What do you like in a party bag?

[TokenGinger]

I'm doing a birthday party for DS for the first time this year and I wondered what to put into party bags. When we go to parties, we end up with a bag of things DS often doesn't use or play with and it inevitably ends up in the bin or plastic toys out into his toy box never to be seen again, or little colouring boxes and crayons again which rarely get used as lovely as they are.

I went to a party last year and they just gave a sweet cone and a plant pot with some seeds for children to grow a flower themselves which I thought was fab.

I'm thinking of doing a paper bag of pick and mix sweeties with a cupcake, but wondered if that's a bit naff and if I should add something else?

What do you like to see in party bags and what gets used/appreciated by your DCs?

One year I got a load of reusable colour change cups with lids and straws from amazon, think it was about £15 for 10. Then I asked a local lady who had a cricut to do the first initial of all the party guests which I then stuck to the cups. I gave them to the guests at the start of the party so everyone had their own cup, no sharing drinks, lids meant fewer spills and then at the end they took them away with a slice of cake wrapped in a napkin. Everyone was happy and lots of them have told me they still use the cups!

Edible stuff, anything else goes in the bin eventually. When toddler age books were good too.

Book, sweets

Actual things that might actually be used and not plastic tat that ends up in corners all over the house and car

Age? For the last party we did we just gave one of the big £1 or so pack of Haribo. I’m sure some parents wouldn’t be thrilled but also who wants all that party bag tat lying around either!

I used to put a book and sweets (and birthday cake) in the party bag. Unfortunately Book People doesn’t exist anymore, but you used to get ten books for £10. (There may be other companies doing this today).

Just cake. Actually that often doesn't get eaten either as it dries out from being wrapped up in a napkin.

I wouldn't do a cupcake or bun of any kind, they inevitably end up getting squashed by whatever else is in the bag.

Honestly the pic n mix sounds fine on its own, maybe a few stickers.

This is perfect. Please don't feel the need to do elaborate bags with lots of stuff. Sweets and cake work well and if your numbers change on the day it means you don't have a pile of plastic stuff to take home (or a panic if you get an uninvited guest).

The main purpose of a party bag is to signal the end of the party!

Books
Craft set (wilko/hobby craft)

I hate sweetie cones. They eat loads of sugar at the party and then come home with a bit of cake and a massive cone of sweets. The sweets mostly end up in the bin.

My DD’s party is next week. For her party bags I’ve got paper bags which I will put pick n mix in, then I’ve got a little mochi squishy toy, a little popit keychain they can put on their bags and some glow sticks. A slice of cake will go in at the party.

Sweet cone is perfectly fine in my experience but my DD is good at eating a few and putting them away for later and the parties we go to often don’t have actual sweets. Stickers also go down well in our house and actually get used as do bubbles.

Glow sticks always go down well, along with small packs of sweets like haribos (we use them for snacks on days out etc) I think sweet cones are a waste tbh, as they’re usually full of filler sweets Ds doesn’t eat (but he’s quite picky!)

one of the good ones we had was a mini make your own biscuit kit, they’d got a local firm to put together

I put mini muffins in ours instead of squashed cake

I love the idea of books, or a big bag of haribo.

I'm a hobby baker so was planning on baking some cupcakes myself and putting them into the little individual containers.

Someone makes a fair point about if kids don't turn up (or excess children turn up - extra siblings!), being left with extra bags or not enough bags, so maybe I'll just buy some containers of sweets and let the kids do their own pick and mix with a cupcake and book to take, and any surplus books will be gratefully kept by DS.

I forgot to mention, he's going to be 4.

I don't like the sweet cones, partly because they usually have marshmallows and sour sweets which the kids don't like and because they nag to eat them and end up sulking because I have to take them off them to stop them eating the whole lot.

They like stickers, bouncy balls, pens, balloons, bubbles, keyrings, bracelets, notebooks etc

I am not a fan of sweet cones either. DS is a really fussy kid when it comes to sweets, so a pick and mix is better for him where he can choose what he likes.

I'm going to get searching for books! I'll see if The Works still do 10 for £10.

You used to be able to get plastic footballs from the pound shop. They were appreciated by ds and his friends. Alternatively any toy that isn’t loads of little bits of plastic, and is actually playable with. Dd used to like the books, ds not so much.

I used to buy things when I spotted them in the sales. Got some great bits over the years which looked a lot more spendy than they actually were.

Theres cute small kaleidoscopes in Amazon that you get about 6 for £8. And books

When kids under 9 bubbles and stickers.

Bubble wands always go down well here with the little ones. Does the party have any theme.

I decent thing, cake and sweets.
Plastic shite should be banned!
Best birthday party bags my kids had contained one big thing like a book, a light saber or a fidget toy - they lasted ages and gratefully received!

Ive done sweetcones for years.
I always make 10 extra for siblings.
And if they dont show up or whatever then we bring home and we can eat them its no problem
Also cheap to do.
I done some in January. 50 cones, costco for the sweets, spent £23 plus £3 ebay for 'thank you for coming to my party stickers'
So approx the 50p each

Plus a slice of cake

Cake in a napkin because it’s traditional, and it always gets eaten in our house – the napkin has to be prised off DD who will try to suck off the very last crumb of icing. Notepad and pencil has gone down well with 3/4 year olds who all like to “write”. Little wooden make-your-own keychain, or seeds, or similar activity-based thing that kills some rainy day time and only contributes 1 piece of tat to a household. I prefer one good thing to a bag full of crap, however tempting the “cat unicorn doughnut pencil eraser” I’ve just seen on a party bag filler site is…

Depends on age. Young enough for picture books, then 10 for £10 from the works shop, then a small bag of haribo. We did little thank you stickers and put them inside the front cover. Dear X, thanks for coming to my party. Hope you had fun! From, Y.

Also, if you're looking for activities for the party, don't decorate your cupcakes, just add some icing to the top and put out plates of sprinkles, sweeties etc and the kids can do their own for an activity.

For DD's 5th birthday, she had a superhero party. Each bag had a foam superhero mask, a superhero puzzle book, small pack of crayons, superhero temporary tattoos, stickers, snap bands and a small pack of haribo and a Freddo. Everything was bought in bulk on Amazon and I got loads of people saying how much the kids loved the bags xx

Oh I love that idea! I just found them. They're fab x