Ideas for Birthday "Treat" for Daughter's Class That Is a Non-food Item

Hi K..
As a teacher, my advice is NO pencils! The kids have so many, especially since the school year just started. I like the cd idea, or even erasers, but no pencils!

You could make "goody bags" and get items from the $1 store or target also has $1 section. Bouncy balls, pencils with notepads, stickers, washable tatoos, little race cars for the boys, plastic rings for the girls, etc...

Pencil toppers, fun erasers, notepads, goofy straws, little hand-held games. Anything you could put in a goody bag. Dollar store here we come!

Have fun!

One of the kids in my son's class gave everyone a copy of their favorite CD (Sticky, Sticky, Bubblegum). It was just a copy that they had burned on the computer. I thought this was such a great idea! My kids love the CD and have enjoyed singing along with it.

Party City also has tons of little inexpensive favors. The one in Darien(?) near 75th and Woodward Ave has a whole bunch of bins full of 25 cent items--little slinkies abnd toys, pencils, notepads, etc. They aren't anything really exciting, but if you wanted to put a bunch of stuff in a bag, it wouldn't cost a lot.

For my son's birthday's at school, I've sent a goodie bag full of pencils, erasers, stickers, silly straws, bouncy balls and sometimes would throw in a certificate from Mc D's for an ice cream or something.

Pencils are always good! Or a note pad and pencil and stickers. Even glow sticks are fun! : )

Decorated pencils or fun shaped erasers were always a hit in my daughter's classroom. The Dollar Stores and orientaltrading.com usually have cheap toys/games like bouncy balls, yo-yos, travel size checkers, etc. Ask the teacher if there is any type of school supply kids are running low on - as long as you make it fun - colored glue sticks, scented hi-liters, etc. the kids like it. I'm not sure of the size of her class or how much you want to spend but Walgreens carries little paperback books of the classics (Little, Women, Robin Hood, etc.) for 50 cents each. Sometimes you can find cheap travel size books too like Sudoku, word searches, crossword puzzles that can be educational as well. It was much easier when we could bring food though, wasn't it? Good Luck! I hope your daughter has a Happy Birthday!

Hi! In about a month, it will be close to Halloween. Why not wrap two pieces of sidewalk chalk up in white tissue paper and let her hand out "Ghost Fingers". This will also give all of the kids something to unwrap. I used them as a party favor at a halloween party a couple of years ago and the kids really seemed to like it. Plus, it should be on clearance because it's the end of season.

Good Luck!

McDonald's or Wendy's Halloween treat coupons. I would imagine that they will be available beginning of October.

It might be fun to send in a mini craft project. Michaels and other craft stores have the dollar craft bins and sometimes there are fun things that you could use. I saw a wooden frame that came with mini markers that might be fun. They have all different designs.

Otherwise, think of stuff that is useful or just plain fun. Pencils, glow sticks/bracelets, silly putty, etc.

My last idea is something I do for my kids special day and sometimes for other holidays. I buy Hershey Bars from Costco/Sam's club and make a wrap for them with a picture of my child and something written on them about the special day.

Good Luck. I hope you get a lot of great ideas.

I like the cd idea. Making 20-30 goodie bags is going to get pricey quick. How about a nice book for the classroom. On the inside cover say something like this book was given to Mrs. 's class in honor of 's birthday 2009.

J.

I always watch for the $1 book on their Scholastic Book Orders they bring home from school. There is always at least 1. When it is a good book order enough for the class. Then we use them for birthday treats or Christmas treats.

How about pencils or erasers?

What about puzzle books (crossword, word search, etc) or something like that? I've seen then in the Current catalog 12 books for $12 or something close to that. You could also check the dollar store.

Hi there! I have a third grade son with a September birthday and a 1st grade girl with a February birthday. I started picking up their birthday treats when school supplies are CHEAP! Last year my daughter passed out boxes of crayons that I got for 25 cents each in August. My son is passing out clearenced packs of roseart markers 50 cents each this year. Keep an eye out at the Target $ section for neat things that are in bulk. We already found cool Tinkerbell pens that you can hang around you neck for my daughters next bday.
Hope this helps!

How about Pokemon cards for the boys. Barretts or headbands for the girls. (Check out Claire's for clearance accessories for the girls).

I love the CD burning idea. I'm going to have my daughter choose her favorite songs, and hand out her "Dance Mix" as a party favor after her sleepover.

