Useful. Non-trinket Party Favors for 6Yo B-day Party

How about a book? You can get inexpensive paperbacks at Border's that are under $5. They have girl and boy ones and 6 year olds are now reading! Good luck!

I use to give away a Baskin-Robbins gift certificate! You can put it in an envelope with cute stickers and a "sticker" label that says, "Thanks for coming to 'John's' birthday party....hope you had a 'cool' time!" I am ALL about practical favors!

Oh my gosh, too many responses to read through, so I hope this is not a repeat... Last year for my son's birthday I found sand pail/shovel sets at Party City for 79 cents apiece.

I say steal the flower pot idea. Target, dollar section. THey have trees, sunflowers, marigolds....
If you want something else, you can do a crafty pouch like a box of crayons or colored pencils and a little coloring pad or book. At the party, you can have all the kids draw a picture of the party for your son.
One other thought are those fun rubbery bracelets- you can get them with a fun saying on them on line. THey should be able to ship ASAP and they should be super cheap.
Hope this helps!
-E.

I just read through the responses, and I LOVE the picture frame idea and to take photos at the party of each kid.

I gave hula hoops once for my son's bday party. The kids loved them and they were inexpensive.

Sand toys; flip flops and hat (dollar each at Michaels)
Cooking supplies: a rolling pin, cookie cutter and maybe even apron if you can find it cheap from the dollar store.
DIY craft kits: the fabric store often has cheap, fun for one craft kits available for one or two dollars each.
Craft supplies: playdoh and a cookie cutter or something similar; crayons (generic=cheap) and coloring book or journal/sketchbook.

I buy books on sale and have given those out.

Sometimes a food container is the gift....last year it was a sleepover the kids watched a movie outside (borrowed a project and shot the dvd from my laptop), so they had popcorn in plastic popcorn boxes. They had ice cream sundae bar and their cool ice cream bowls were washed and sent home too.

Maybe do a craft at the party and send the made craft home...

We did rock climbing party one year and I bought pounds and pounds of magnetic rocks from Oriental Trading co. as table decorations and ind. activity. Kids built structures and bracelets with them while resting or waiting for cake. They all took a few handfuls home in their small canvas draw string bag (looks like a chalk bag used for rock climbing).

Swim party... we had fish cookies on strings attached to thin dowels as a snack. I had doubles, so I sent them home with guests. The 2nd set had THANK YOU in icing on the back.

I usually put more energy into the Thank You. My daughter writes a note to each person (one sentence per year at this point) and I create a memory book of photos or a dvd iMovie and send that with as the Thank You gift. We dedicate a page to each friend. My daughter's book is filled with all the individual pages and pages about specific parts of the party...guest arriving, activity, cake, game, activity, guests leaving.

That's all I can think of at this time.
Stephanie

We did this:

zooflipz.com the kids went nuts! or course we still put a couple of sticker and tattoos in the bag too.

we also gave each child a cookie "kit". basically a jar of dried goods (pre-mixed) that you would need for cookies with a recipe in a cute decorated jar. They just needed to add milk/eggs

bright colored Punching balls are very inexpensive,large, and a fun little thing for them to have. Blow them up and have them ready in a garbage sack at the door as they leave (so they don't punch them in your home).

cups(you can decorate) hot chocolate mix, marshmellows, and a spoon
Little wood treasure boxes (can be found at craft stores) with a couple of coins (foriegn ones are always fun)
Michaels has little wood put together puzzles that becone various object like ships, animals, dinos, and trains in their summer section.

a bucket with a rake and shovel for a beach day with coupons for icecream

A frisby and jumprope for getting out and having fun.

How about an art project that the kids can do at the party and take home? They can make a foam visor and decorate it with stickers? I did that for my daughter's 4th birthday. I had individual packets of stickers with the kids name in letters. They loved it!

Hi K., For my son's 5th birthday, I bought a book for each child. I bought the "I can read" books with the currently popular movies or superheros (there are plenty of boy and girl ones to choose from). Amazon has buy 3 get the 4th free and shipping is quick. You could also go to Target or the dollar store and get inexpensive paperback books. I then printed out a picture of my son and the other boys that he co-celebrated his party with and taped a local ice cream shop gift card to the print out. The picture was shaped a bit like a bookmark, so they could keep it and use it or toss it. The kids like choosing which book to take home and it is so much better than the cheap plastic toys. Have fun!

I love the sunflower idea! That is pretty cool! As a Mom, I really love getting useful things--little pads and pencils or little things of crayons for in the car... I just got a little pegboard craft at Michael's for a buck! It's a neat little project! Good luck!

