What to put in a party bag? Cost effective and not plastic crap!

[PickUpAPenguin18]

I'm looking for some party bag ideas please. My son is having a 4th birthday party next month and there should be about 12 children coming.

I've already bought some second hand, 20p Mr Men and Little Miss books which I was going to personalise by putting their names on. I also have paper bags, not plastic.

I don't want to spend a fortune on bits and don't want to buy plastic rubbish that will just end up being thrown away and going into landfill. Any lost cost, environmentally friendly ideas? Thank you.

My daughter turns 4 next month and has asked for a pirate-themed party. I have reusable pirate sticker scenes, a pirate hat, and will also add a net of chocolate coins as treasure.

Her favourites received in party bags so far have been a book, some bubbles and some chocolate buttons.

@Johnnysgirl @LilacPoppy
All I mean is write the names on in marker pen on the front of the book. It probably doesn't sound great to people but it went down so well at our wedding. We chose the non offensive Mr's and Miss's, although for adults we knew very well, a few cheeky ones were included too! My one was Miss Scatterbrain 😂
And now, lots of our family/friends have got them displayed in their homes which I thought was nice. It was just fun and different.
So for ds's birthday as the children will range between 4-7, I thought I'd put the books out as place names on their plates when we have food and then they can go in their party bags.

Fair enough, some people don't like the idea but I think it's nice.

Un inflated balloons are a choking hazard. They shouldn't be in party bags, especially not with cake and sweets!

The books are cute. I would still but them 2nd hand with a name on.

@ElectedOnThursday Nothing can be fine too for lots of reasons but I think children enjoy it and I like that. To be honest, I didn't do party bags for ds's birthday last year. We had a last minute garden party with about 8 children as we had a 10 week old baby and had just moved house! Plus I hadn't been well postnatally. So in that case, the low key party was definitely enough.

However, I do enjoy putting a party bag together. I'm a primary school teacher and I've even done them for my classes at Christmas. The children love it!

@Bumblebeefriend I like that. My son would be more than happy with a banana or apple in a party bag.

@Dreikanter love that! Really different too.

@LilacPoppy
Yes, that's what I did. I got them for 20p each at a boot sale last week 😁 They were in like new condition too.

The Mr Men books... I can kind of get the idea for adult gatherings, but I've experienced a party where someone did the books/place settings for kids, and several kids/parents weren't so happy. The 'inoffensive' Mr Men/Miss titles might still be an issue, labelling kids and underpinning/shining a light on aspects of their behaviour or personalities and so on.

You think it's nice, that's fine, but the Mr Men books theme isn't always the jolly jape it seems it should be, and I would bear in mind that many parents might not be over the moon at the idea.

Some great Idas on the thread though.

After years of doing party bags (three kids with big gaps) I started doing a lucky dip as the kids left which was popular and you could do one bigger thing rather than a bag full of tat. In party bags we have also done the Mr Men books (although writing their name on the front to me would scream “do not regift/pass on” regather than your intention to make it feel personal). I found bubbles to be the most popular thing in the party bag, smelly erasers went down well too.

Everyone is telling you that writing the names on the fronts of the books is a bad idea. And yet you're insistent because it's cute. It would be much cuter if the book could go to a charity shop in a year's time instead of the bin.

I am intrigued as a primary teacher why you think using books as place markers for a meal is a good idea. Won't they end up with food and drink all over them and will all the children be able to find the book with their name on it?

Can people just get over the Mr Men books. It's fine if you don't like the idea. I won't be causing offence to anyone for the record.
I really wish I hadn't mentioned them now and I don't know why I'm justifying myself about it. The point of me mentioning the books was more to do with them being secondhand (eco) and cosy effective.

Please can the thread go back to being about other ideas.

No one has said the books are a bad idea. We all think books are great in party bags. But if you write names on the front they aren't eco friendly and using them as placeholders is silly for a 4 year old's party.

Tiger is good for party bag stuff. Little packs of coloured pencils or pipe cleaners or little figures. One of those, the book and a piece of cake and everyone's happy. Don't put an apple in a party bag. It's just too try hard.

Honestly I've done years and years of kids parties.

Books.

Also not a fat of plastic 'party bag' tat. I have done socks (bought a multipack of fun glittery/patterned socks and split them), bath bombs, lip balms (again, big pack and split them), mini nail varnish, stick on earrings, stationery (cute mini notepads or pencils or highlighters shaped like lipsticks), keyrings with letters of first name on (all the kids at school have backpacks covered in keyrings). So usually one or two things like that - for example, a bath bomb and a jazzy pencil - then a small pack of something like Haribo and a Freddo Frog or similar.

The most popular thing I ever did was just one HUGE bar of chocolate for each child. They thought it was brilliant.

I love books that are inscribed. We still have ones from may years ago- they remind me of the giver! Sometimes I ask people to sign books they give me.

I volunteer at an Oxfam bookshop, and we get lots of personalised books- it's fine, not a problem. IF it's the right person signing the book it can really increase the value too!

what about one of those character cake mix sets, often on special offer for £1. I think of you don’t want tat then one bigger thing is better eg in spring, seeds with the compost and pot, a colouring book and nice pens, one good book.

My most hated thing is sweetie cones. The majority of the contents is binned. Why go to a party with ice cream/biscuits , give out cake then think sweeties on top? I don’t understand the thinking behind it.

People have picked up on the books because you were very clear in the OP you wanted to be eco friendly and reduce waste. To do that give the books that haven't been altered as personalised ones mean they'll be in the bin.

It depends if you want to be genuinely eco friendly or it's just an exercise to show the other parents how eco friendly you are by not using plastic.

Please don't do seeds. We have so many little packets of them, there's never enough in one pack to do anything worthwhile with and it's got a bit old hat now. I'd rather have the plastic tat - at least it gets played with!

I got a set of 10 Julia Donaldson story CDs for a tenner one year, and split them. That was about 8 years ago now though, when everyone had a cd player on their car. Probably a bit passé these days 😳

Agree that a book and a slice of birthday cake is plenty.

That's interesting. I love secondhand books and it's never phased me buying books with inscriptions.

I am not convinced a 2nd hand book would be received well, especially when you can always get 10 for £10 at the works. New book and more age appropriate surely makes that a better idea. Add to that a small chocolate (freddo etc) and a piece of cake and you are finished

Book + Freddo + balloon, job done.

We go to lovely parties where the parents have carefully sourced themed colouring books, pencils, stickers, seeds, little toys… they just do not get used.

And I wouldn’t use the books as placeholders at a table - they’ll go missing, get juice on them etc in minutes.