Bithday Party Gift Bags

I just went to a little kids birthday party and the "treat bag" was a homemade pink rice krispie treat packaged cutely in pink cellophane and ribbon. I thought it was a great idea! She said she found pink marshmellows in the grocery store but you could use food color too. It was inexpensive and great for young kids. Best.

I have used a great web-site called Birthday in a Box. I recently did a pizza party for my 3 year old and they had neat stuff, little chef hats/aaprons, place mats that they can do puzzles and use stickers to design their own pizza's. I got a birthday cake that was shaped like a deep-dish pizza from Deerfields. I put a little box of crayons, bracelets, plastic sunglasses, and matchbox cars.

I made really cute favors using hershey bars, I know you said you didn't want to use candy, so you could do granola bars, but I printed my own covers using clip art from the party theme and message saying thanks for celebrating with us.

I have a fun and cost-effective idea that went over great at my daughter's b-day party a few years ago. I got brown, paper lunch bags and a few boxes of crayons, markers and stickers. For "craft time" during the party each child got to decorate their own bag. Then I filled it with lots of goodies from the dollar store and Target's $ section...it was very inexpensive and the kids had fun decorating their own gift bags. Good Luck!!!

When my son turned two a couple of months ago, I made to goodie bags for the kids as well...Included were Coloring books and crayons (the coloring boos were ELMO, that was the theme of the party) I had goldfish snack bags, stickers. You could also do things like slinkies, bouncy balls, etc. They have packages of stuff like that at your local party stores. I just tried to find things that fit with the theme of our party. For his ELMO party,they got crayons from ELMO, Cookies from Cookie Monster, Goldfish from Dorothy, Bubbles and a Rubber Duckie from Ernie (since he loves his bubble baths and rubber duckie). Etc.
I hope that this helps!!

I always go to the Dollar Store. You can get crayons, coloring books, stickers, you name it. And that stuff is great for boys and girls. Good luck!

Check out a dollar store- for my son's recent birthday I got these bug catchers that the kids loved!

The great thing about this time of year is all of the deals on school supplies! For my daugther's goody bags, I printed pictures off the internet and copied them and then put them in folders (which you can get now for a penny!)--they were coloring books. You can add a box of crayons which are very cheap right now--check out the weekly deals at stores like Staples, Office Depot, Walmart, etc. Have fun!

Depends on your theme. I usually try to make the gift bag match the party theme. Last weekend, my daughter's birthday party was at the pool so I went to the Dollar store and bought plastic pails with shovels and a sand mold. I added candy and bubbles, and it was a hit! For the big kids (anyone already in K-8 grade), I just gave them candy--that's all they care about anyway.

One of the parties we went to this summer did a bath time theme. There was a bath book (from the dollar bins at target) and a few other bath things in it. It was great becuase we always need new bath things and then we actaully got to use the things instead of throw them away. It was pretty cheap as well. GOOD LUCK

Hi, I have an idea but it has to do with candy. I make Childeren candy necklaces, they are a dollar each and I don't think you can do a candy bag or anything else cheaper then that after you do the math. I think candy overall is the cheapest way to go, you can always hand it to them when there on their way out the door. :) If your inserested, please email me. My name is J..
____@____.com They have always been a big hit at my Birthday parties, my daughter is two. Good Luck.

I was at a party and for the first time my son was not given candy .... I was like man he is going to be sooo upset , but to my surprise ALL the kids loved and including my son was 1 sheet stickers, a small pack of gold fish, and a small juice box and I beleive a pack of fruit snacks :) and everyone was happy and to my surpise every parent went up to that parent and said thanks for that healthy snack

S. K
A little bit about about me I am a proud mom of 4. A 18 year old daugter , a 16 year old daugter, 16 year old son & a 4 year old son ! and very much doing things diffrent this time around !

Hi K.,

I just did the goody bag thing with my daughter's 4th birthday party. We went to the party store and bought some relatively cheap stickers and put a sheet in each bag. Mini packs of crayons with mini notebooks (they come in bags of 12), mini cans of playdoh (usually packs of 10), cute little sunglasses, stencils. A great web site to check out is orientaltrading.com They have tons of that stuff and are relatively inexpensive. Good luck and have fun!

