Party bags without the plastic crap

[QuilliamCakespeare]

DS is having a birthday party soon. I'd like to give the kids a little something to take away with their cake but, as a parent, I cringe when I see the party bags full of plastic crap come out. 90% of it ends up in the bin within half an hour of getting home. It's a waste of money and I don't really want to contribute to landfill.

Any ideas of cheap but non-plastic-crap stuff I could put in them instead? I can only really think of books but suspect that'll end up quite expensive for 30 kids and might come off as a bit wanky. Help!

www.littleotterpartysupplies.co.uk do eco-friendly party bags.
Stationery goes down well.

I often do something like a notebook and then some sweets.

This year I have done boys (11yrs) pencil case - reduced to £1 in Tesco and girls (7yrs) tsum tsums - from Poundland. I will then put in a small bag of haribo and some lollies.

I did an Easter egg one year.

Paper party bags from Amazon.

Temporary tattoos (not plastic free, unfortunately, but not too bad).

Bouncy rubber balls

Books - you can often get sets quite cheaply if you plan in advance, then split them up.

Little bubble baths (again, not plastic free, but at least the bottles can be recycled afterwards)

Depending on your numbers & age at the party we have done & received in the past a piece of cake with one of the following:
Top Trumps (cheap on amazon if you get a job lot)
A squishy or squidgy light up toy
Sweet cones
A kids character cup or mug (poundshop)
Books (from the bookshop people)

All have gone down well with parents and kids and something they will potentially use.

@ErrolTheDragon 5 years old. I love the dinosaur idea but Schleich tend to be quite pricey. Maybe I need to look at some multi packs or something?

Yy to sweet cones, they go down a treat and are inexpensive.

A book.
Homemade play dough.
Seeds and plant pot.
Cake 😀

Thanks all, it's really helpful to gather a few opinions.

I really like the idea of something crafty so will look into that, as well as The Book People 10 book packs.

I do have some younger siblings coming along so might do something separate for them.

Coconut vs pineapple is utter madness but I quite like that. At least it'd give the Reception class mums something to talk about!

I know sweetie cones are popular but DS got one at the weekend and it's bloody enormous. There's no way he'll get through it. It's just another one for the bin in our house 😫.

I second packs of books from the Book People they work out about £1 each

I made sweet cones instead of party bags for my daughters last birthdays kids and parents seemed to enjoy

I use books from the Book People and paper bags to avoid plastic. Less than £1 per book and a mini pack of haribos.

We had a bendy straw, balloon, cake and some marshmallows in DDs last party we had for her. Not expensive and likely to be used/eaten.

I did a "make your own" party pot for DDs birthday this year which went down very well. They really liked choosing their own bits and everything came from Asda multipacks in the sale and were all useful items so hopefully weren't thrown in the bin and the left overs just went into DDs stationary box.

Each child was given a paper cup with "happy birthday" on it after pass the parcel then went to a table which had the contents in separate tuppaware boxes and chose a pencil, eraser, highlighter and a bottle of bubbles each and a couple of packets of sweets (small haribo bag, mini crunchies etc) to fill it up.

I love coconut Vs pineapple. I think my 6 year old would find it really amusing.

The best gifts he had had are friendship bracelets, inflatable guitars and sunglasses. To be fair high levels of plastic but all used for a long time and they fit some great photos of the kids at the party.

I've done socks before now. Or printed t shirts made during the party.

I made the bags for the latest party and hated myself about half way through. Next year I’m buying paper ones.

I bought pens this year (funky ones that lit up on offer) and then did sweets and cake. One year I did Wilko ‘Lego’ at £1 a pop (again on offer I think) plus sweets and cake.

I only ever put consumables in party bags, crisps, mini bags of haribos and a couple of mini bars. The parents can dole the stuff out as and when they want to, or they can bin it.

My DS is only 2, but for his parties we put in temporary tattoos, the straws that are glasses, and some craft things.

The best one my DS got once was a piece of cake some stickers and a book. We've also had notebooks, pencils and an eraser which have gone down well. I'm with you - I hate the crap you get in party bags.

My dd's having a 6th party soon too and the bloody party bags are the one thing I stress about, neither of my two like the sweet cones, they tend to be mainly marshmallows and those cheap chocolates with the sprinkles on.

This year I'm planning on some Haribo, a balloon, pencil and stickers.

Watching with interest as I can never find alternatives . Sweet cones not popular round here. Am debating a book each. Lego / Wilco equivalent sounds appealing thanks Delurking.

Several times I’ve got packs of Lego figures from eBay. They are knock offs but you can’t tell the difference. I’ve got superheroes for one superhero party and another I got little dinosaurs. They work out about 90p each.

The poundshop sell medium plastic animals like lions, zebras, elephants etc that are surprisingly good quality - plastic but have years of play value.

Things we've done -

Paint your own sun catchers, each set came with 3/4 mini paints - got them from Hobbycraft for 50p each in a sale!

Lego blind bags

Bath bombs

Slime pots with hidden toys

Stationery sets

Matchbox/hot wheels cars

Flashing yoyos

Helium balloon with a chocolate bar tied to the ribbon

Eg
rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F163257522101

rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F182524415154

I second Book People. I used to get these for my dcs and they always proved popular.