Hi Everyone,
So I have 2 questions.
1) For what age do you give party favors? My 4yr olds party is this weekend, and I have 20kids attending. 3 are (7th and 9th graders-Do I give them any favors?), 3 are under under 2. ( I dont feel appropriate giving What I got for the other kdis and it is all spiderman themed-bouncing ball/disc/stickers/ a maze/fruit snacks and chocolate) besides, I got a good deal where I only spent a $ on each kids favor, and the store didnt have anymore as they all came in 4s and only had 4 of each.... Not sure whats appropriate. Will the older kids feel offended(2 boys and 1 girl)?
2) Do you give prizes to all the kids (to avoid cry babies), or can I just give to the ones who actually won the game? Or do I even need to give prizes?
I'm not trying to be mean, I just didnt realize my guest list was this big until after I sent out the evites, and was TRYING to keep within budget. which is not happening now, cuz we're order rather than me cooking as I had intended to (when I thought we only have 15 total adults+kids in reality we have 43 sigh!) and i'm 8mo prego so my hubby is against me doing much of the leg work :(
Thank you all for your input. I decided to not give prizes for the games, and made the party favors age appropriate.
Buy a big bag of Halloween candy and make up a couple of party favor bags for the older kids. I recommend just giving some stickers to the 2 year old.
Use the left over candy for Halloween.
Good luck,
L.
skip the prizes....just do the party favors..modify them a bit for the younger ones ....Have fun!!
For the bigger kids who come to our kids birthday parties I give a bag with usually a couple of suckers and a big candy bar. They just like to get "something" and it always brings a big smile to their faces. For the ones under 2 I pick-up some sort of kiddy washcloths or socks from the dollar store and a mini-bag of Goldfish. That way they get something, but I don't go broke, and their mom's aren't having to watch what it is that they got.
I usually don't do prizes for the games, it is more about just playing them. If you decide to go with a prize I would make it something small. A dollar store coloring book or something easy.
We don't do gift bags or game prizes.
I will maybe have mini playdough, mini watercolor set or bubbles or something with a cute ribbon tied around it and that's it. They are super cheap in big bags at party stores. Or, a yummy cookie or cupcake as a take home gift... that is the perfect party favor!
I know this is going to sound a little blunt, but if you can't afford age-appropriate prize bags for ALL of the children (teens are still children), you ought not invite so many people.
Just my two cents. I hope your little one has a LOVELY birthday.
1) We had a large turnout for my 2 year old in April, with him being the youngest all the way up to high-schoolers! I made goody bags with sidewalk chalk, bottles of bubbles, homemade chocolate suckers, Elmo rings (the theme,) stickers, snacks, etc., and made slightly modified toddler bags.
2) i wouldn't give prizes, unless it's something like stickers. That way if anyone complains you can give them out to everyone.
The older kids will be hurt if you leave them out. My teenager and her friends loved the stickers, balls, and kiddie stuff from little bro and sis parties. It's fun for them to be a kid sometimes. For the little ones, I'd just give them fruit snacks and animal crackers or goldfish.
As far as gift bags. I would give one to everybody. The older kids will get a kick out of getting a goody bag. But you can modify the toddler's bags. When my son was four we also had a spiderman party. For the toddlers I found superhero rubber duckies (orientaltrading.com, but I bet a party store would have them too). The older kids got the pinate stuff and the babies went home with duckies. No one complained.
As far as the games go, I wouldn't do prizes. We did for everyone and it still resulted in tears. Kids that actually won were upset that other kids got something. Kids that just got something were disappointed that they didn't "win" something, it was just given to them. Don't get me wrong, it didn't turn into some whine fest, we still had a ball, but it was a little bump in the road.
Have fun!
Whoever is invited, gets a goody bag... My son's 5th bday party is this weekend as well.. to make it easy on myself, I got a pinata and filled it with candy and toys.. That will be their goody bag no matter what age they are...
I "used" to do age appropriate goody bags though~
If you are handing out gift bags, then the older kids should get one also.
For the 2y put together a bag of friendly snacks, or an inexpensive little plush toy.
For the game prizes I always do King Size Candy bars for the Winner(s)
