that " book in a party bag " idea some CLOT had once

[Frivol]

well it goes down very badly here.
My kids like books.

they like parties

they like party bags

they dont like them mixing.

a party bag BEST case scenario is sweets, with a football keyring( who has keys aged 6?!) if you haev to.

when i was little i had a rep for going to the parties with my mate Michael and after 10 mins we asked for the party bag and pissed off home.

We walked home alone i think.
you lot who are saying abotu books YESYES YES fgs books are nice but invariably KIDS dONT WANT them or the books you can afford are little better than plastic parachute men.

Yes kids SHOULD just be bloody grateful, but they they are a tough crowd and all I was saying is that if YOU are thinking " oh kids will love a book"
THEY

WONT

and rofl@rocks "I was a little mortified, but at the same time strangely defiant
"

ROFL @ "Barbie pooping out of a cake". I'd like to have seen that!

At my daughters first birthday party recently, a little home done affair (really for her older brother), the children ate the cake at the party straight after singing happy birthday and lighting and relighting the candle at least 10 times so everyone could blow it out. Then instead of party bags I gave out bucket and spade sets, they were only a couple of euro each at a cheapo shop, barbie ones for the girls and nemo ones for the boys. Went down a storm and even the 1 year olds can use them.

I hate party bags, I'm giving all the boys a gormiti at ds' party this year. (Bah humbug emoticon)

For my ds's 5th birthday we had a 't-shirt' table with white t-shirts (£1 each from tesco) and fabric pens and a 'crown making table'. I made up crowns out of card and the kids decorated them with pom poms, glitter, feathers, felt tips etc. The guests went home with these and a slice of cake and were very proud of their creations. I noticed that the t-shirt table appeared at 3 subsequent parties so parents obviously liked it too. The children seemed to enjoy the crown making most of all though.
This year aged 9, we went to see McFly and they (all 3 of them) got a tour t-shirt instead of a party bag... much more expensive and not nearly as stylish as the ones they had made aged 5!
My kids love books in party bags by the way!

i've done stretchy dinosaurs (big box, super cheap from ebay) which were a big hit

and Ben 10 face cloths

and hairslides and wee bracelets

wee matchbox cars

I love party bags.

Having said that dc recently came home from a party with a barbie and ben 10 book each (smallish ones that fitted in bag) and they were delighted.

Pound shop excellent source of pb goodies [no one will guess]

DS loves party bags and loves whatever is in them books, craft stuff, erasers, crayons, plastic alien figures sweets etc. I always put a little book in-if they don't read it that's up to them! Yes maybe they would prefer one composed completely of tat-but 3 weeks later the tat will all be broken and the book will still be there to pick up and read (hopeful emoticon)....

Although alphabet flashcards and boxes of raisins hmmm there's an idea for DDs 1st.....
Also love the idea of a seed/plant for DS's 4th hmmm LadyG sees most poncetastic party bag ever approaching (books and seeds not normal party bag fare round 'ere)

We went to a party recently where they did the two cakes thing. Worked well for us as the 'official' cake was of the vanilla sponge jam and buttercream variety which DD won't touch with a bargepole (can't stand jam), and the subsitute was choccie cake!

They did use both cakes but it was a huge party with about 40 kids, so obviously 1 supermarket bought fancy cake was not going to do the job.

Lady G - you can get tiny jointed teddys or beanys from most party bag companies for less than £1. Have also done rubber ducks that change colour in hot water for little ones in the past which went down well.

As you may have guess I'm one of these sad cases that loves doing party bags!

Stuff DS likes to get in a party bag:

Anything edible
Stickers
Bubbles
Book
Magazine
Masks
Balloons
Transformers
and a stretchy dinosaur he got once

He's not particularly fussed about the rest of the plastic tat. So, in a spirit of "giving stuff the kids will appreciate", when I do a party bag I generally put in stuff from that list. So sometimes there will be a book, not out of wanky smuggery but because my DC would like it and they can't be so freaky that no other children in the world are similar.

I like the bucket and spade idea, but mine have winter birthdays (and don't like it so much that I'm prepared to have a third child just to use it )

Trishyfish (okay I have no party bag experience!) but maybe your DD could go with you to buy some cheap jewellery from Asda/Tesco, then stuff them in a bowl for them to choose on the way out.

