Goodie Bags: What Do You Spend and What Do You Give?

Updated on July 09, 2013
D.D. asks from Phoenix, AZ
27 answers

Ugh....is my first thought when I think of goodie bags filled with junk. One year I spend about $4-bucks on each goodie basket just because I hate the thought of "junk". There were only a few kids so it wasn't a big deal at all. There will be more kids this year so I could do candy from a pinata. At least they will eat it. Or what are your thoughts for someone like me, that hates the idea of giving out junk, but wants all the kids to be happy and have fun--and they like getting "stuff". Thank you.

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So What Happened?

Wow...loved all these responses. Thank you. And I am ditching the junk in a bag idea! Fills up our landfills. Exploits cheap labor in some foreign country. The kids are better off rubbing two sticks together than play with this cheap crap. Oh...guess I'm ranting now. We may do an activity and/or game where they get a couple prizes. I'm going to take the focus off stuff and put the focus on FUN! And for those against the "garbage in a bag", stay with me and lets reverse this ridiculous trend!

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C.M.

answers from San Francisco on

We give out small plants. We have done it at school because they don't allow food and also for birthdays. You can by a flat at the garden store and use for table centerpieces and then handout at the end. The moms have loved them. We have done flowers, herbs, groundcover and even corn. It's inexpensive and different. Good luck!

4 moms found this helpful

☼.S.

answers from San Diego on

We've never done goodie bags; we give $1.50 gift certificates for an ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins. A big hit every time we've done it!

2 moms found this helpful
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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

I never did them, and quite frankly, the kids didn't seem to miss them.

I didn't do theme parties either.
The kids were perfectly satisfied to eat cake and ice cream and run around in the yard.

2 moms found this helpful

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S.B.

answers from Dallas on

I don't really do goody bags, but we do give a small thank you gift. I spend a dollar or less om each kid. Last year my daughter had a Wonder Woman party, so we gave out Wonder Woman cups I found for $0.87 each. One year my son had a sleep over and everyone got a flash light to use and take home. I found those clearanced out for less than a dollar each. I try to find something we will use during our party and then the kids can take them home. I avoid random goody bags like the plague.

3 moms found this helpful
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K.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

I try to spend $3-4 per bag, but sometimes it ends up being as much as $5. For the last few parties, I have given each child a book. I buy them through Scholastic, so most are $2 or less. Then I add in things like a pencil, stickers, and a couple pieces of candy (nothing crazy by any means). I just put it all into a regular goody bag, and don't go crazy buying buckets or fancy bags/containers to hold the stuff.

I almost always got goody bags at parties growing up, so it surprises me that a lot of people think it's a new thing. Maybe it just depends on where you live. But they have always been simple - no live pets or $15 toys. And I never buy junky toys from Oriental Trading Company. My rule is that if I wouldn't want it in my own house, I won't put it in someone's goody bag.

2 moms found this helpful

D.B.

answers from Boston on

I'm with you. I hated goodie bags and I hated the idea of having to pay people to come to a party! I read some of the responses below and I am appalled that someone would feel the need to give the guests a $20 clothing gift card. That puts incredible stress on other parents who feel they need to do the same thing!

I'll also tell you that I'm firmly against huge parties with a lot of kids - it just escalates. Parents feel that their child is getting 20 presents so they have to give out enough to justify what they took in. It becomes a commercial enterprise instead of a party. Birthday children often don't even open gifts in front of the guests because it takes to darn long and it's boring - yes if there are 20 kids, no if there are 5. As a result, birthday kids don't learn to show (or even fake) enjoyment/appreciation, guests don't get to see their friend's joy (and so the gift becomes the "price of admission." Kids don't write thank you notes for 20 received gifts, and parents spend all year going to the 20 parties of the 20 kids they invited, which takes up every other weekend and a ton of money for gifts. You see on Mamapedia all the time how much parents resent this - yet so many of us keep doing it.

