Goody Bag Ideas - Hillside,NJ

Hi S.,
No need at this age for gender specific bags - little favors such as crayons, mini play dough, stickers, pencils, temporary tattoos, a couple of treats ought to do it. Have a great party!

No gender specific bags required!

I suggest:

-temporary tattoos

-fruit rollup or leather

-mini slinky

-small container of "Goo" (Which will make the other moms miserable! Ha!)

These were some of the "treats" I would occasionally give my students, when I taught 1st grade. 4 year olds are pretty similar to 6 year olds, in terms of taste.

S.,
I put this same request on here a little over a month ago and received no responces. I'd like to tell you what I came up with and the kids loved it (especially one of the mom's who's a school teacher at the boys' school). I had my son's party Sat, day after Halloween, so I didn't want junk and I hate the $ store stuff, so I ordered books through the Scholastic Book Club. My son had brought it home a few weeks ago and I checked with the teacher to make sure they would be here in time and they arrived w/in a week. You can go directly to the web site and order for the age group and have them sent to you. I went through the school because the teacher gets credit. I attached a GC to a local ice cream shop to the back and the kids loved it. You can do something like that and then maybe add another little something. Oh, the books were $1 and the GC were $1.30. I only spent $2.30 on a "goodie bag" per kid. These boys are 7/8, so they received chapter books, but they have plenty of cheap books for every age group. Good luck.
~J.

Play-Doh!!! I went to the dollor store and got mini cookie cutters (plastic). Then at Holloween and Christmas Sam's club had huge bags of mini play-doh cans or get the regular ones and each bag gets one each. Play-Doh is fun for all ages and both boys and girls. My friends actually thanked me later on for not sending home a huge bag of candy and providing a fun thing to play with. The one had a 13yo and she even had fun with it! If you are doing a goody bag for under 2yo you may want to consider a puffy or board book, rubber ducks or a raddle. Play-Doh is too much fun to eat when under 2!!! Have fun! A.

bubbles, play doh, punch balloons, straws, books. wish you mentioned if you were having a theme party, i could have been more helpful.
good luck and have fun.

Hi S.,
As the mother of 4 (grown children) I've had many, many parties and my children attended many parties. I have some ideas that might help you. You don't need to have gender specific goody bags. I always tried to get things that both boys and girls would like. Some examples are: candy, fun pencils with cute erasers top on them, a craft they would make at the party. I also went to party stores, they have alot of cute things you could put in the bag and large economy sized packages of candy. Many times I would buy a pinata fill it with candy, the kids would have fun smacking it, break it open and fill their bags. I would always have extra candy, in case some got more than others. Some times I would have them make a craft. I would go to the craft store and buy plaster figures or ornaments and have the kids paint them and maybe just add some candy. It would give them a fun thing to do and they could bring something home. My daughter's birthday is in Oct.. So one year I bought small pumpkins and the kids painted them, they loved it. But, I generally found that children love anything you give them. I found when the kids could participate in making something, they loved it even more. It also gives them something to do at the party. I hope this helps you. Good luck and have fun.

Happy partying,
B.

S.,

Go to a dollar store, there are so many generic items there you will come up with so many ideas. I own a preschool and sometimes have to do 60 goody bags with ages from infant to 6. The only goody bags I do differently is for the babies, the rest I am always able to find things for different ages as well as different sexes. They have bubbles, crayons, chalk, etc. And the best is the price is right. Good luck!

No need to go gender specific. There are many things both boys and girl like. Think crayons, clay, watercolor paints, lollipops....

Hi S.
For my 5 y.o. birthday her goodie bags had 100 calorie cookies, fruit snack and a little craft I picked up at Michaels. The moms were soo happy to see they weren't getting candy and junk they usually get and it costs less than buying all the little toys and candy!! If you have a Target near you they have goodie bag crafts also!!
Have Fun

I don't know if you have a theme but someone told me about a pirates and princesses party. The gift bags were pirate-y for boys and princess-y for the girls. There is a ton of stuff like this at the $ store.

Good luck!

my child just went to a birthday party and they got a little book as a goody bag. i thought that was such a great idea.

Hi S.~
Let me tell about some of the things my sister and I came up with for our children: Plain white tee shirts and fabric paint so the kids can make their own shirts. Same could be done with hats and visors. My SIL usually has gender specific parties (only boys for both her sons and only girls for her daughter) but would work is foam door knob hangers with an assortment of things to decorate with. If you are going to be the only adult there, you might want to forgo the afore mentioned "messy" things and go with gender neutral items such as crayons, coloring books, play doh, stickers and temporary tattoos. If you are going to have other older helpers (friend, high schooler, hubby, etc) then try to go with something the kids can do on their own with little supervision.
Have fun and make sure the kids also have fun while staying safe.
J.

Always give things that they will actually use. In summer I give a little bag of treats and a beach towel. In winter I gave pillowcases (to girls). Just came from a party and the kids got some small candy and a gift certificate to an ice cream shop. Think about things you want in your house. Don't put things in goody bags that you wouldn't want your daughter to bring home or leave in the car!!

Try looking at OrientalTrading.com They have a lot of stuff you can use in goody bags and you can buy it in bulk. They tend to even be cheaper than the dollar store! :) My daughter is a little bit older, but we had her party yesterday, and each child got a webkin. I found $5 webkinz online at sugarbowlgiftshop.com and just put each one of those in a bag...they loved them!

Either way, chachki or not kids love goodie bags so I'm sure they will love whatever you decide! Good Luck!

get yourself to a dollar store and load up on things! there are many generic toys there or you can get gender specific if you know who is coming to the party and just put their names on the goody bags! fake cell phones, jump ropes, plastic dinosaurs etc...

Hi S.,

I have my own personalizing party favor business. I do give a 10% discount to MamaSource customers. Please take a look at my website at www.littleshopoffavors.com to see the great things I have available. I have done a bunch of party favors for MamaSource moms and they were all very happy! My favors cost as much as a goodie bag but last much longer and both the kids and parents love getting personalized favors! I hope your daughter has a great party!

you dont have to have gender specific bags...try to find something that can fit both...like bubbles or a coloring book and some crayons....go to the dollar store and you can find stuff that there and also some stores might be trying to get rid of the halloween stuff so you might be able to find like little goody bag treats that are not candy for a reasonable price....was at walmart and saw little boxes of crayons like 80% off...