I don't like giving or receiving candy either. In the past, I have bought decorative pencils and stickers for older kids. Or mini play-doh containers - they come in 20-packs I think - at Target. Also, I have put in boxes of raisins or mini bags of pretzels or goldfish.

I usually put in only 3-4 things. I don't like all that little stuff- rings and small balls - they can be choking hazards for younger kids.

Have fun and don't stress about it too much!

Since it is close to school starting maybe some crayons and a small note book would be an idea and I am sure you can hit the dollar store for that

Party City has a pretty good selection no matter what the theme of the party is.

To add to what everyone else said, check out Target too. Right when you walk in (not the grocery side) there is a seasonal/clearance section that has a whole bunch of dollar stuff... but I'd check Factory Card Outlet too.

Check out the dollar stores! You'de be surprised what you can find besides candy. Small toys, flashlights (kids love to chase fireflies at night in their yards), battery toothbrushes, chalk, crayon and coloring books,etc. You have to use your imagination. Have fun. I miss those days.

How about small notebooks, you could add stickers to match your theme on the outside. Markers, bubbles, pencils, stickers, mini flashlights, bouncy balls, McD's coupons.
Good Luck!

i know you got a lot of responses already but what I did is went to th edollar store and bought those sand buckets with the shovels attached. Thant is a gift itself so I just put fruit snacks,granola bar, punching balloon, and a few pieces of candy in it and the kids and parents thought it was really cool.

Hi,

I'm not sure if you purchased your giveaways yet. A unique adorable giveaway would be popsicle or cupcake shaped bath soaps. I happen to sell them if your interested. They are $3-$4 each, so it comes out to the same you would spend on a bag. They come in a bag with bow and can be personalized. If interested email me at ____@____.com. I'm in St. Charles.

Have a great party!

I checked your responses quickly and didn't see www.orientaltrading.com on any of the responses. They have great stuff for kids (if your kids go to a VBS you will probably recognize some stuff) that is inexpensive. They have quite a bit in their Sale selection right now as well. I like to get craft kits for the kids to do during the party and then they can take the craft home as their party favor.

Have Fun,
D.

Walmart had these cool big bags of bubble stuff (enough for 8 bags I think?) - came with bubbles and like 4 "wands" of different shapes etc. Then I did small baggies of a few crayons, a little palm-size notebook (I got a pack of 5 for $1), and a sheet of stickers. Also, we're doing some little games that require bean bags (my mil is making with fabric and rice), which they'll keep as well.
Finally, I bought those "take-n'toss" sippie cups, which I'll personalize with their names to use at the party and then take home.

Hope that helps!
T.

We did bubbles, chalk, party horns and pinwheels

Summer fun stuff and a lot of places are discounting their summer stuff already - bubbles, chalk, big bouncy balls or blow up beach balls, glow in the dark necklaces and bracelets (Target - in party aisle/12 pks) Target also has wrist bands for boys in their party aisle (I think 6/pk). They were a big hit at my son's party but he's a few years older. As someone mentioned, they have their clearance stuff/$1 stuff in front aisles. Have fun!

I hear the cost thing! Try the dollar store. That's always a hit with my kids. I've done sand pails and shovel sets and filled them with bubbles etc. Good luck planning.

I was thinking the same thing about candy and cost. So since all the school supplies are inexpensive now, I just gave out a box of crayons with a bag of fruit snacks tied together with a ribbon and a note saying thank you from my child. Hope this gets your idea motor running. Good luck and Happy Birthday to your boy and girl!

Hi K.,
I too, do not love giving away or receiving all of that candy!
here is what I did for my daughter when she was 2 and we had all ages come to the party. It was a summer party as well like yours. I went to the dollar store and bought sand pails and wrote each kids name on them in a black sharpie marker. I then filled the sand pail with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and sand toys - castle molds, animal molds etc - all bought at the dollar store. A lot of those things come in 4 packs so it was not expensive at all.
Good luck with your party!
M.

Kids seem to love balloons so we've used them (helium filled) to decorate and have weighted them down with 'goodies' (bottles of balloons, coloring books, etc.). Then, when each child leaves they get to take a 'goodie balloon.'

