Party Bags .... why do we do them??????

[ghosty]

I can't stand doing them and I can't stand DS and DD receiving them.
Warning: Bah Humbug alert ...
Total waste of money for the hosts of the party ... complete PITA for the parents of the children getting them.
DS and DD came home from a party yesterday with bags brimming with chocolate and sweets (as if they didn't have enough AT the party) and a pile of cheap tatt that they won't look at again ... plastic crap ...

Who likes giving them (wasting money on tatt when you have already spent money on a party etc) and who likes receiving them? And why please?

Is there an alternative?

If you want an alternative, Ghosty, ds1 went to a party where the kids each got

1. piece of cake in a paper towel
2. to choose 2 small chocolate bars out of a basket
3. a little wrapped up prezzie: out of a lucky-dip bin (wrapped up pencil+erasor+ruler).

I love party bags. And I don't think they have to be full of sweets and plastic rubbish. I've had some lovely ones with tiny colouring books and pencils inside and not much else. It's just nice for the kids at the party to take somthing away, for parents of the child whose birthday it is to say thank you. We usually have a fairly long bus ride home with dd after a party and it's good to have something for her to play with on the way back. You can always chuck it in the bin later if you don't like it. Pointless gripe if you ask me, ghosty.

Dd1 has just brought home a party bag absolutly stuffed to the top with sweets.

My dd got a party bag this morning with a small pack of playing cards, a box of raisins, some blowing bubbles and a pack of hair slides. Fine by me. She was thrilled.

Just to point out, we now have a Party topic on MN.

I am quite proud of my party bags, I usually spend approx £1 on each, which includes the bag, cake, a cool balloon (we got huge elephants 8 for £1.50), mini nail varnish or body glitter, 2 x sweets/chocs, and a light up pen (6 for £1)

My kids love them and I am happy to do them. We have had 3 massive parties (30+ kids) for about £100 each time. Hire of hall, great themed b'day tea - last year was a royal ball with glittery champagne flutes and gold plates, year before was little mermaid meets nemo - mini boat boxes for all.

Sorry for posting a 'pointless gripe' mummylonglegs
I will try to stick to politics, religion and parent/toddler car parking in future.

I just wanted to say that I find them a pain, that is all. DS' birthday is coming up and I was hoping to get some ideas for an alternative. I have found in the past that some children ask for their party bag when they leave when they have just had fun and games and loads of yummy food and cake and I have a bit of a problem with that.
IMO the party is the 'gift' from the hosts to the guests ... especially with the expense of it all.
I do see that with long bus rides home etc some kids love them but when my DS gets them he is never really that bothered by them.
Last year I did a treasure hunt in the garden and gave all the children an empty party bag ... what they found (mini bubble mixture pots, mini yoyos, little cars etc ... they were limited to finding 2 things each) they could put in the party bag. We then had a pinata and any sweets they picked up went in the bag too. That was it. But it still worked out as quite an expense.
I love the idea of making something that they can take home ... I really like that alternative.
Maybe I will do a pass the parcel and the prize in each layer is their 'present' to go in the bags?

Ooh Crunchie - I might need to beg some ideas next year. Although it is months and months till DD's next birthday she has already decided (as they do!) she wants a Princess Ball for her 4th birthday party. Your Royal ball sounds great!

Not a pointless gripe at all Ghosty!

I wanted a cheap party for DD this year (it was week before my wedding), and with the party bags and everything else, it ended up costing me a small fortune.

I have no idea what I'll do next year, I like the going home with cup/plate idea, but I think £ will get in the way of that. If you don't give anything though, then you end up with disappointed kids and mothers glaring at you like you're evil!!!

I have a love/hate relationship with them. I hate receiving them because they are full of sweets and plastic rubbish, but I love giving them as I put a lot of effort into them and no sweets.

We wnet to a part last week for a 4 year old where the party bags were proffessionally done. They probably cost a fortune and were full of stuff, but they toys were still cheap rubbish where the bits fell off them! That said, the party was in a hired out restaurant with champagne on tap and two different entertainers!

For ds1's next birthday (5) I have put aside a pack of Usborne Farmyard Friends sticker story books. I have 10 of them that cost me less than a pound each. I plan to give these to each child.

It's my son's 5th birthday in a week, and we'll be hosting his first 'proper' birthday party with around 20 children from his reception class! (before, it's just been family). We've hired a hall for it - we'd have to anyway, as we live in a shoebox - so I've been trying to keep costs down re: party bags.

Some of the suggestions here have been great, but I've already planned my minimalist party bags, which will contain bubbles, a party blower and a slice of (probably homemade) birthday cake. I also got a couple of packs of the tiny 'soft stuff' pots from ELC for a fiver and split them - there are 15 in each pack, so each child will also get a little pot of playdough, and some will be left over for my ds to play with. I'm sure the kids will be happy with that little lot!

ALL party bags should contain bubble

I don't have strong feelings about them one way or the other. But, it seems that they are expected these days so there's not much choice in the matter.

The parties we've been to already have had party bags, so we're just doing what is expected, I suppose. None of the bags have been too objectionable, and contained such things as mini gel pens, sunglasses and a mini chalk-board and chalks, but some have included sweets.

However, for my ds's party I'm certainly won't be having pass-the-parcel. I just can't bear the "pressie for everyone in each layer" nonsense. It makes the actual prize at the end a complete anti-climax.

ghosty, funnily enough at my 6 year old son's party yesterday, we did a pass the parcel with a present in every layer, making sure each of our six guests got one each. (kites, lego, pencil cases, clown wigs - all costing £1.00 each from our pound shop). It worked well. When my oldest son was 11 we did a raffle - each person got a raffle ticket, then when their number was called, could choose a prize from a tray of different stuff - blow up air guitars, bubble bath, torches ( more pound shop stuff).

Mind you, I am happy with party bags, mainly because I know live near shops selling cheap stuff to fill them. I put in lots of pencils and rubbers, plus a few sweets. As frogs said, party bags are great bribes for reluctant leavers. If my sons get a bag too full of crappy sweets,I tell them they must ration out the sweets, they hand me the bags, then I 'lose' some of the contents.

I wish a craft type idea would work for us, but I suspect it wouldn't. I really couldn't guarantee that either of my sons would want to spend time at a party making things, nice though it would be. What happens if you hold a party craft session and some children won't join in?

tigermoth ... raffle ... that is a GREAT idea!
Thanks for that

Tigermoth, blimey, your ds2 is SIX? Doesn't time fly?

I've always been anti them Ghosty too. We've always handed out fun size chocolate instead but this year I think I am going to do them, I can't even explain why really. I just am.

I do it because its part of the whole birthday celebration package. If I didnt do it it owuld be like buying my children a new duvet and pillow or a pair of curtains for their birthday. For the same reason when the round table Santa comes on his rounds at xmas I always give to the collection not because I necessarily want to but its just the done thing.

DD's getting a new duvet for Xmas

the actual duvet or nice covers?

had to chuckle at your post skinnycow as it reminded me of one xmas when we were about 6 and 8 yrs old. We had these huge pressies from a (slightly eccentric) great aunt -when we opened them they were blankets...plain, boring blankets....
Back to the topic though...anyone elses child come home with a gift that is better than the pressie you've given? DD went to a party where every guest came home with a lovely gift wrapped pressie to the value of about £6!!!

I don't do them.

I don't do them.

oops!