At my daughter's last birthday, we took a group shot at the party. I had previously went to dollar store and bought frames for everyone. We just dowloaded the picture onto the computer. Copied it to a word document and shrunk it to the size we needed and printed them up. While the kids were playing, a friend of mine helped me put them in the frames for everyone.

The other thing we have done when my daughter was in Kindergarten, was a book exchange for her birthday. She had plenty of toys and we were new in the area and didn't feel right having the entire class buy her presents. We had everyone bring a wrapped book with them and then we all sat in a circle with the books in the middle and drew names. Everyone got to go home with a book and I had several moms comment they really liked the idea.

Good Luck!

Hi,

I'm with you... I hate those little trinkety party favors. They are actually pretty costly too once you consider how many of those things you need for each baggy.

One of the things that I've started doing is giving out gift cards to Jamba Juice or Coldstone (their minimum is $5, so it can add up, especially if you have 20 kids coming) in a little baggy with a couple of the mini-fruit roll-ups or fruit leathers. If you have a Baskin Robbins near you, that's even better. They have gift certificates starting at $2.50. I love giving out the gift cards, because I know that they'll get used, and that another mom won't have to worry about cleaning up the clutter that the trinkety things create.

If you really want to not do the goody bags, don't have your son open his presents while his guests are there. Kids shouldn't expect to get gifts/goodies when it is someone else's birthday, but they also shouldn't be expected to sit still while the birthday child opens a bunch of gifts either. In the past, goody bags weren't given but gifts weren't opened during the party either.

J.
mom to 2

You could have the kids do a "craft" at the party that is their favor. We were at a party and they had castles picture frame out of foam and then had a ton of foamy stickers for the girls to decorate their castles. For the boys they had an underwater theme and the kids made fish bowl picture frames. I have seen all these things at the dollar store so I know you could get them fairly inexpensive.

We also got a gift card at a party once for Cold Stone Creamery for a couple of bucks.

i don't think everyone read that you were having 20 kids at the party... 20 kids times $5 items .... that's more than i'd spend...

my local target has just what you were talking about (small flower pot, dirt, seeds) in the dollar bin. you can pick flowers or veggies.. they also had footballs, frisbees and kids books in the dollar aisle as well.

when my son turned five (in march) i got dollar maze books or connect the dot books from the dollar aisle at michaels. i also got a few packs of pencils and erasers... i wrapped them up & tied them with a ribbon - all the kids LOVED them!

i like the ice cream cone gift certificate idea - those usually run about $2 each.

you could also think outside the box & do something like microwave popcorn & include a recipe for kettle corn or caramel corn on the package..

have fun!

How about cool pencils, erasers, sidewalk chalk, summer toys like small balls or frisbees.

Hi K.,
For my sons birthday we did bubbles, flower seeds, sparkly pencils, and a glow stick. The kids loved them, it wasn't junky and i got everything from the dollar store.

Good for you! The trinkets may be fun for the kids for a little while but it's just more plastic we really don't need in our homes. I like the Baskin Robbins Idea. I think you can get coupons for $1 and if you think about it many times a bag of trinkets can add up to more than a $1 per child. One year I had my daughters friends Paint T Shirts (Sale at Michaels). One year we had a Movie outside in the backyard so at the very end I gave them flashlights (Clearance at Target) I saw Recently at Target they are clearing out Cars(Disney Movie) items. I know what I'm suggesting takes a bit of time and is hit or miss so the coupon idea sure has it's advantages. Good Luck!

I've been able to find 50 or 100 piece puzzles at the dollar store or in the dollar section at Target. I've given them out at my son's party before. The kids seem to like them!

Also, Michaels has little wooden kits for a dollar. There's cars, trucks, planes, etc. and they come with 5 or so paints so they can build them and paint them afterwards.

It seems like giving one item as favor seems to be the trend. For example, at one party, they gave away mini slinky (the real kind) for 3/4 year olds. I would think about maybe giving away books (goto Green Apple on Clement). They're cheap(er) and educational :)

K.,
You have a ton of great suggestions. I read through all of them to get ideas for my son's birthday in Nov. He'll be turning six as well. One thing that we did last year was...I went to costco and bought 100 calorie snack packs in bulk and put a variety of them in the favor bags. They were a big hit.

good luck.

Take a trip to you local dollar store or school supply store for some ideas. Perhaps a small pack of crayons/markers and a sketchbook or coloring book. Sunglasses and flipflops, since summer is coming. I like the idea of playing cards, my 5 year old just learned how to play war and loves it. My kids have also received a $2 dollar GC to Baskin Robbins or $5 GC to Toys r us.

