Birthday Party Goodie-bag Ideas

For my daughter's birthday we made cd's for all the kids. You could do really fun, up-beat music (goes along with bounce houses) or you could do some silly/goofy songs (goes along with 6 yr olds). I still get comments from parents and kids about the cd's they received and that they still listen to them!
They are very inexpensive to make, takes very little time and they won't get thrown in the "junk drawer!"
Good luck!!

I handed out kites at my son's party. The kids loved them, and their parents thanked me. You can find lots of colorful ones at Academy for under a dollar each.

I once got Sidewalk chalk buckets at the Dollar Store for $1.00 each. They were a hit. Also at they had kites at Walmart for $1.50 and they went over well, too.

Just a few ideas.

Hi there, I own Celebrity Party Favors. Im located in McKinney, TX. you can contact me and I can customize your party favors to match your invitations or theme. we can come up with something fun to fit your budget.

A. J
www.celebritypartyfavors.com

Go to Oriental Trading. They have very inexpensive craft projects in bulk!

N. go to foodnetwork.com and put "ice cream cone" in the search engine. The very first listing is "ice cream cone party favors" by Sandra Lee. I've done those party favors for the past 2 years and they work really well and are inexpensive. Good Luck!

I know your frustration with the goodie bags (giving and receiving). A few years ago my husband and I decided that we would have the kids do a scavenger hunt for their prizes (puzzles, pencils, notebook paper, etc). We have also given movie passes, or gift cards in the amount of $5. You can chooose where you want to give them from, we have given from Candy World, Baskin Robbins, movie rental stores, fast food restaurants and Toys R Us.
When you think about all the items you buy for the goodie bags, bags, and ties, then putting everything together you are spending as much if not more than you would by giving $5 to each child.
Hope this gives you some ideas for your upcoming party.

check out USA Toy in Plano at Parker & Independence. They have tons of small toys sold by the bag that make great favors.

I am with you, I like to give one item that the kids will actually use. Last year, when my son turned 5, I gave out kid umbrellas, they were $1.99 at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Another year, I went to the Dollar Tree and gave sand toys, they were already all packed up in netting, it was a great bargain. My niece's 9 year old party is this weekend and she is giving out a ball. They found them at Wal-Mart for 97 cents, they are plastic and various colors that look tye dyed. If the party is all girls, another idea is going to the dollar store and getting bubble bath and a sponge loofah. Good luck!

You could have the Thank You cards ready with a 2.00 gift certificate in each one to a local ice cream shop or something along those lines. When you think about how much you spend getting the goodie bags together, they turn into more then 2.00 each.

I have also done school related bags, pencil,crayons,ruler,pens,whiteboard marker or notebook. My childrens B-days are at the beginning and at the end of the school year. So these are great refreashers to what they alrady have!

Good Luck

In the past, I have given gift cards/gift certificates to McDonald's or Baskin Robbins in lieu of the junky goodie bags (I feel the same way as you do!). Those were big hits!

I haven't tried this yet, but my daughter (6) was invited to a party last month. Everyone was asked to bring a book rather than a gift and after a treasure hunt in the park, the kids exchanged books (via a fun game). So every child went home with a new book. I thought the idea was neat - especially as this age group is starting to read. :)

my daughter just received a kite at a party and it was a perfect choice for this time of year. I think Walmart has them for around $1.00

A couple years ago we did gift certificates to a local ice-cream shop--they were about $2.00 for a cone, and that was a big hit. Last year, I bought sports cups and used a paint pen to write all the guests' names on them. I figured a cup was at least something they would use!

Good Luck!
M.

Rather than a bag of items, you could give just one item that is approximately the same value as a goody bag. Things we've given and received in the past are: battery powered character toothbrush (e.g. Barbie or Spiderman), character bubble bath, Target gift cards. If you want bags and want to minimize cost, you can use paper lunch bags and have your daughter decorate them herself. For the stuff in the bags, instead of the "junk" you mentioned, you could put a granola bar, a regular kid-size toothbrush, and/or character Band-aids. That probably sounds weird, but most children love cool Band-aids :-) Have fun!

