I hate party bags.

[maddiebean]

Hi girls

DD's 3rd birthday is coming up next week and I'm having a party so I'm faced with the bag trauma.

Officially I know I should take a stand and start the trend of not doing them but I'm weak! So, anyone got any great ideas for what to put in them apart from the usual plastic stuff? Obviously it goes without saying that it needs to be cheap (!) and not take hours to do (I've got a 1 yrs old too).

Please help!

Thanks

Maddie
x

[LadyCodofCOdford]

sweets
they loev thsoe sweet neclaces
god dont thikn abotu it

[SoupDragon]

Chocolate, something sparkley from Claires or a matchbox car, cake.

[LadyCodofCOdford]

lolly
sweet beckalce
not ebook
pen

[Snafu]

stickers

[poppadum]

stickers
bubble mix
hair accessories, cheap jewellery

mums may hate plastic stuff, but the kids love it, so I wouldn't worry about it being cheap and cheerful.

[LIZS]

Buy packs of books from the Book People, if you still have time, or a sticker or colouring book from a bargain book shop or £ store. Wrap them if you prefer and give with a piece of cake.

[Beauregard]

Masks from claires.
Pound shop sweets.
Elc pocket money toys.

[TinyGang]

Sweets, little plastic toys, dinosaurs, party blowers, a balloon. There is no such thing as a tasteful/pc/healthy party bag. At least not one worth its salt. Mums may hate them, but I know my children set a lot of store by the party bag.

Dd had a nice mug one time to take home and the piece of cake was in it which was a bit different.

[fedda]

try retend mobile phones are very popular and cheep, also as an alternative, stickers/ crayons/ little books/chocolate medals/ chocolate buttons/ little notebooks + pens.

[Bozza]

Did DD's second birthday party recently. And had the following for the following categories:

Older boys(4/5):
small power ranger toy from ToysRUs in sale
football stickers
sweets
cake

Younger boys (1/2):
sparkly bouncy ball (my kids love these)
toy car
mini windmill
chocolate
cake

Girls (1/2/3):
sparkly bouncy ball
clips
play bracelet
sweets/chocolate
cake

[FrannyandZooey]

I expect I will get reviled, but I got little clay type flowerpots from Wilko's (about 30p each or something) and the children decorated them with glitter glue, and took them home in lieu of a party bag, with a little bag of earth and a sunflower seed.

[maddiebean]

WOW! Thanks girls, can't believe how quickly people replied. I need to go shopping (without dd)Sounds like Claire's is the place for the girls. I love the book people idea too, I'm going to look on their site too.
I think TinyGang you may be right, there's no such thing as a tasteful one (sigh!)

Thanks again.

Maddie
x

[TinyGang]

Blimey that's thinking outside the box Franny. Mine would be most pleased with that.

I'm very impressed but worried you've upped the ante on the take home pressie here. Also don't think I could handle 15 4yr olds armed with glitter glue. Respect.

[maddiebean]

FrannyandZooey I love that idea too! I did wonder about giving them all a flower to plant in their garden at home but then I didn't know if 3 yr old boys - sorry, didn't mean to be sexist would think that was ridiculous. Oh good grief. It's a minefield.

Maddie
x

[Gingerbear]

The Book People, box of 20 Usborne Apple Tree Farm books for £12.99

[Orlando]

Love party bags. It's the party I can't stand.

[EmmyLou]

For dd1's birthday we had a pottery painting party at home (they were 10 and they were all girls) which provided the activity and party bag in one. Smug job done.

[Elibean]

My pal (who also hates bags) bought a job lot of books for not very much money, and gave each child at her dd's 4th birthday party a book instead. According to her, the children liked that, and the Mums did too - they were all fed up with the usual stuff anyway.

[WestCountryLass]

I am going to give the girls one of those little beaded purses (30p or so in John Lewis) with a sweety necklace/bracelet inside.

Boys are another matter, maybe farting slime in a jar or something gross.

[hex]

seeds - kids love planting them

[Cappucino]

last party my dd went to she got a beautifully wrapped tin with a picture of a flower fairy on it

it was as big as a lipgloss tin

it had a little tag with her name on, and a tiny bag of glitter inside

she was made up

[YohoAhoy]

oooh, oooh, must just add to this thread, as have got fab party bags for ds' birthday in a few weeks.

He's going to be 7, and at the moment they all seem very interested in gems/fossils.

There's a website called juniorgeo.co.uk that does fact sheets/crystals/fossils etc for children. They have different choices of fossil in little velvet bags, each with a fact sheet.

They do individuals, and packs at varying prices. The one I got was £22 for 10 pieces.

Bit more expensive than I'd normally do, but it's different, they'll love them and this is probably the last year we'll go the full-on party route, so am well please.

Plus there's a little wrapped pressie with a happy birthday sticker on as an 'extra'.

Can you tell I'm pleased

[YohoAhoy]

oh, and they also offer a special set for school fundraising events - you pay xxx amount, then sell for whaetever you want, and they do sale or return.

May do this for school craft fayre near Christmas. Not major profits involved, but something different, and, dare I say it - educational

[zippitippitoes]

you can get seedsticks for 50p and then have a little bouncy ball 20p and a freddo

[harrisey]

Dd once came home with a helium baloon from a party and it was the best thing she had ever got!

For our parties (both in Feb) I tried to think outside the box and did 'Fairtrade' party bags - got little notebooks and pencils and chocolate from the Traicraft website, little bracelets for the girls and then went to our local Save the Children shop and bought little cars for the boys and bubble mix for everyone. We bought recycled paper bags and just wrote the names on them in marker pen.

They were a little more expensive than normal but there was no made in China plastic cr*p!