Maybe they could make a bracelet at the party (although might not work out too well actually on the beach!) - kills some time and saves the need to do anything other than have them take them home with some cake.

Loving the make-it-at-the-party / take-it-home combo... you MNers are genius

PortAndLemon, you could still use buckets and spades. You could do a luau theme; that's always fun in the winter.

Any fun ideas for a farm birthday? DS will be 2 in a few months and his major obsessions are cows, tractors, and singing "Baa baa basheet" at the top of his lungs. Going to do bandana party bags with candy corn and farm stickers, not sure what else to put in.

I hate party bags - my children always seem to come back with stuff which seems just for the sake of it - chews, sugary gum things and solid sugar lollies, those plastic puzzles, gimmicky pencils, etc.
We've done things like beachballs, mini paddling pools, books, etc. which I much prefer.
Superdrug do a great range of summer things - we paid about 59p each for the beach balls and water frisbees (for a beach party theme), mini lurid pink paddling pools from a local "cheap and tacky" shop were about £2 each (for about 10 3 year old children - and the boys loved them as it was something they were allowed that was pink!), all of which we filled and put out for a paddling pool party, then they each took one home with them (without the water!), and places like The Book People do packs of 10 books for under £10.
This keeps the cost down or at least the same as all the tat and are generally things that won't get thrown away quite so quickly - and probably appreciated slightly more than the short-lived attention span - and hyperactive behaviour-inducing - sweets and lollies too soon before bedtime!
Having said that, our school collects these 'party bag' and 'McDonalds' type small things to give to children in our local hospital's burns unit for when they have to have painful injections, etc. so if you can filter them out of the party bags before they disappear into the depths of your child's bedroom, this seems like a good use for them

My mum always did fun party bags. Obviously usual cake and sweets then over the years stuff like eye patches, those cars you pull back and they move forward, little set of face paints, tinkerbell nail varnish (it peeled off), tiger balloons, stick on earrings, magic tricks. Years later she ended up working with a girl I went to primary school with told my mum how much she loved our parties.

I put in things like mini colouring books, crayons, plastic dinosaurs, little cars, piece of cake and one sweetie item e.g. lollipop or freddo choc bar.

It tends to bug me when DS comes back from a sugar loaded party tea with a bag full of sugar and additive loaded crap plus cake with blue icing and then wants to add to the sugar/additive overload by consuming the party bag straight away. Once I've averted his attention and put it in the drawer for later it mostly ends up being binned!

my kids are 3 and 2. they love party bags for all of ten minutes. i, then collect the key rings, lollies, sharpners,etc. ( except bubbles which kids keep). I put all bits in a jar and use it as "treats" for other kids that come round. also use it for trick or treaters at halloween.... managed to collect two jars last year and both were emptied on halloween.

These paper lazers always seem to go down well in a party bag: www.hawkin.com/find/keyword-is-paper+lazer/product-is-01873?SearchIsReferrer=true

Because everyone likes different things, I tended to play safe and mix gifts so: cake, small pack haribo, party hooter, paper lazer and seeds/book/pencil. Hopefully each child found something to like. T-shirt decorating was great too, as was the water-pistol party where they each took their water-pistol home afterwards. Love the DIY idea though!

my party bags usually consist of something like this:

Haribo (the whole point is that it's a treat)!
Little plastic animal
Piece of cake
Bubbles
a bouncy ball (one of those v small ones) that light up when you bounce it

Doesn't cost much overall.

We switched from party bags to books + a chocolate bar two years ago and it has always been received.
We buy them from the Book People - kids fiction collections so that the books work out at about £1.50 each and are all the kids favourite authors - Lauren Child, Enid Blyton, Jeremy Strong, Dick King Smith etc..
Much higher perceived value and less hassle!!

I am all for books...

Guess what dd1 got instead of a party bag at today's party ? A book (Dora book from book people set) and choc bar and cake. She was v. pleased (although is also v. pleased with a bag of tat).

I like the book idea - just can't stand dora .

DS has just been to a football themed party today and has returned with a football and medal which I thought were great.

However, amongst the ubiquitous lollies and chews was a packet of those candy sticks which used to be sold as sweet cigarettes when I was a child. DS took a couple out of the packet and then proceeded to 'smoke' them Where did that come from?? I don't even know anybody who smokes.

I do like the book idea, by the way, just not sure that DS's 8 year old friends would.