Berkeley Parents Network: Alternatives to Goodie Bags

Berkeley Parents Network

Alternatives to Goodie Bags

Berkeley Parents Network > Advice > Birthdays > Alternatives to Goodie Bags

December 2003

Does anyone have any ideas for alternatives to birthday party goodie bags? I see the same trinkets over and over. Rarely does the stuff get played with and it ends up in my junk drawer. I'm afraid that most parents keep doing them because everyone else does! I'd love to hear some creative ideas. Help!

Try burning a CD or making tapes. For my daughter's 3rd bday, I made everyone a copy of the Wizard of Oz because that was the theme. And now that a lot of computers have CD burners, you can either mix your own (no comment on how you get the songs) so that it is appropriate to the theme, or just burn an album. Small books are good too. My second daughter turns two in a week and the theme for her party is ladybugs. So I got ladybug board books for everyone.

Boy, do I feel the same way about ''goody bags''. You didn't mention how old your kid is. For my 4 year old's parties, I have just given a balloon to each kid. I think last year we also gave a bottle of bubbles. Other ideas I've seen and liked: pail and shovel with each kid's name written on it; glow- in-the-dark smallish balls; soft yo-yos and balloon. I think the over-all theme here is one small toy.

About 2 years ago I stopped giving ''goodie bags'' at my kids bd parties. I tried giving bubbles, one bigger toy, like a dinosaur or something, but I hated that it was expected and like you said, it's all the same stuff and either breaks or gets thrown out. When I was a kid (I'm 50) we got little plastic baskets with a few pieces of candy at our seat at the table and that was it....

I! don't know where the ''tradition'' got so out of hand that we have to spend way too much money on party bags. Anyway, I just decided I'd hopefully start a trend of no party bags. I decided I didn't care what other people thought. So far, no one has said a thing (they're probably thinking ''Go, girl!!'') and the kids sitll come to my kids parties. Take a stand...NO PARTY BAGS!!!

I agree. I don't much care for goodie bags, Instead, I figure that if I'd spend $4-5 for goodies and bag for each child, why not spend that much and get each child something useful? At my son's party last year I gave out boxes of crayons and small pads. This year, I gave out flashlights and batteries. The kids--and parents--seem to be pleased. Oh, and just a tip: look in places where you might find deals, like Office or Home Depot or Costco.

hi! how about making bookmarks for party guests? we've just finished making stocking stuffer bookmarks for the holidays. my son stamped paper with paint stamps, i cut out the shapes and glued them to heavy duty paper. fun, colorful, useable, personal and not at all bad for the teeth! have fun!

We have started to give just a single item that goes with the theme of the party. We have given frisbees, hot wheels, baseballs. At first I was worried that the children would be disappointed and I carefully explained that we are giving a gift instead of a party bag. But the kids were always pleased. This reinforced for me that this is a much better way to deal with this.

I like the idea of giving one nicer item rather than a whole goodie bag. For how much you end up spending on a goodie bag you could get one fun item. I once gave out small boxes of playmobil figures. Legos has some small inexpensive items. A small metal car could be fun. The Ark has wonderful rubber knights that would work (I have a boy so these are more boy oriented ideas). Kids really like these too. If it doesn't feel like enough, you could put it in a goodie bag with some crinkled paper and maybe a small piece of candy. I go back and forth on what I do depending on what the theme of my son's birthday is. Good luck!

A good birthday idea is to do an activity that actuallyl produces a take home gift that you can substitute for a goody bag. 2 very successful examples we did were: Painting and planting a flower pot - I bought plain flower pots, paints, spray sealer and a flat of flowers and potting soil. The kids painted their pots and decorated with glue on ''jewels'', and I sprayed sealer. When they were dry we actually potted a flower into each pot and the child took home their own personally decorated flower pot. A few extra games, cake and presents while the sealer was drying and we had a party. A second one was having the kids make picture frames from popsicle sticks. I also bought an old puzzle at the goodwill store and the kids decorated their frames with the puzzle pieces. We sprayed the frames with gold glitter spray paint/sealer (I thought I had bought solid gold paint, but ! it was a sealer with glitter - actually turned out much better as you could see the colors of the puzzle pieces.) We had a poloroid camera and each child took a picture with the birthday girl, we inserted the picture in the frame and they had a beautiful keepsake to take home. We did this for my daughter's 6th birthday, she is now 13 and her friends still have these displayed in their rooms. You can get all the supplies at a craft store or the fabric stores with craft sections.

