Anybody have new, novel ideas for kids’ party favors?
MiniDivine’s 7th birthday party is in two weeks - the theme is a Halloween costume party (our favorite holiday). There are 14 kids attending (including birthday boy). I’m stumped for party favors, so I’m asking for interesting ideas that’s fun for kids.
These goody bags seem to be expected, but usually when Mini comes from a party with one, I end up throwing out loads of candy, pencils, stickers, bubbles and cheap toys. With 13 bags, this can get expensive, and it seems so wasteful. But it seems to be required around these parts.
I thought about going to the dollar store and buying small beach buckets/sand pails in orange, green and black, but then there’s still the problem of filling them with crap. And Halloween stuff is hard to come by this time of year.
I once took Mini to a party where the mom gave out $5 McDonald’s gift cards, which seemed more practical to me, but the kids thought were boring. I was thinking of a craft kit, so the kids can make something at home.
What do you Doperparents do for these parties? Any suggestions that would be enjoyable for kids, but not cost me a fortune to buy 14? Halloween-themed woudl be a bonus…thanks for your help!
I feel your pain, when mine was that young and inevitably I caved to the expectation, I tried to find consumable stuff that wouldn’t contribute to household clutter too much. Paper airplane kit, candy, that sort of thing. Sucks because you don’t want all the other kids talking about your kids’ party being awful, but the idea of it is just dumb.
That said, you have just enough time to order from here. They have 171 Halloween results on their clearance page, surely some of the stuff will fit the bill.
Ooh, like these! 500 piece foam glow-in-the-dark pirate stickers for three bucks, how cool is that?!
When a friend and I did a joint party for our kids I asked her about favors. I was really, really hoping she would not want to do them. Her answer? “I just took your kids for two hours, fed them and entertained them. Now they’re worn out and will sleep good tonight. I’ve done you enough favors.”
I came in here to recommend Oriental Trading Co. but see Queen Tonya beat me to it.
I mostly do that for gift bags but one year I found these cool $8 science kits that I gave, along with some candy. (Let me know if you want to go that route, I have five assorted ones left that I could send you; I had to buy extra just in case people who didn’t RSVP actually showed up.)
The kiddo currently has two gift bags sitting on the stairs (waiting to go up to her room): One is full of bubble bath, scented soap and a scrubbie and the other has craft supplies.
You could do something as an activity…like buy a whole bunch of plain masks and have them paint them…scariest mask wins a trivial prize and the rest of the kids get to take home the mask. Or tie dye t-shirts? Or splatter paint whit butcher’s aprons with “blood”?
Get a bag of candy, the kind labelled Kiddie Mix. That’s pretty much what kids bring home in their Trickrtreat bags anyway. It’s relatively cheap. If you can find something like spider or pirate rings, or any kind of creepycrawly thing, that works too, if it’s cheap.
Also, for a future guideline (it’s far too late this year), try to hold the number of guests to the age in years of the birthday kid. For an eight year old, just have eight guests. I realize that sometimes you HAVE to include all the cousins as well as the friends, but it’s a pretty good guideline.
I once got a bunch of good quality, used children’s books that were age-appropriate to the party (none were over $1) and let the kids pick out books. Their parents were grateful, and the kids loved it.
I only remember 2 of my daughter’s parties specifically. One was a sleep over. I bought plain white t-shirts and iron-on crayons. The girls decorated the shirts, I ironed the designs to make them permanent, and they took them home. Kinda like the mask suggestion upthread, minus the prize.
One other party, I got straw hats and assorted “jewels,” feathers, and ribbons, and the kids made their own hats (I wielded the hot glue gun) and they took those home.
Don’t recall any favors for the swim party, and I don’t recall her bringing anything home from parties she attended. However, she’s almost 25, so those memories have long faded…
Since you’re having a costume theme, how about dress-up items? Feather boas, goofy glasses, bright bandanas, various hats. You should be able to find a variety at the dollar store.
One of the things I saw at the dollar store was “shaped clips”. They are a variation of the carabiner clip and come in shapes like hearts and guitars. You can buy them 3 for a buck. Great for book backs to attach stuff. same thing for paper clips. you can go to an office supply store and find them in different shapes and colors.
As far as activities, you can always take a stab at the kids making an origami crane. It becomes a party favor made by the child. Instead of trash, the child brings home a “look at what I made” and maybe a new hobby.
A craft activity is a wonderful idea; however, the party is very short to begin with (90 minutes total) at the local karate studio - they offer free birthday parties that include a karate lesson and games for the kids (it’s free, but they’re hoping to get the kids to talk their parents into enrolling them). 90 minutes is barely enough time for everyone to arrive (NOBODY ever shows up on time, which is a rant in and of itself), have the half-hour karate lesson, pizza and cake. It’s hard to squeeze in time for the birthday kid to open his gifts (which is another rant - my kid HATES it when the birthday kid doesn’t open the gifts at the party; he wants to see his friend’s delight at the gift my son chose himself) - there is really not enough time to do a craft activity, too.
I think I might look into the science kits or craft kits, so the kids can take them home and do them later, though. If I throw the kit in a clear plastic bag, toss in some candy, and tie it with a bow, that should do it.