Check out www.orientaltrading.com. And what about pencils? And kids LOVE SPENCELS (scented pencils). You can buy a box of them for $40.

I have done
*ink pad - "thumb body is excited to celebrate their birthday with you"
*jump ropes - "Elise is ready to jump into being 7 years old!"
*a tube of plastic animals - "I'm wild about celebrating my birthday with you as a friend"
*playdough "no matter which way you shape it, I like celebrating turning 7 with you"
*chalk or pencils or cool pens
Stop at the dollar store or Target's dollar spot and see what is there. Also summer clearance is going on now so you can find things there too.
basically any small toy, pencils, stickers, etc. is great. Our school has been candy free for 3 years now and it's really not that hard.

This is the first I have heard of a school going no food but by looking at the responses, it is getting more common. Ours is no homemade food which I am fine with as it makes life easier. In my mind, I would be asking (of the school officials)- is it that big of a deal if a kid gets a cookie or a fruit-roll up as a snack a couple times a month for a classmate's birthday? I would rather my kid eat his treat instead of bringing it home to add clutter to my house. Not to mention, non-food is a lot more expensive and does more to seperate the "haves from the have nots." I am glad you are being sensitive to that issue and don't want anything that would seem ostentatious.

Anyhow, I think I would go with some sort of trading card or maybe a small Hot Wheels type car, at least for the boys. As for the girls - a little notebooks or special pens would be cute. I bought Hannah Montana ones at the Target dollar spot for party favors a while back for a quarter a piece. I don't know if they still make them, but crayola used to make stamper markers. I had a room mom once who gave each of the kids a couple stamper markers and a notepad on Halloween. A black notepad with a gel pen is fun too.

I am not sure I would go the cd route. You are dealing with copyright infringement if you make copies of a cd and I don't think we want to be teaching the kids that it is ok to not pay for music if you can copy it off of someone else. I know it is done all the time but that doesn't make it right and it is not fair to the artists and authors involved who pay their mortgages with the profits made off their work. I am reminded of all those public service announcements about not pirating cd/dvd that they show in the previews at the theaters. Just something to think about.

I love the idea of the burned cd. I'd check out the party stores or else try Oriental Trading catalog. You can probably find them on-line too. They sell inexpensive toys and crafts that you order in bulk, usually by the dozen. Your daughter can always pick one thing for girls, and another for boys. The dollar store might have something too. Happy b-day to your daughter!

Right now all the kids in my son's fourth grade class (boys and girls) are CRAZY about 2 things: SMENCELS- which are pencils that come in different scents, and little Japanese erasers shaped like food and toys and all kinds of crazy things that you can take apart and put together.

They all swap them and trade them. Probably there is something similar at your daughter's school that all the kids like. These are all pretty small- and technically they are pencils and erasers, only cooler, so they can still use them at school! The kids like them much more than the regular pencils- we always have to buy a whole box for my son's classroom and we never even see the regular pencils again all year.

what about some cool theme pencils for each child. like spongebob or transformers. they need it for school anyway.

For my daughter's ninth birthday we did bandanas. I try to stay away from pencils/erasers/little notebooks, plastic toys... as they seem to come home with a ton of it. We've got more pencils than they will ever go through in school. Ditto with the erasers. So I try to do something different. I ordered the bandanas on line. Since her birthday is the fourth of July, she picked out a flag print that worked well for both boys and girls. According to her, the kids loved them.

Another year, we went to Michaels and got foam visors and packaged them with foam stickers. They were really cheap and the box of foam stickers went a long way.

Oriental trading has decorate yourself items that work well. I've gotten the shoe laces and bulk markers and packaged them together. Some kids are still using them even though they got them years ago.

Have fun!

The coupon idea is a good idea, that your other post had. Also, some bowling alleys or places with special events may offer coupons for a free game or food item.

Target has some sport wrist bands in their party section and my son always liked getting them. Bead bracelets, or some kind of bracelet is always fun and you can find for cheap. Stickers, note pads, etc... Really cool rubber bouncy balls are always fun, too.

Good luck.

I would go with pencils. If the birthday is in a month then thats getting close to halloween. The dollar stores all have bags of halloween pencils. there are like 10 or 12 in the package for a buck. can't beat that deal. and both boys and girls would like those. my son is in 8th grade and still likes the goofy pencils.
hope she has a great birthday
S.