About those goodie bags - First of all, you don't have to do them. We've been to parties where they didn't give out anything and the kids were fine about it. If you do want to, I vote for small useful items. Art supplies are great. We found sets of marking pens at IKEA for 50 cents each (yes!) and went to the Depot (on San Pablo, one block south of Ashby) and found small message pads of paper for 10 cents each. They were ''preowned'' but looked brand new. Each kid got one set of pens and one pad of paper. Total cost: 60 cents per kid. As a parent, I have to say I am weary of the bags of useless plastic gizmos that my kid looks at once. I toss them out after a few weeks and feel sad about it because I know a mom or dad went to some effort and expense to buy them. But I can'! t keep a lot of useless stuff around!

Last year for my daughter's birthday we bought book packs from the Scholastic Book Club through her preschool, broke up the book packs and gave each child a book. In addition to giving something a little more useful than the usual trinkets it supported her preschool!

My boys and I were invited to a birthday party earlier this summer. The goody bags were the best! (Minus the whistles of course.) I believe the grandmother may have gone to Big Lots for some of the items. One thing that my boys loved, to this very day they still listen to a CD from Gymboree, the folk one with Woody Guthrie, Burl Ives, The Birds and a bunch of other folks I can't recall of the top of my head. You could find any children's CD at any music store of course and burn them on blank CDs for the goody bag. I also found some neat pencil boxes (whi! ch might be better than those plastic baggies that get throw away), for less than a $1.00 at Food Max several months ago. The boxes already had designs on them and my five-year-old calls it his treasure box. Big Lots always has really inexpensive coloring books or folders too. Stickers are always a classic favorite plus pencils, a box of the original box of crayons and erasers(I know my kids use them for their homework and school work.) Crayola also makes this box of markers that are actually stamps, one marker per kid is always fun, plus little snack bag of Teddy Grahams or Cheese Nips is always fun instead of the usual candy.

I DETEST goodie bags! Now that that is said and done, this year I tried something different for my daughter's birthday. We had a pony at her party, which was a picnic. I took a polaroid of each child on the pony, then as a craft ac! tivity, we made frames out of tongue depressor sticks, decorated them with stickers, and put the pictures in the frame for the children to take home. We had lots of fun snack foods, some cake, then sent them on their way. I can't stand the commercialism that our kids are drenched with! This year, I gave my kids the option of having a picnic type party with whoever they wanted to invite or a small, fun activity (like a movie or ceramic place) with 2 friends. If she picks the former and invites anyone her heart desires, that partry is her gift and we ask people to bring donations to an animal shelter or homeless shelter, juvenile hall, or ...? If she chooses the latter, she may receive a gift from the 2 friends. I know that this is against the ''norms'' of our society today, but we are hoping to take a stand and maybe effect some change in the process! Good luck!

I used a suggestion from this site and at my daughter's third birthday I asked children to bring a wrapped book to trade at the end of the party. The book was instead of a gift (my daughter has tons of stuff) and the traditional goodie bag. (Note: it's a good idea to have a few extra wrapped books--a few famiies forgot!) If you want your child to get presents, you could still buy inexpensive paperback books to give the guests instead (Pegasus is a good place to pick up remaindered books). Another thing I've done is to buy larger items when they're on sale (e.g., I bought a bunch of 12-inch ''four-square' rubber balls when they were 75% off at Target, buckets of chalk from Ikea, 4-packs of Playdough on sale) and let the kids pick one when they leave.

When my son was young (1-5) and the parties we! re smaller, I handpicked paperback books for each child. This year, he was 8 and the party included his whole class, so books were too expensive. I went to the ''dollar store'' and found large packs of colored pencils, colored building sticks (like popsicle sticks), modeling clay and glitter, and even the brown bags which my son decorated with each kids name. Each child got a couple of each item in various colors, and the whole thing cost $12 for 18 kids!

I've always disliked goodie bags too, and over the years did a few things to avoid them. One thing is to have a treasure hunt (or peanut hunt or Snickers hunt) as part of the birthday activities and buy cheap flashlights and let the kids keep those as party favors. Then when my son was five I had a pirate party for him and the kids, after a treasure hunt, found a treasure chest full of bandanas, eyepatches! , and ''hooks'' and got to keep those. So you get the idea, tie whatever gift you give to a party activity. I've heard of the idea of having the kids decorate aprons, for a girl's party, and then taking those home.

