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Original poster

Help! Birthday! Is this true???

66 replies

Vitallyli · 03/10/2021 10:10

Hi I'm planning a little Birthday party for my 1yo in a kids cafe. There will be 10 kids age 6m-4yo. I am not from the UK and just realized they might be expecting guests presents? Not a thing where I'm from! What sort of thing would be appropriate and how much money do I spend on it per child? Does everyone get the same thing?

OP posts:
Theunamedcat · 03/10/2021 10:13

Do you mean party bags? It's usually a piece of cake and a few little toys like you buy in bulk from poundland

noenergy · 03/10/2021 10:13

I think you mean a party bag.
I normally spend around £1 and go to the pound shop and get 1 thing like a book or a toy rather than lots of plastic rubbish.
I then add a packet of sweets.

Other ideas would be bubbles or a sweet cone.

samwitwicky · 03/10/2021 10:14

Google pre-filled party bags and save yourself some time

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1 year olds Events & celebrations
MintMe · 03/10/2021 10:14

Party bags are pretty standard for parties where kids are 3+ but that's just a few low priced items and a piece of cake. We certainly didn't do party bags when DS had his first birthday party.

DiploCat1 · 03/10/2021 10:14

I have never heard of guest presents (2 dds aged 1 and 4). Am in UK. Unless you mean party bags (little bags of sweets/little cheap toys)? And even then they are not mandatory, it's about 50/50 whether people do them in my experience.

FlibbertyGiblets · 03/10/2021 10:17

I used to place a slice of the birthday cake in a "party bag" for each guest to take home but there is no need for a present for each of them.

Happy birthday to your little one!

mrsbitaly · 03/10/2021 10:17

For this age range I would just pop a book, bubbles and cake.

If you have time you can order from the works they sell very reasonable priced book like 10 for £5.00 get on ebay and buy a 12/15 pack of bubbles shouldn't cost more than a couple of pound.

To be honest though it's not a must these things can add up so popping a cake in a bag will be fine for this age.

ThePug · 03/10/2021 10:17

My eldest's first party was when he was 2 and instead of party bags I did a helium animal balloon for everyone (bought from Amazon and filled ourselves with a canister we still have and use for a couple each birthday, he's now 5!). For one year olds I think they'd love a balloon to go home with - maybe one of those small foil ones on a stick, you can get them at Card Factory. Or a book, which you can get in Poundland

EmmaGrundyForPM · 03/10/2021 10:18

I wouldn't do a party bag for a one year old

TakeYourFinalPosition · 03/10/2021 10:19

I wouldn’t do party bags for a one year old either. They’re massively losing popularity for older kids too, but they’ve never really been a thing for one year olds. Don’t worry about it.

PegasusReturns · 03/10/2021 10:20

“Party bags” are a thing.

Usually a small bag (plastic ones with Disney prints can be bought from supermarkets, more stylish paper or fabric ones can be bought online).

They usually contain something like a packet of crayons, stickers and a mini chocolate or sweets. But can also be very extravagant - DC have received some insane ones over the years!

If you’re in a cafe and they do giant cookies or gingerbread men you could put one in a paper bag and tie with ribbon for each child guest - this would be fine.

Other options are books/colouring books and give these out. Rather than put them in a party bag these tend to be put in a shopping bag and children encouraged to do a lucky dip.

Comedycook · 03/10/2021 10:21

Yes party bags... usually contain a slice of the birthday cake, sweets, a balloon (not blown up) bubbles, mini toy like a yo-yo for example, packet of crayons.

Lots of people don't do these anymore I've noticed and give a piece of cake and a sweet cone. Some people give the kids a book instead... usually from the pound shop!

Pinkplums · 03/10/2021 10:21

I’ve never bothered with party bags, especially not at age 1 when they mainly contain choking hazards and sweets!

Comedycook · 03/10/2021 10:22

People do expect them from my experience and it's a good prompt that it's time for everyone to leave when you start handing them out!

toomuchlaundry · 03/10/2021 10:25

I’m assuming they are losing popularity as they normally contain plastic tat.

NoToast · 03/10/2021 10:26

OP, the best party bag we ever had was a tiny biodegradable pot, compost in a bag and some cress seeds. Just had a sweet cone the other day that was popcorn with a few sweets on top. Perfect.

HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime · 03/10/2021 10:30

For one and two year olds I bought a multipack of books (10 Elmer books for £10 sort of thing) from the Book People, I think they trade under a different name now and wrapped them and gave them as the guests left.

Any supermarket party aisle is your friend for party bags.For anyone 3+ I did party bags, I bought a stack of paper bags and put a slice of cake, some bubbles, a pencil or little highlighter or novelty rubbers and a couple of fun size chocolates or haribo bags.

For Dds 10 th birthday I got some little pots for the children and set up an area where the children could chose 5 things from a selection to fill their tubs with, that went down a treat.

BrilliantBulb · 03/10/2021 10:30

You definitely don’t have to do them, especially for a one year old. But they are a good prompt to show its time to leave.

If you’re having a cake you could wrap slices of that up in napkins to send home? No need to put it in actual bags.

Notaroadrunner · 03/10/2021 10:34

It's not necessary and certainly not for a 1 yr olds birthday.

Newusernamelalala · 03/10/2021 10:34

I didn’t do party bags until mine were 4

EdgeOfTheSky · 03/10/2021 10:38

I wouldn’t do party bags for 1 year olds, and I wouldn’t be adding to waste with plastic tat or using helium. Give them a balloon (biodegradable, not those awful plastic or helium ones) and a piece of cake to take home if you like.

Newusernamelalala · 03/10/2021 10:38

So I don’t think you need to worry about party bags

felulageller · 03/10/2021 10:41

A party bag is just something to take their bit of cake home in. You can put a novelty toy in if you want but it's not essential and there probably wouldn't be anything suitable for such young kids.

Windingshrubberies · 03/10/2021 10:48

For my childs.1st birthday instead of party bags I gave each child a lanka kade wooden animal with a 'thank you for coming note' on a tag. It worked for the guests 0-5yrs and cost about £2 a child with no waste.

WatchWait · 03/10/2021 10:55

In the olden days when I was a little girl, kids when home with a slice of birthday cake and a balloon. It went mad in the 90s (competitive party bags) but I refused to play. Got told off by a couple of irate 6 year olds once, but a few other mums applauded my bravery 🤣
I'm glad to hear it's settled a bit. Nobody needs a load of plastic tat.