back that you push/snap to make them jump).
And Hot Wheels are always good and about $.97 each (at Walmart or Target).
Playdoh, noise makers, candy. My daughter loves them. I give out goodie bags to.
The best is when, instead of a bag full of little junk that gets thrown out, they instead get one nicer thing that fits with the theme.
A number of things have already been listed below. We've also been to tye dye parties where you get one shirt as the gift and they say you can bring extras to dye yourself if you would like. A bird feeder to decorate. Michael's has a bunch of inexpensive wood things that you can decorate.