Make a CD of kids music and have your son draw a picture, photo copy it and fit it to be the CD cases' cover.

How about buying a cheap t-shirt for each kid -- around 5 bucks a piece -- and giving the kids stencils and fabric markers and letting them decorate them.

at my son's b-day party we had fun music so i made cd's 4 all the kids

Jamba juice cards or blockbuster gift cards for $5 have been easy and the kids like them.

Crayons in a baggie with a ribbon. Your son can help you by placing stickers on the baggies as decoration. I don't know why, but kids love stickers, so I let them use them a lot. Anyway, that age group uses lots of crayons. And having your son participate in the favor-making is extra special!

You can also have the kids do a craft project and that becomes their favor to take home. An example is making little picture frames, then take pics of the kids at the party with your son, print and give to the parents later to place in the frame. Though, with 20 guests, not sure I could handle a craft project. I always do crafts at our parties, but I keep the numbers of guests small--usually fewer than 12 kids--also, then it's cheaper and easier to mail out pictures you've taken.

One final note--Oriental Trading Co. has a catalog you can get and they sell crafts and school supplies and all sorts of holiday little toys and such in bulk, yet you don't have to buy hundreds of things--just like one packet of 40 pencils is .99 for example; or 12 craft projects for $2.00.
--Former teacher and current mom of 2, going on 3

For my sons birthday I gave all of the kids homemade playdough in a plastic baggie with a cookie cutter inside. I used a whole tube of food coloring to make the dough super bright.

For my other sons birthday we gave each child one matchbox car, raisins, and a pack of crayons. (they were 4 year old girls and boys) The girls loved getting cars!

My son was into mazes and puzzle books at at that age, so we bought a bunch of good ones (NOT the dollar store cheapy ones on newsprint) and let the kids each choose one they hadn't done yet with a new mechanical pencil (0.9 lead, so it was really thick and great for kids - buy in a multi-pack). Bordering on educational yet fun and didn't cause cavities or hurt your feet if stepped upon!

Hi K.,

I'm with you on the goodie bags - I'd like to see them nixed too. Do you have a photo printer at home? If so, one year I gave all the kids a picture of themselves with the birthday kid inside an inexpensive themed frame. Good luck to you - My daughter is having a pool party (9 yrs old) and I think I'm going to give beach balls/pool toys as a party favor.

J.

You already have a lot of great ideas but here are just a couple more that the kids can do as an activity at the party and then take home with them:
*decorate picture frames (wooden or foam with buttons, beads, markers, stickers, glitter etc...)
*bookmarks that your kid designs (or that the kids decorate). You can laminate them at Kinko's for very little. The can have a picture of your son and "thanks for coming to my party' or a drawing by him

Anything that kids can make and take home with them will probably be a hands down winner.

I agree with everything you said and am the same way about "goodie bags"
A few ideas from my own kids' parties in the past:

As the party goes on, I take pix of each child with MY child.
at one point (quickly more towards beginning half of party) I hand my digital cam off to my hubby who goes to our home computer and prints each one out as a 4X6 with borders.

Pop them into a dollar tree clear plastic frame (no border, just a cheap piece of plastic that you slide the pick into, hope you know what I mean?)...so it's quick fast & easy (and cheap since they are a dollar)

Then at the end, each kid left with a pic w/their buddy birthday friend

OTHER TIME..

I bought dollar tree "journals" and a pack of dollar tree character pens *at the time they had like 6 packs of pens for a buck..some were like princesses, Cars movie, shrek, etc..

SO each kid got a little journal with blank pgs inside and a pen!

You know, you don't have to give out goodie bags, and you don't have to fight... just don't do it. If you must, though, keep in mind that kids LOVE little junky trinkets... they'd rather have a bag full of crappy little doohickies than one halfway decent item... The flower pot with sunflower seeds sounds like a charming little party favor, but I'm sure it appealed more to the moms than to the kids. And there's nothing, absolutely nothing, that kids of five or six will not lose or throw away!

Having said all that, there are lots and lots of kids in my extended family, and I like to make little gift bags for them at Christmas. First, I go to Michael's Crafts, which always has a large selection of little dollar items like tiny notepads, crayons, small containers of play-doh, little bottles of bubble soap, etc., and get a few little items. Then I go to any dollar store, and get another selection of little items. Then I go to Paper Plus, on San Pablo in Berkeley, and get fancy little bags or boxes, and maybe some more little items. I make up the bags for boys with one color ribbon, and the bags for girls with another, and I always make a couple extras for those kids who you weren't expecting. It takes time to do this, but it's relatively cheap, and the kids always like the bags.

