Do I have to do party bags at 10?

[hillyhilly]

My dd will be 10 soon, she's having two friends for a sleepover then a further six fro bowling followed by lunch at Ben & Jerry's. Are party bags appropriate any more or not?

[TeenAndTween]

I wouldn't expect my DD to be given a party bag in those circumstances.
I have been priming DD in recent years that there probably won't be bags due to .

[pandora987]

My DD was 10 last birthday and we did:
go out with 6 friends, lazerquest, tea, sleepover. I didn't even think of party bags and neither did they. I would say once its not a "party" and they are 9+ party bags are not necessary or expected. Have fun!

[amidaiwish]

No!

[victoryinthekitchen]

we've stopped doing them but dd10 came back from a birthday sleepover with a paper gift bag filled with nail files, bobbles, pencils etc. and she was thrilled. When I wasn't sure if the kids still expected it (9ish) I handed out biggish packs of haribos on departure from the party as a compromise!

[RJnomore]

I had four to sleep over for dd2s 10th birthday and I got great advice on here - I got little purses from primark, put chocolate coins in, some small sweets, nice pen and pencil and rubber and put them in a little gift bag. They all loved them.

I think they're beyond the plastic tat bag stage but something like a purse or a nail varnish and some sweets goes down very well.

[Ahchoo]

My dd is eleven and for the past couple of years sweet cones have been popular (cellophane cone with sweets in tied with ribbon). I wouldn't mind if dd came home empty handes though and neither would she. Oh, one party host gave out little pamper gifts like lip balm, face mask etc. That went down well.

[stealthsquiggle]

Not "expected", or required, but I agree that a slightly more grown up version of a party bag would still be welcomed and appreciated if you can be bothered. Some nice ideas on here already - lip balms, hair stuff, etc.