What do you put in party bags? Childrens party virgin here!

[Nbg]

I havent the foggiest what I am doing.
I know I need bags but wtf do I put in them?

depends on age of child

This time - dd 6th - we're doing Book People books (order a Lucky Dip for the age group/sex) and some chocolate coins.

We didn't put anything in them ... we gave each child a bag with their name on when they arrived, and then they put their party game prizes into the bags ... this was for ds's 4th birthday, and the kids were still at the age where they "win" something for every game!

Added a slice of cake at the end, and that was fine.

Its for a 4th party.

Am going to do a Pinata and possibly pass the parcel.

Thats another point. What kind of unisex pressie can you do for pass the parcel?

felt tips?

Playdoh
Crafty stuff ?
Paint your own mug/piggybank gift set (very popular)

Or a massive bag of sweets (watch for the winning child's mum's rather forced smile on this one !)

Ahhh yes Playdough.

Will trawl the cheapy shops me thinks.

you can get party packs of playdoh - small pots, abotu 12 in a pack. Bubbles are good too.

What about books instead of party bags.

The book people do books at a reasonable price.

For example (can't rename links)

www.thebookpeople.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10051_67722_100_10007_10006_category _

I'm doing DS's 4th birthday soon and have decided that I am going to buy some cheap white T shirts and some fabric pens from Baker Ross. They are going to decorate a T shirt each then it will go in the party bag with a slice of cake.

This is probably a very silly idea, I have no idea if they will dry in time and I'm sure the mess will be horrific but I'm going to give it a go anyway.

Thats a fab idea Chocteapot!
Only thing is, I dont think we would have the time for it.

Will bear it in mind though.

Thanks for the link lizziemum

I am an old hand at this. Pulls up chair.

There are websites where you can buy the bags and the presents. Also Toys R US do an aisle of party presents. The ones I have done are as follows (not all at same time).

Book people books (children dubious but parents love it, and at that age, you are mainly trying to please the parents)
Colouring pencils and colouring book
Chocolate (little bags of buttons - better than sweets which parents tend not to like)
Blowy bubble stuff (they ALL LOVE this)
Bouncy balls
Key rings
Balloons
Collectible cards - whatever is the favourite right now

Don't forget to stick a slice of the cake in a napkin in the bag.

Have fun xx

I never put a piece of cake it and the pieces that dd comes home with end up on the counter forgotten about, and then thrown out!! Dont want that to happen with my lovingly made creations

hana it is a TRADITION. You must put in a piece of cake wrapped in a serviette that matches the bag/cake/tablecloth. It will never get eaten but will be found months later still in the party bag along with the cheap toy and some half eaten flumps.

My DS1 is 4 and things he has liked from party bags (and pass the parcels) include:

Cake
Smarties
Bubbles
Bouncy balls
Little cars
Plastic wind-up chattering teeth
More cake
An animal mask
Toy frogs
Cake again

He has loved all the pointless plastic tat that I hate. So that's what I put in the party bags for his birthday.

Although be careful about the bags themselves. My DH got the bags for DS1's 4th birthday party. They were white paper ones and looked like sick bags off an aeroplane.

NOTHING. don't do it. join the anti-party bag campaign. a piece of cake and a packet of chocolate buttons (if you don;t like too much sugar) or haribo (if you don't like mess) or a box of raisins (if you really want the kids to turn against you)

and why not make it all a little more special, hat, and put those couple of things in a nice bright party bag.

This is mn - you'll get a lot of 'book' suggestions.

how's about

tooter
balloon
sweetie
cake in napkin

smiles all round

nah......dd is 6 in a few weeks and I've avoided it so far! although one year they took home decorated cupcakes.....they were v v messy to wrap up as the kids had decorated themselves!

I have to say that my DS has been really excited about the whole concept of party bags, and especially getting a little thing that isn't a "present" but is the kind of stuff (tat) you only get in a party bag. Doesn't have to be much.

the thing is - the smiles invariably turn to tears when things get lost or broken, or don;t work in the first place; or come in the wrong colour; or create intense jealousy on the part of siblings; or get left on the floor for me to tread on; or get thrown away because they make an incredibly annoying noise...life was simpler before some marketing geek came up with the idea of party bags...imho, of course

partypieces.com

we got the gift cups which come with the cellophane to wrap them up in.

that is a present in itself and they are v reasonable pricewise.

bubbles, balloon and a packet of sweets and it looks like a mega present and they get the cup too