Alternatives to party bags?

[fuzzledface]

Any ideas? Are sweet cones the way to go?

I’ve seen books suggested but it’s so soon after Christmas I’m not sure!

Bath slime
Book
Bath bomb
Notebook and pen
Colouring book
Activity book
Water bottle
Fashion jewellery
Hair accessorise

Bubble bath

Shower gel

Reusable water bottles. (there's a party venue near us that gives out ones with their logo on, filled with some sweets).
Mugs with child's initial on.
Book.

I despise sweet cones!

I gave out Hot wheels cars 2 years running for my DS when he was 5 & 6. Very popular & the cars were about £1.50. Other than sweets/tat, he has a received a lego story/sticker book which he really liked & a slinky which he loved, even though we live in a bungalow!

Oh yes we've had footballs before, they went down very well!!

My little boys party bags were a big hit!

Paper bags off ebay and a pack of balloon sticks so no helium needed.

Filled with..

£1 shop foam animal masks.... £1 for 6. Kids loved the different animals and the spares went in his dressing up box.

Wilko clappy hands ( these were plastic which we werr against ) £1 for 5 and my sons is still in his music/noise box and hasnt fallen apart.

Tube of bubbles
Sheet of stickers ( bought a multi pack book and put 2/3 sheets per bag)
Small bag haribo ( coz is it even a party bag without sweets?)

They came in at about £1.24 a bag and were great.

Have also been to a party recently where you collected a baloon on a stick and a 'boy or Girl' gift out of a box on the way out which was a £1.50 craft set from wilkos ( tiaras for girls, jungle animals for boys)

What age are children & how many?

DD has been given some craft kits which She enjoyed doing and helped her wind down a bit after the party excitement.
She also got given a cookie mix that was fun to make, but she did get confused at first at being given a bag or flour and sugar!

It’s an 8th birthday party.

I like the craft idea!

www.hobbycraft.co.uk/shark-suncatcher-kit/642523-1000

Are these too childish do you think? They have various characters at £1 each!

Hey are cool. Brilliant party favour. Kids will love them.

My dd got a decopage kit instead of a party bag at one party. No plastic tat, she loved doing it and it's sat on her shelf still

I went with a hobby craft set too. On sale so good value. Good wee sets like paint ur own piggy bank or picture frame. Just added in pack sweets.

Have always either done books or something in the party theme (last one was a circus skills theme so did juggling scarves/a diablo).

Lush bath bombs!

I gave out loom band kids when they were a big craze (age 5).

Also have given out books from The Book People (age 4).

I bought my kids slime kits from hobby craft for £4.

www.hobbycraft.co.uk/clear-slime-set-150ml-4-pack/644720-1000

I'd go books or socks/ bags (what good ideas).

Parents evil like me would chuck the sweet cones or not let child have many. So a total waste of money.

Remember kids with allergies may not be able to have sweets/ cake etc and bath bombs/ slime etc.

I have done a book + lollipop. Only one kid complained!
Sticker books.
Those colour in fabric bags with a few sweets inside.
This time I bought those big tubes of smarties.
We've had seeds before but forgot to plant them.
My kids do like plastic crap, but not as much as an activity book.
I also hate sweet cones. I guess smarties aren't much better, but at least everything is comsumable and recyclable.

I did a lucky dip and they seemed to like it. My budget was £1 a head and between The Works, Wilko, poundshop, primark managed to stick to that easily enough. The other thing I thought of was getting them a pair of sunglasses each-Primark have them for about £1.50.

I have given mugs and make up bags/pencil cases (depending on age) filled with sweets and they went down very well. Love the lucky dip idea.

Oh I love the pencil cases idea!

Baker Ross is a great website for cheap craft things. Works have a offer code online at the minute too for 10% off £10 spend, 20% off £20 and 30% off £30.

We've done bag of absolute tat, Tesco party stuff which I felt bad even giving out, it was pure crap.

Last year we did the colour in tote bags £1 each from the works.

I bought a load of those tin money banks one year. Think they were about 80p, and gave everyone a bit of cake to take home.

I think I’ll do a lucky dip of craft kits. I won’t wrap them as I’ll get a selection of stuff and the kids can just choose one of the way out.

It’s a quick leisure centre party and lasts less than an hour so there isn’t even any food. It’s a common one around this area so no one is going to be offended but the people pleaser in me still feels a bit icky about it. I’ll do a cupcake to take away so not to waste time cutting the real cake up!

What about a fancy cupcake in a cup? I did that one year for 10 year olds and they loved it. I picked up the cups reduced to about 50p each in Tesco.