Now that I've read the other responses, I think the ice cream cone gift certificates are a great idea!! And quick, easy, no fuss, no muss!

How about coloring books and crayons (dollar store) or books, puzzle books and pencils or markers? Card games? it may be easier with some kind of theme though : ) Also.. when my kids were little (my daughter 20 years ago now.. she is 26) we had a special art project they brought home.. with my daughter we decorated (dressed up Troll dolls) maybe you could find some information about making stepping stones (quick drying cement and molds they could put their hands and decorations in or something like that) how fun I hope your son has a great birthday!! C.

kids love slinky's and I found some at the dollar store.
good luck

My sister once got some inexpensive coloring books and crayons (16 or 24 packs) from Big Lots i think, or maybe Dollar Tree and put a basket out with them so the kids could pick their own coloring books on the way out.

Burn a CD with your child's favorite songs. A deck of playing cards along with a laminate card with instructions on how to play a new game. I usually tie the favor into the theme or what is going on at the party. Craft projects from the party are always a big hit... a box of new crayons and a drawing pad. (The dollar store is a great source for these things).

Decorate your own cookies!

Shopping List:
Paper Baking Cups
2 packages of Sugar Cookies
4 Containers of White Frosting
Food Coloring
3 or 4 different types of Sprinkles
Candy/Cookie Bags with twist ties (from Michael's, etc.)
Popcicle Sticks (from Michael's)
Permanent Marker
Paper Towel Squares

1) Write each kid's name on a cookie bag with permanent marker
2) Mix food coloring into the white frosting
3) Set out twice as many baking cups as you have kids
4) Put a glop of frosting and a popcicle stick for spreading the frosting on half of the baking cups
5) Put a tablespoon of different types of sprinkles in the other half of the baking cups
6) Give each child a cookie on a paper towel, a frosting cup and a sprinkle cup.
7) Have kids decorate their cookies, then set the cookies on top of their bag with name on it to dry.
8) Slide cookies into gift bags just before kids leave party. Tell them to hold them flat.

from the mom who despises goodie bags... what about pencil cases and pencils? you and your son could use the computer to make labels and personalize each box.
S.

Hi K.
With Summer coming up, you can look around for kid's beach towels.. nowadays, they don't cost as much as they once did when they were novelty.. they have spongebob and other characters.. you can probably find them at Target and or J.C. Pennys... not to mention, if you go to Mission street, many of those stores sell them. You could roll them up and put a ribbon on them, you could also do a sandpail with a shovel and other stuff inside. I gave out a beach towel or two as prizes one year at my son's sixth birthday party, the kids liked them and thought the idea of such a BIG towel was cool...Again, not too sure how much they run these days, but I am sure when I bought it, it wasn't too much.

Good luck to you!!

Hi K.,

Wow, you have a lot of replies!

I think it would be fun to have little tee-shirts with fabric paint so they could make their own shirts or if that sounds like a little too much work, I'm always a fan of sidewalk chalk and bubbles. I really like things that can be used up and thrown away.

Best of luck to you!

T

Hello K.: Some fun little boy items (girls can enjoy as well) are chalk, bubbles, Hey I say use the flower pot idea they had to get it form someone else, matchbox cars. Crayons and color books or paper. I just recently got the greatest things for my grandchildren of foam soap for the bath tub or those colored tabs that changes the water color in the tub. Or take a picture of the birthday child and friends and have someone make a copy before they leave on the computer or as part of the Thank You card.
Most of these things can be gotten at the dollar store or Walmart and do not have to be expensive. We recently went to a party where the mother gave 1 homemade cookie in fun shape to each child as they left. Have a great party and get lots of pictures. Nana G

Homemade Gak (look online for a recipe), or playdough (homemade or purchased). Playdough comes in really bright colors and in small packages so you could give them a couple of the tiny ones each.

Here are a few food idea's to go in the goodie bag, you could make cookies and decorate each one with each child's name (or they could do it) and wrap it in plastic color wrap with a bow. You could do a create your own "trail mix" and everyone scoops a from a bowl of Raisins, coconut, m&m's, and a trail mix and puts it in a bag, you put their name on it and seal it and put a bow on top. That is a healthy treat. I also went to a party where the boys received a Hot Wheel car and the girls got a pet shop key chain ($1 & $2 each) and my son played with that.
You could make photo frames out of the Big Popsicle sticks and decorate and print out a group photo for everyone.
You could ask everyone to bring an old white T-Shirt and you supply puffy paints and they could design their own T-Shirts and you could leave them outside to dry and when it is time to go home, they go out and get their shirt and you place a little tag on it that says "I got this at _____ birthday party! Oh yeah, the make your own Flip Flops is a huge hit and they are cheap at Micheals. Have fun and be creative!