Try Oriental Trading ... you can find them online and they have great cool stuff for any theme party!!! :) D.

My daughter is 13 now and for her age group for the last couple of years, we have given a gift card to Abercrombie. Granted, it was not for 30 girls, it was more like 10. Bath and Body has some cute inexpensive things for girls.

When she was younger, I did coloring books and art sets. You might spend $5 per goodie bag but like someone else said, you can easily have $3-$5 in a goodie bag filled with junk candy and stuff.

Hope that helps!
Susan

Why don't you get some frames at the dollor store or somewhere cheap. Take a sharpie or paint pen and write Bouncing Buddies on the frame. At the party, take a group picture of all the kids and then send a picture for them to put in their frame in their thank you note. It isn't junk and the kids can always remember the day.

N.,

instead of party city type of items try going to a store called Mardels. they have some fun items that my 9 and 10 yr old girls have enjoys since they were about 4 years old..like small boxes of colors, pencils, notepads, puzzle books for that age, thinking goodies for kids at a reasonable price. i fully understand about the junk goodie bags i always dread that part of the birthday party myself as a mother whether it be the makeing and giving or it coming home and finding it all over the house...

but Mardels might have just what you are looking for

good luck

M. B.

My favorite was the year I got a big bucket of flip-flops. You can usually get some really cute ones at Old Navy or Children's Place and they're 2 for $3. I bought several different sizes and colors - more than I needed, and returned the ones that I didn't give out. The kids had fun going thru the bucket to pick them out, and the moms loved them. Way better than a bunch of trinkets you have to sneak in the trash. Have fun! J.

The dollar store has wonderful items...Puzzles, sidewalk chalk, play-doh, theme plates you can use everyday, hair bows, fingernail polish, pens with note pads, drawing pads, crayons, and coloring books.

You can have the kids decorate picture frames and that could be there take home gift.

Good luck.

M.

Since it is Spring get 30 kites all different designs at walmart. I thing they are $1.99 or $2.99. A lot cheaper than goodie bags and more usful.

Have you thought about doing a craft? It would be an activity they could do during the party and something they can take home with them. oriental Trading company has great ideas and really good prices on something like this.

My son had his 5th B-day party at a bounce house last week! He wanted to give all the boys a matchbox car, .97 cents at Wal-mart. While I was there, I found the perfect party favor for the girls, glitter & water filled batons for .88 cents! I tied curly ribbons on the ends & handed them out as they left. They loved it! Even the older girls, 7 & 9, were excited! All the Moms were showing off their baton twirling skills!
I also like to do a pinata filled with bubblegum & smarties. I get the kind that opens by pulling a ribbon, rather than beating it open. An adult can hold it up while they take turns. Then it's easy to scatter the loot evenly so they all get some. Get some paper lunch sacks & write their names on it beforehand, so they have something to stuff it in. Or use the themed party-bags.
Good luck!

Sometimes the $1 section has some cute things. One of my friends found cute hand puppets. They sometimes have cute notebooks and pens and pencils that 6 year old girls love. You can also do craft kits or go to Oriental Trading Company online and get craft kits.

One year I gave gift certificates to an ice cream place. Enough for each kid to get their own ice cream cone. It was a hit with the parents and the kids.

For my son's 3rd birthday, I gave each child a Thomas the Train book as a party favor. They were only about $3.25- $3.99 each. It might sound like a lot for 30 kiddos, but when you add up all the "little" things you might put in a goodie bag, it actually comes up to be about the same prince. And kids (and parents too) LOVE books!

Try orientaltrading.com

They have lots if neat crafts and such. Usually sold in lots if 12, pricing anywhere from $4 a lot (.25 each) to $12 a lot. You can get very creative with what they have to offer.