We made t-shirts for my son's birthday party, using special paper for inkjet printers that can be ironed on fabric. We used clip-art for the front, and put each child's name on the back. They were very popular, and the kids still wear them months later. Other years, we've let the kids design their own t-shirt, with fabric markers and fabric crayons. You can buy cheap white t-shirts in multipacks. Other crafy options: have the kids make something, like paint a birdhouse or other wooden object, or use permanent markers and stickers to decorate plastic light-switch plates. Or have the birthday child select music for a CD, and burn copies of the CD to give out as favors. There are a lot of good ideas at www.birthdaypartyideas.com. Have fun!

I agree with the traditional goodie bags being junk! Our kids usually take one look and lose interest. What we have done for many years now is to find a toy or book that goes along with the party theme to give as a ''goodbye gift'' (Gets the kids out the door at the appropriate time!). For instance, we gave Barbie's for a Barbie party; water toys for a water party; and Wizard of Oz books for a Wizard of Oz party. Our next birthday party is coming up in a few weeks, and since it is a ''Glamour Party'', we're giving out cosmetic bags with make-up (all bought in inexpensive lots on eBay). Each and every one of these ideas was less expensive than those darn goodie bags!

! i have a business, goodiebags, that specializes in kids' party planning and favors. this service is for the parent that does not want the mass- merchandised ''bob the builder'' or ''barbie'' theme, but a little more creative and personal. i would love to meet with you, if you would like to see my portfolio of work and see if it might be something that you would be interested in.

I too detest those goodie bags. My kids always want to give them because they are used to getting them but I've put my foot down since b-day #1. As a matter of fact, we have so many of those trashy toys that I did a carnival theme this year for my son's 5th birthday and gave out all that crap as prizes for the games. That way they got out of my house! My kids were ok with it because we have a rule that every birthday and every Ch! ristmas we clear out old stuff to make room for the new. Instead of the goodie bags I've done numerous things. Usually I'll have *one* small favor to give to the kids that goes along with my theme. For the carnival party, I made huge batches of playdough and gave each kids a chuck of two different colors along with the recipe. Last year we gave wooden train whistles for the train party. One year we had beautiful big colorful pinwheels for a garden party. My mom made beautiful small cloth and bead purses for the princess party. Kites of course for the kite party. You get the idea!

Instead of goodie bags, we plan birthday parties that have an art project as the theme. That way the kids can take home something they made. We've painted flower pots; taken polaroid photos and decorated cardboard picture frames; and, for little ones, made and decorated crowns.

I am so with you...and beyond! I am on a mission to ELIMINATE the goodie bag idea in my circle. I think it has gotten way out of control since it doesn't seem optional and it feels rather competetive. My understanding of it the phenomenon is that people didn't want guests to feel badly while the bday kid was opening gifts. To which I have 2 responses. First of all, I have yet to be at a bday party where the presents were opened in the presence of the other kids. And second, isn't it a gift to learn that sometimes you GIVE presents to others and on our special day we GET gifts?! It seems to me that we are setting up our children to EXPECT some kind of goodie bag at every party they attend. Not to mention makes more work for parents, who I'm guessing have better things to do with mental energy and $$ than worrying about goodie bags. I think getting to do fun stuff at a party and having cake/ice cream or whatever bday tradition happens is PLENTY.

What about doing an art project that kids get to leave with-- handprinting shirts, making candles, picture frame, etc. Which obviously depends on where you'll be and the ages of kids. goodie bag grouch

Why not try a book exchange? Every child brings a new, wrapped book, every child goes home with a new book. Everyone gets a present, so everyone is happy. And, not only do you not have to worry about goodie bags, you also don't have a house full of $10 toys you don't need/want and you don't have to write thank you notes!

I have many fond memories as a child of receiving very 'precious' items in goody bags at parties. I now see my 2 year old daughter receive them and things I consider complete junk, she loves and can play with for quite some time, many times over. In fact, some of these items have come in handy to occupy her while we are waiting in line at the grocery store, at the bosses house for dinner, or sitting in the car on the way to here or there. I also don't see the big deal with just tossing the uninteresting ones in the garbage (behing the back of your child). Try to remember when you were a kid and how you saw things. Small toys can really spark a kids imagination, get them interacting with other kids at the party, and bring back good memories of a great party.

our favorite goody to receive has been at a friend who burns a CD of mixed favorite kids' and dancing music (the child does it all herself), then burns copies for everybody (and plays it at the party too!)(Thanks Rose!) others: flower/seed packets to plant, something the kids make at the party, or we had a tea party and gave real porcelain teacups as the favor (assorted from thrift stores)if we had been more organized could have also given a wrapped tea bag with it. Golden dollars (easiest to get from post office machine as change) might be neat, too though they'd probably prefer chocolate coins. Chris

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