If you happen to have a place nearby --the DOLLARTREE-
You can get fun little cellophane bags 25 for a dollar, and find really nice things to put in them like little girl jewelry, lotion, toy cars, and age appropriate party favors. I love the dollar stores, you get so much for so little. If you wrap those bags with some pretty ribbon it looks like you went all out!

When my son turned 1 I had several kids of all ages from 2 - 10 attending the party. I went to Wal-Mart and found glow necklaces and these plastic accordian tubes that (when you extend them all the way and swing them in a circle)make noise. They were in the toy section with other party favors and were $1 a piece. I was amazed at what a huge hit they were. I suggest buying a few of each for each kid and that's it. They can connect the tubes together to play...and they can never have enough glow necklaces!

Just recently for my neice's 1st birthday my sister and I put together a bubbles and balloons party. The party favors were a bottle of bubbles with a balloon attached. You'd be amazed at how happy the kids were with just that!

I gave out $5 gift cards to toys r us. it was so cute becasue the kdis could go and pick out somthing and the babies got diapers etc. paretns at first though woohoa but then they loved it since there was no junk or allergy candy and the kids liked it too!
J. sorry this is late but for next year

My son's birthday party is next weekend, too :-) He wanted a choo choo train theme, so that's what we're doing. I'm not crazy about the gift bag myself, but it appears to be the expected thing. So my son's guests are getting stickers, mini bottles of bubbles and probably a small tub of play-doh. Check the local dollar store and I'm sure you'll come up with something at a reasonable price. Good luck and have fun!

I'm having my daughter's 3rd bday party 8/30 and instead of candy I have cheese/peanut butter crackers and mini bags of chex mix along with a few themed toys for the goodie bags.

I like to go to Michael's craft store to look for ideas. Sometimes they sell small crafts for a dollar. We got these wooden picture frames, they also came with small markers. When my daughter turned three we gave everyone one tub of playdough. I also bought a hug tube of plastic animal cookie cuters. Every child also got three cookie cutters to play with the playdough. That was a big hit! I also try not to give candy or silly junk that parents hate!! Good luck!

You could do fun stickers, bouncy balls, tattoos, etc. Card & Party outlet always has fun stuff like that pretty cheap!

Also, check out oriental trading company - http://www.orientaltrading.com
for some inexpensive crafty ideas!

I would suggest buying cheap coloring books and crayons. Wrap them up and thats it. You can get everything you will need at a dollar store. This should be under $20 bucks. If your not too picky about colors just buy one large box of crayons and divide that box into your party bags. The kids will love this!! Plus most moms don't mind coloring books and crayons, unless the kids still eat the crayons... lol Good Luck, i hope this helps. Tiff ;0)

For the past few years, I've given gift certificates for $2 at Dairy Queen. They are a huge hit. Another idea that I've used in the past, since one of my sons has a birthday in August, is crayons and/or markers. School supplies are on sale right now. I was at Target today and bought a box of 24 crayons for .22 cents. Hope this helps!

I would go to one of those dollar stores -- they have all sorts of small trickets, etc. How about bubbles, crayons, small coloring books, etc.

For my 2 years old party, I did bags with sidewalk chalk, bubbles and water guns. The chalk you can get in small buckets at Walmart. Everything else at the dollar Store.

Or you could do crayons and coloring tablets or stickers or the like. With back-to-school sales going on, you should be able to get some good deals.

Also check Oriental Trading Co., they have a lot of neat favor bag items and they can do express shipping.

Good luck!!

I also hate the idea of putting the gift bags together. also, around here it seems you need to have a theme. My almost 3 yr old is having a birthday party and we are going with a train theme - I bought red bandana's (2 to a container at Walmart) and am putting train sets in them (which I found clearanced, thomas stickers and some bubbles - kids love bubbles! It is pretty inexpensive too!

I would go to the dollar store or the Factory Card Outlet and see what they have. We found a bunch of very inexpensive things for Connor's gift bags.

