... to ask for party bag ideas!

[44PumpLane]

I know this has been done and apologies in advance, but this is a fairly specific question.

4 year old birthday party (if it's able to go ahead in late November).

I'm getting fancy bobbles and hair clips as a fun but practical party bag favour for the girls..... Any idea what the male equivalent could be?

There may not be a male equivalent as all the things I can think of would be equally enjoyed by all but I just don't want it to be plastic tat for the bin, the hair stuff felt fairly practical as well as fun.

Thanks!

I did toy story cups at that age for the boys and filled with sweets and cello wrapped them.
Yes it's sweets, yes it's plastic but all the feedback was great.
Cant remember what version the girls had though as was only 2 girls
In fact the cup is still kicking about now and gets used and he's now 14.

One Yr I just did a book and paint by numbers from pound land and ribboned together with a bag of sweets. Again everyone loved it.

I hate all the little tatty bits that inevitably end up in the hoover

Craft things? crayons, stickers etc? Reflector disks for bike spokes?

Also remember not all girls have long hair. (Though of course all your DD's friends may well have.)

A book and sweets are the standard around here - bulk by books from somewhere cheap (Bookpeople used to be great but I think they've closed down) and have a selection of three or four so hopefully most kids get something they already have.

But if you prefer lots of little stuff, go with something that gets used up, things I've like over the years have been bubble mix, thick chalk for drawing on pavement, stickers, fake tattoos, fancy pencils.

How about just one item instead of a bag full of little bits and bobs? As it’s a November birthday, something like a paint your own bird feeder kit? Or another painting kit - money box or treasure box?

Mini pull back cars or hot wheels cars likely to be popular with boys too.

Thanks for the replies so far with some great ideas... Actually really like the cups idea too as that would be practical and fun which is the main aim!

I'm kot even sure who would be invited at the minute but of those I can think of off the top of my head all the girls have long hair... But would get clips/bands if I thought anyone had shorter hair.

Though I'm liking the cups idea so may just go Peppa, Paw Patrol and Disney cups for all with sweets and a few bits in- very helpful!

Hobby craft have nice little gifts, depends on budget really but I did a Halloween party a few years ago and sent everyone home with a felt/stitch type craft to make ghosts etc, they weren't expensive. They also do window hangings with an initial for the dc to paint, like stained glass. Or an original to decorate at home etc. There's all sorts

Have to say though, bouncy balls, bubbles, cake and sweets always go down a treat with my 3

I also hated all of the tat in party bags.
I often themed the party bags to the parties.

So when my daughter had a Barbie themed party, we gave away cheap / basic barbie dolls that I had picked up for £2 in the sales.

When she had a gymnastics party, we gave out a ribbon on a stick (+ a cone of sweets and cake). A friend moaned to me years later that she was still trying to get rid of the bloody ribbon :-)

Stuff a bear party (came to a hall) and got given the bear to take home

Otherwise, mugs full of sweets, books, items they had decorated themselves in the party (T-shirts bags etc).

But if I'm honest, the gifts they liked the best were the big cones of sweets.

Pencils with rubber on are a massive hit here for both boys and girls. Snap bands, sweets and book also rate highly

We threaded conkers and put them in party bags when ds was small, they went down really well.

Sorry, just seen yours is 4, maybe a bit young for conkers.

Cool sunglasses and temporary tattoos. I have a friend who always sticks cool sunglasses in her DC's party bags and I look forward to them every year given the amount that get lost/chewed/snapped in our house.

My ds is three and car obsessed so I have bought car based craft stuff from baker ross which usually comes in packs of 4 or 6. You could have a look there. Also what about biscuit decorating kits or something similar? They come with ready made biscuits and homemade icing to decorate and are based around different themes. You can also get sweet cones which are always a hit or sweet jars to make it extra special. Then there is all the usual stuff such as crayons, colouring books, bouncy balls, bubbles etc.

I usually just go to the baker Ross website and see what bulk buy craft kits they have on offer. They usually have some kind of pottery painting set in 10 packs or fake tattoos in sheets of 100 you can cut up and divvy out.

Oh and for DDs 5th birthday we went to The Works, they had colour in tote bags with a pack of 4 fabric pens for £1 each. They had elephant, unicorn or dinosaur designs on and we bought when they had a 30% offer so they actually worked out at 70p each. Popped a bag of haribo in each tote bag to finish it off.

fake tattoos?

Paper planes.

I second paper planes. My son still plays with them. I ordered them on eBay. I actually used them as a stocking filler but would buy again for his fourth birthday party bags.

Fluorescent shoelaces. You can get bags of them quite cheaply on Amazon, although I don't know if all 4 year olds would have shoe laces.

Fake tattoos.

Honestly, having wasted far to much time, energy and money on this stuff, over far too many years, just do sweets.

I always wonder why fake tattoos exist as they banned sweet cigarettes and both have the same age limit.

Anyway as you were

I've spent years stressing over party bags but now hand out sweet tubes and a piece of birthday cake.

These are usually available around November and priced at £1 for two.

I put shells in. They are biodegradable and kids like them. But the parents thought I was weird.

We did dot to dot books, wooden spinning tops, small bag of haribo, bendy pencil, disco glasses.

Also, some brought younger siblings