At a party for kids of similar age, the favor was paperback I Spy books. I don't know if you have time to order from Scholastic to get a really good price on something like that. Little Dover books often sell for $1.50 each and can be for coloring or simple puzzles on a variety of themes.

How about a simple frisby or something like that, inexpensive, but can be used for outdoor play.

One party I went too gave out Baskin and Robin gift certificates for an ice cream cone. You could also do it at any local ice cream shop.

Here's what we're doing for our boy's sixth birthday party this Saturday- crayons. They're fun and useful. Kids also always need toothbrushes, and they love the character ones. We recently went to a party where the boys all got a hotwheel car. It's something he will actually keep and play with. I thought it was great.

I'm also not crazy about doing favors and goodie bags for class parties- I don't like the way it "ups the ante" and just makes things more complicated. Our son's birthday was yesterday. We baked brownies together and brought fresh fruit to share with his classmates. We also did a favor, because our son wanted to so much. So I brought those party blowers- at least they're inexpensive and mostly biodegradable.

I'm not a big fan of character toys, but in grade school they're hard to avoid. I think it's great when favors are things like pads of paper, marker pens, and other useful things. I hope you're starting a trend with this. It's important to be mindful. I can't judge the way other parents choose to do favors and goodie bags- I'm just so happy when our son is invited to share a friend's birthday, and I think it's nice that the birthday boy or girl wants to give a parting gift. It really is nice to show your friends that you're glad they came to your birthday party.

I really liked your question- I've been thinking some of the same things! Happy birthday to your boy!

You can get Creatology wooden puzzles for as little as a $1 each at Michael's. They are really nice and fun for kids to put together.

Not sure how much you want to spend, but one of my friends gave each child a book for her son's party favor.

I have two boys, 5 and 8, and have done "useful" goody bags since the first party. One year each kid got a small set of Legos (about $5-6 at Target/TRUs) last year I got a watch at Party City for $3-4 in the theme, love the idea of a coloring book/crayons from $ store, I also had them stamp images on their own t-shirt. You can get decent Jerzees at Michael's for $4 each and fabric markers for $8/pack (use the 40% coupon). As a teacher I also second the idea of books/puzzle books with pencils/cards/etc. from the dollar store.

Have fun! I enjoy putting the goody bags together almost as much as the kids enjoy getting them.

M.

$2 gift certificates from Baskin Robbins.

A few thoughts:
- pencils/erasers - they come in all sorts of cheery designs and for school-age kids, no matter how many pencils you have, somehow they all disappear when it's time to do homework ;-) . As a mom of 7YO twins, I can say we're swimming in crayons (from things like the kids menus at restaurants, church activity packets, other parties, etc.) but are always in need of pencils.

-make photo frames out of large craft sticks that the kids can decorate w/stickers, markers, etc. Take a photo of each kid at the party for them to put in the frame. Add a magnet to the back

-beach balls. We had a "7 years/7 continents" theme party for our girls' 7YO party and each guest got an inflatable globe-patterned beach ball (and a pencil and a globe-patterned eraser)

All kids like to draw! How about some sort of small drawing pad and colored crayons or pencils. they are very inexpensive. I have seen really small packs at restaurants.

Check out /www.orientaltrading.com I used them when I was teaching. Lots of ideas! Have fun

J.

Hi K.,
I recently had a party for my daughter and we gave out music CD's. We made one for each child with music that my daughter picked out. The kids and parents loved them. They play them in their cars all of the time. It's great because I like listening to that music in my car, and the kids are happy!

Hope this gives you some help!

I hate the goodie bags too. Bunch of junk that just gets thrown away. My daughter is having a birthday party on Sat. and we are giving away water guns or bubbles haven't decided yet. I don't understand how we got to this place where a goody bag is always expected, it should be enough that you are invited to a party and got to have cake/icecream and play and have fun. That is not enough anymore for some reason kids now expect to receive a prize for showing up to a party. Anyway most of the moms in my playgroup agree with me and would love to get back to the basic birthday party instead of these outragous overpriced shindigs that people expect nowdays. And they also can't stand the goodie bags. I would find one small thing that the kids would like to play with and hand that out, like a matchbox car or airplane. Good luck!

do you have a Dollar Tree? or a .99 store? maybe you can get some ideas there. or go online for a craft idea they can take away. i like the TShirt idea.