Birthday Gift Favors

For my son's birthday we had a Diego Party and I printed up Diego Pages from Nick Jr.com and I bought 3 boxes of crayons and put them in the Diego cups we had lying around. The kids had a blast coloring and it was cheap because I took the originals and brought them to the local copy shop. After that I had bought a ton of easter eggs on clearance after easter and we had a Diego Egg Hunt...which worked for all ages. I put little toy cars and some coupons for a free fry or drinks from McDonald's and lots of candy in the eggs. The kids brought home what ever they found. It was a blast.

Hi C.,

I love the dollar stores, its amazing what you can find there. When I throw a party I always go to www.orientaltrading.com because their prices are reasonable, they ship super super fast! and they have anything you can imagine. You can buy things separately to compliment what youre doing yourself or buy one of their party supply packages in a theme. They include everything from plates, cups, balloons, to prizes and activities for the guests.

L.

I have a 4 year old and a three year old, and in the past, I've done both the gift bag, and one toy for each. I've found that if you give them one nice toy, they are more likely to use it and not have it just thrown into a pile of toys to be garbage later.
Target has (or had in April anyway), a small Playdoh container with a Dora and Diego character on the top for about $3-4. I just got favors for my sons Lighnting McQueen party, and I got them each a die cast Cars Movie car for $3.29 at Target & Meijer.
Target also has Dora and Diego items in their $1 section right now. And they have that section back by their toys that has chalk, jump ropes, and other various beach toys for under $2.50 in the red bins. My sister-in-law gave a bucket with sand toys one year, the kids loved that too. I think the big hit was at my sons June birthday party last year, when I gave squirt guns, and the kids soaked each other in the front yard, (I got them at Party America for $2.50). His cousins are a little older, so they enjoyed it. Plus it was about 80 degrees out that day. However, if water is involved, be sure to tell everyone to bring a change of clothes :) I try to stay in the under $4 price range because it can get really expensive otherwise. Good luck, hope this helps.
M.

well, i've done parties in several different ways...i bought books for my older daughter's party, then you can get them in all age groups! go to the dollar store, they have a great selection.....or the cheap shelf at wal-mart??

goody bags are expensive and it's just junk that the kids will throw away when they get home.....or break, or something......other good alternatives are McDonald's dollars, give them each a buck to get an ice cream with!! color-book and crayons?? then you can buy one BIG pack of crayons and a cheapy book for each of the kids and just split the crayons up and tie a little bunch together w/ some ribbon???

Hi C.! I did a pinata for my sons 3yr party. I found that to be perfect, and will probably do that again. I think the cheap little toys are a waiste of money - my son comes home with that stuff & doesn't ever play with it, or they are broke before they even get home! The kids all loved the pinata.
Another idea, its a little more pricey, but to rent a snowcone or cotton candy machine. I'm thinking of doing that for my son's next party.

Kids can never have enough books. For my daughter's 1st birthday party I bought an English/Spanish children's word book for all the small kids. You can find books in your price range on www.amazon.com or www.bn.com and if you're looking for something extra, you can include bubbles or some other inexpensive toy.

Good luck!

You could get a coupon to your local Ice cream shop for an ice cream cone.

I quite often print things that I find on the internet for the kids (coloring pages, activities, etc). Nick Jr. has a lot of Dora printables on their website. Other than that, in the past I have also ordered temporary tattoos from Oriental trading and stickers. I don't usually put goody bags together. I just lay the stuff out on the dessert table (we do cupcakes rather than a large cake. The kids really enjoy cupcakes - nick jr. also has instructions for Dora themed cupcakes) and the kids take whatever they would like. I also put out our large bucket of crayons so that kids can sit and color their pages if they would like. My daughter's birthday is in June, so I always fill up the little wading pool for the kids and buy a large pack of inexpensive squirt guns (which they are allowed to take home). I also get those large party packs of bubbles. The kids love them and they can take those home with them also.

For my son's party last year I did a bag with a pencil and a bag of microwave popcorn. Then I let them fill their bags from a pinata. The kids seemed to really enjoy it.

i would go with bubbles or chaulk keep it cheap the party is for your child not all the friends

The dollar store has some cute bubbles, tops, cars, balls, jacks, and all sorts of fun little things that kids can play with. THey usually have like 8 in a bag for a dollar.

Hello C.,
Since you are doing a theme party, try to stick with the theme itself. You can go to the dollar store and pick up different things. Kids definitly do look forward to the gift bags. I have a friend that she does theme parties. She did a safari one time and gave the kids different things that they would need for a safari and gave them a bag to put it all in. That is what she used for the gift bag. The kids loved it. She actually made her own cardboard cutouts and sent the kids on a safari in search of things. I know your son is a little young for that now, but worth a thought.
good luck

I did a pinata but put fruit candy in it. Popular with the kids and a little better health wise. You can even get them in Dora "shapes" although I don't know about sport fruit chews. For my son when he turned 1 we did Noah's Ark and found a raibow pinata. I fixed up baggies of animal crackers which kids 1-schoolage enjoy and isn't to unhealthy and is affordable. And it went with the theme. The kids played Pin the Tail and everyone got a medal. And each child also got miracle bubbles to take home and the older kids got animal puzzle party favors. We had kids 9 months - 8 years old expected. Let us know how it goes!

you can get at Mcdonalds a little coupon book for all kinds of things like ice cream, apple pies, and fries. I think they are a dollar each.