What is the theme of the birthday party?? I usually work off of what ever the theme is and try to find at least one useful item to put in the gift bags, along with raisins and fruit snacks, and some tootsie rolls. My very favorite item was full sized flashlights, that you can get at Walmart or Target and buy them in 2 packs and they come with the batteries. For my daughter's first birthday, I bought little clay pots, acrylic paints, some fake moss, and some construction paper ~ we had an activity where they would paint the pots and some giant flower heads that I had cut out of construction paper (poster board would have been better) - then I cut an X in the middle of the flower head with a box cutter and fit the flower through the flashlight to make a stem, with the light part being the center of the flower. We added moss around the base of the flashlight and had our beautiful potted flowers for them to take home. If you give me a theme, I'd be more than happy to try to think of some other things that are useful and fun. ~ K. C.

hit the nearest $1 store for blowing bubbles and horns. Or, sometimes Target or Walrmart sells prepackaged "groups" of items such as 8 sticky hands.
At my son's 3rd birthday party, the kids made little plant pots (the clay ones are about 25 cents each) by painting them at the beginning of the party and I gave each one a quick spray shellac to seal it. That became the loot bag with some bubbles in it.
good luck!

I didnt' read all the replies, but I gave fruit snacks in my son's 3rd bday goodie bags (which was just in June). They're cheaper and if you have leftovers, bonus!! I bought Thomas plastic cups at the party store (about $1.50) and then I filled it with stickers (knowning what each kid liked helped out, too), a package of fruit snacks and I bought two packages of cheaper toys at the party store, $1/pkg. and then put everything in the cup and put that in the goody bag. Everyone loves the cups. They can use it for bath time/rinsing, holding crayons, using it if they're old enough, etc.

I saw that you had several responses, and did not read them, but thought I would add my .02. For my daughter's b-day, I gave out bags with coloring books, (you can get 2 for $1 sometimes as Walgreens or dollar store) with crayons and coloring pencils and then fruit snacks or a bag of cheez its, pretzels or something like that.

Hi,

I have two words for you: Dollar Store. They usually have buckets with sand toys for minimal amounts or coloring books with crayons. You can do cheap matchbox like cars for the boys and little diaries or fake jewelry for girls. Good luck.

Go to the dollar store and buy a "prize" instead...like a coloring book and crayons, a toy, glow sticks, or a picture frame w/a photo of all the kids at the party. I like "Dollar Tree" in Vernon Hills and Lake Zurich, they always have stuff that my kids like. ...they also have mylar baloons for a dollar each, a great deal for a party!

Hi K.,
I usually take a trip to the dollar store for my kids' birthdays. I bring a list of the kids names & get usually 3-5 dollar store items for their bags. It can be anything like crayons, dolls, playdoh, stickers, etc. It's usually a big hit for our birthday parties. I agree with you that I don't like to do candy, but I also don't like to spend too much money on gift bags either.
J.

You could board books from the dollar store for them.

Bubbles! kids love Bubbles! and they are Cheap! Look at the Dollar store in the toy section they have a lot of cute ideas.

Cans of playdoh aren't very expensive, or if you have a Dollar Tree store (where everything is actually a dollar) near you they have large drawing pads and you could throw a box of crayons with it (which are pretty cheap this time of year $.22 a box)or a fancy pencil.

Try a dollar store - it will be inexpensive and you can by packages with small quantities of things like bracelets, toy soldiers, etc... Kids seem to like the inexpensive plastic toys from the dollar store more than the expensive stuff we buy. You didn't say how many children you need to buy for. If you need large bulks, try www.orientaltradingcompany.com
They have nice stuff too in quantities. If anything, you may get ideas from what they sell.

C. T.

For my 3 yr olds party I went to the dollar store and Target bought things like: bubbles, toy planes you put together and toss (outside), silly putty, rubber balls, cars, chalk (sidewalk), "water bombs" balls that are very soft that if you wet them and toss to play catch like egg toss, little dolls for the girls. Most came in multi packs and I got bags in blue and pink and made them up for the boys and girls and put a ballon from the party in each bag as they left. A few things in each bag.

This is a great time for getting school supplies cheap. A friend of mine made an 'art bag' with crayons and markers and a small coloring book. She bought everything at Sam's and just split the items up in the bags. But now you can get crayons and things for a penny at Office Depot! Next year you could also try www.orientaltrading.com.

I also agree with some of the others. Target has a dollar section that has great kid items. The dollar store is great too. You can get one of the little in buckets and fil with items such as a notepad or coloring book, crayons & stickers. If I want to include a treat I will usually put in something like a small bag of goldfish crackers, pretzels or gummie bears.