N.,

I know you said you were tired of candy, but for my daughter's birthday I just bought the pound bags of M&Ms then put about a 1/4 cup in each bag. Her birthday is in October so we are able to get the pink M&Ms but I don't think the kids care about the color. We also printed little cards with her photo saying thanks for helping me celebrate my birthday and included those in the bags. We used a business card template. They were cute and inexpensive. I am pretty sure the kids had the handful of M&Ms eaten before they got to the car, so I know it was not a waste of my money and they did not get too much candy to annoy the parents. Happy Birthday to your daughter! Have a Great Party!

same thing for me this weekend. i read somewhere that jumpropes ($3 at Walmart are a good choice), one party we went to gave away large candy bars (junk i know but they were edible) and another gave away $5 gift cards to Borders books.
all great ideas. for our party we are collecting coloring books and new crayons for the children's advocacy center...we always try to collect (sometimes in lieu of gifts) and let the kids all sign a card for the needier kids. that gives them some sense of giving graciously. just thought i would add that for what it's worth!

I made tic-tac-toe games for my daughter's party. The kids loved them. I throw one in my purse before going out to eat to keep her busy before the food gets to the table. I can send you a picture if you want.

Find little bags, fanny bags book bags, put some pencls in it. We kind o f bag theme that everyone excepts from us now. Kids love to stash stuff, Boxes what ever. Other cool ideas go the US Toy Store off Independece and Parker Rd in Plano for bulk savings.

My son is having a glow bouncy party for his 5th and we purchased glow sticks at the dollar store for a $1.00 a pack, Annies all natural cookie snack packs from Costco (less than $.30 a pack), a plastic pop tube..thing that my kids love that you can bend stretch,and spin them for noise ($1each) and an all natural fruit roll up ($.40 each). I used brown lunch bags and hole punched the top and tied on curly ribbon. Comes to $2.70 a goody bag. I have also done $3 ice cream coupons from Ben and Jerry's and have given early reader books one year (bought the book packs from Costco and gave one to each kid...was less than $2 a book then. I tell myself every year that I am not going to do goody bags anymore but then I cave cause my kids love them so much. If I have to do them though I make sure they are indeed cheap ($3 or less) and something that is useable or edible but healthy.

Here are some ideas for Goodies Bags I have put togather. I have used them myself and kids/parents have loved them.

<a href="/outbound_link/redirect?link=http%3A%2F%2FGoodie Bag Ideas" class="new_window">http://savvymomszone.blogspot.com&lt;/a&gt;

Consider the TickleMe Plant Party Favor. In it you can grow a real pet like plant that MoVes and closes its leaves when you Tickle It!
Just search TickleMe Plant

I know that my sister in law has done everything from cute plastic back packs(my son still loves) to pool noodles for summer parties. Hope this helps.

Kathryn

Hi,
I'm J. and I have 2 daughters, one who is 12 and the other who is 10.I have been there! I have found really cute items at target in the $1 section. What I have done in the past is gotten cheap T-Shirts from Hobby Lobby and ironed on cute iron ons. They also have cute little chinease take out boxes that you could put a cupcake in it, or you could get some fun bracelets from walmart that come in a bundle and split them up, with hair bows, what you could do is get some ponytail bands and tie little strips of cute ribbon on the bands. The ponytail holders come in a bunch and all different colors, you could probably find alot of this stuff at the 99cent store. Or even a box of crayons and a coloring book, I have found that stuff at the 99cent store, even gift bags there too. I hope I have helped! Good Luck!

One year I hit the dollar stores and such I bought some cheap sand pails and basically filled the pail with do dads instead of candy, you know a shover, bubbles, sand shape makers, stickers, pencils. Yes, it did cost money and now you know why so many just do candy, but I've always remembered those pails and so did the kids. Oriental Trading Company online is a great place to buy STUFF in bulk at good prices. -Nita