Kid's Birthday Party Bag of cr*p

[SciFiLeslie]

When did it become common practice to give party attendees a bag full of cheap plastic landfill fodder?  Kids never play with it much past the day of the party.

Is there a simple alternative I can do for my son's upcoming 7th birthday?

[Shoo]

I hate those goody bags, too.  I think you can safely NOT give them out, and no one will say a word about it.

I gave out helium filled balloons instead of goody bags at one birthday party.  Those seemed to go over really well, and they're cheap.  The Dollar Tree even sells the mylar ones for only $1 each.

[Jones]

It's to thank the children for attending and (presumably) bringing a gift. Has, of course, been turned into an "I can do better" contest as people send home more and more stuff with the guests.
What I did with my daughter was have a princess party--they made their own foam tiaras and necklaces and got glow-in-the-dark scepters. Quality over quantity. One of the little girls asked me if they would get their bag of gifts so "it would be fair for everyone." She did not accept my answer that the tiara, jewelry and scepter were her gift. That little girl did not get invited to my daughter's next birthday, where the favors were painted rock pets, chapstick, necklaces and some assorted pinata candy.

Is your son's birthday themed?

[mechtilde]

I've seen large tubes of sweeties given out, or inexpensive books are good.

[Coruscation]

In Australia, lollies or sweets are the norm. I put the wrapped ones in the goody bag so they don't eat too many at the party and get sick. No one has complained yet. 

[darkprincess]

I have three, I think relevant points to make.

1. I was in a group of parents who were subtly competing with who could give the best bags of "still cr*p." I jokingly/seriously told them if this continued escalating I would be handing out fish bowls with Betta fish in them. People started moving back to the level of bags of candy and small cheap nick knacks.

2. One family who always attends  the same parties that DD goes to, goes through the gift bags and takes out the stuff they don't like and give them back to the host. We have used them as an example with our daughter of how not to accept gifts, even if you don't like them.

3. I usually try to hand out stuff at our parties that are part of the party and are used during the party. For example we took some kids on a local train ride we gave each kid a conductors hat and train whistle. At a princess party each child received a tiara and princess jewelry (plastic and glue) to wear during the party. At a party at the park each child got a water squirter so they could have a water fight. Dollar tree has many of these items. Many people I know do a craft project as an activity and then the kids take home the craft.
 

[Isometric]

Candy is the bag filling of choice here too.

I remember one poor kid was teased because her mother was a health nut - the party bags had carob, yoghurt balls and the like. And a carrot cake for the birthday cake. While adults may enjoy those foods, kids are used to "junk food" at parties, chocolate cake and sweets. I think that's fine every now and again. If you go the candy route, there are some yummy natural ones around that aren't too "weird" for kids.

[Venus193]

When did this become common practice?  When I was in the single digits we had "silk" flowers from the notions' store that cost very little at the time.  My mother and I would put pins on them so they could be worn as corsages.  The idea of a tote bag full of stuff would never have flown; gifts were for the birthday kid only and sooner or later everyone had their turn.

[proudmama]

The last 3 parties that my DD went to, the good "bag" was a $5 gift card to the local bookstore.  Great gift, but I think personally too much as the goody bag.  My DD loved it, of course and then wanted to do the same thing for her party.  I gave her a choice of either having 10 friends with candy goody bags or 4 friends with the $5 gift cards.  Guess which she chose?

[kareng57]

Make-your-own can be good, as a PP said.  I baked 6" round sugar cookies, and put out dishes of icing, jelly beans, gumdrops etc. for the kids to decorate.  It went over quite well - of course you'd have to ensure that there were no food allergies/intolerances but presumably the host-parent would have to do that anyway if she was serving any food at the party.

Books/bookstore gift cards can be great - but I agree that the cost for the entire party can quickly add up.

[TootsNYC]

oh, I hate those a swell.

I've often done a craft, and then those single items become the prize. It helps justify a higher price tag, because the craft is *also* the activity.

We did acrylic spray paint stenciling on white towels one year--the towels were something like $5, and I spent $12 for a sheet of sticker paper. Printed letters on the sticker paper and cut them out, then stuck the letters to the towel. Watered the acrylic paint WAY down and misted it over the letters (I did have to buy a whole bunch of spray bottles at the dollar store). Ran it through the dryer to set the paint.

For my son, we did a Knight party, and I bought swords to use at the sword-fight activity, and sent them home w/ people. (the first year, we used little plastic ones; the second year I found the longer foam ones).

And for the first Knight party, we cut cardboard into shields, applied duct tape to the back, and had a painting activity where they painted the shields and put stickers on them.

The *best* b'day party ever was the Nerf gun party; we bought a whole bunch of Nerf guns on eBay so we'd be sure to have them for the party, and then we sent one gun (and some darts) home with each kid. The Maverick is pretty cheap at Target--$12, I think. So whiel that's a lot for the party favor, it's also your activity, which isn't that bad.
   Or, if most of the kids have a Nerf gun, you could give them each a pack of the darts as their "favor," and they can use them at the party, too. (you'll have to count to be sure everyone gets the same number to take home)

One year my son went to a party, and the mom had bought a bunch of shirts on ultra clearance and gave them away.

Lego makes some smaller kits that are good party favors, at about $6. In fact, they make a party kit w/ 8 favors ($20 total).

I've also sometimes bought a larger package and split it up--buy an 8pak of Play-Doh and send 2 cans home w/ each kid; markers for littler kids.

For 7yo's, I'd do a Nerf party or Legos.

[hellgirl]

I'm hoping this never becomes a big trend here. We've been to a couple of parties that have done little bags with a balloon, lollies etc (this was a toddler party), but for our lad we just didn't. We did give away as many balloons as people would take so we didn't have to deal with them!
In future I may bake cookies, but we plan to just not participate in the whole thing, even if our friends do. I work on the theory that "I know you're little and the other person is getting presents. But it's their birthday. And one day it'll be your birthday, and you'll get the presents. So suck it up"

[Instantkarma]

the title of this thread made me laugh!  We had goodie bags when I was a kid in the 1980s so they have been aroudn at least that long.  they were things like candy and pencils though, nothing fancy.  I like the idea of a craft that is also the "goodie."

[KenveeB]

the title of this thread made me laugh!  We had goodie bags when I was a kid in the 1980s so they have been aroudn at least that long.  they were things like candy and pencils though, nothing fancy.  I like the idea of a craft that is also the "goodie."

We were way ahead of the curve. We always had craft goodies at my parties.   I remember making necklaces once, and another time we all decorated mini-pumpkins. (Kind of like carving a jack-o-lantern, but we used markers and glue. I have an October birthday. )

[dietcokeofevil]

I get so tired of those goodie bags.  Some parents have even started passing them out at daycare, if their kids doesn't have a party.

I try to do something useful instead.  My DD's last party was at a water park.  I found beach towels on clearance for just a couple of dollars and it worked out well.