In our home, we usually connected the take-home stuff with an activity. We did treasure hunts or "dinosaur egg hunts" with plastic eggs with little candies or small toys (yoyos, slap bracelets, whatever's popular) in them. We have to watch the candy in our neighborhood with a diabetic kid, and there are a lot of allergies to watch out for too - so we go easy on that or do something else besides candy. We've made picture frames (foam or wood from craft store, paint or attach foam shapes or macaroni, add a coat of spray paint while the kids are playing, then email a pic of each kid (or a group shot) to everyone afterwards. We had them make little bug houses for collecting lady bugs, or paint plain terra cotta flower pots and then sent them home with a baggie of potting soil and a pack of seeds. You can play some simple old fashioned games and have them go home with the rules and a few props (get a book of ideas from the library - most kids love stuff they haven't done before). Paint a pillow case and send them home with it - personalized with anything they want. Sidewalk chalk, water toys (those soft floating balls are fun to toss in a pool, giving everyone a cooling spray and not hurting if they hit the head), bucket/shovel, balsa wood or plastic airplanes to assemble and fly, small frisbees -- all make good toys depending on the ages of the kids. But over all, if you make the party about what they DO and less about what they GET, it's better!

2 moms found this helpful
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D.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

I like the idea of incorporating into the party or theme if you can. I also like the idea of getting 1 bigger ($3?) item vs lot's of little stuff. We took 4 of my son's friends tubing in the winter for his birthday and got each one a little snow painting kit. I think they were $2.99 each. One year we went to a jumping place and instead of the goody bags I picked to let them inflate their own bouncy ball (again like $3 each). I have also heard of people doing gift certs to McDonald's or ice cream place which I think are more useful. One of the other mom's mentioned the flashlight, which my son got at a party once. Good luck! Browse Target or the dollar store and I am sure something will come to you!

2 moms found this helpful
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J.G.

answers from Chicago on

We do piñatas with candy...we also gave out pez dispensers, kids loved that.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.L.

answers from Appleton on

Like many of the other responders I gave a smaller gift out instead of a gift bag of junk. I gave things like a giant sized ball, a box of Lego's, a t-shirt, a large pail and shovel, a truck..........things that could be used instead of thrown out :)

1 mom found this helpful
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P.K.

answers from New York on

I only did goodie bags for 5 year olds. Waste of money. Everything gets thrown out.

1 mom found this helpful
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L.O.

answers from Detroit on

I try to give one nicer thing. this year is was Frisbees. last year sandpail and shovel and beach ball. (kid has summer bday)

I did a holiday craft kid for my other kid.. I think the craft was 1 or 2.

I would rather get that than a bunch of teeny tiny toys.. that end up in the trash immediately.

1 mom found this helpful

K.M.

answers from Chicago on

Have a fun party with out the need of Goody Bags. If you feel the kids need a take home item, my sister buys kids T-shirts and has them decorate them. They also decorate their own cupcakes.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.C.

answers from Madison on

I've never understood the concept of the "Goodie bag." They weren't around when I was young. When we had a birthday--it was OUR birthday. Friends came to celebrate your birthday, had cake (maybe pizza, or sloppy Joes, depending), and then they went home. Satisfied that they got to play, spend time with their friend, eat cake and ice cream, and celebrate a birthday. I don't remember me or any of my friends ever feeling slighted because we weren't sent home with a goody bag (probably because we didn't know the concept back then. And even if we did, both us and our parents would have thought it odd; mine would have made me return it).

Fast forward to when my daughter was younger and started going to birthday parties (she's 13). I couldn't believe it when she came home with a little bag full of cheap stuff that either broke or was thrown away because she wasn't interested in it. We've done goody bags ourselves a couple times to "fit in," but I've never, ever felt right about it. Thank goodness, she usually only invites one close friend who gets to go to some incredible place to have fun; the child never is concerned or upset that she didn't go home with a goody bag.

Why does the kid have to go home with anything? What happened to celebrating what truly is the reason here--the birthday child's birthday? The child who was invited--it's not his birthday!

I guess I'll never understand the reasoning behind the goody bag. It just sets up children to always expect something--even when it's not their time or place to be receiving something. That's what their own birthday is for.

And a thank you gift? Why? Do we now have to thank children for being friends with our children and taking the time to show up at their party?

1 mom found this helpful
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N.L.

answers from Tampa on

I hate the idea of junk too. We just had my 4yr old's birthday. She had a "rainbow" theme, so we gave out colored bucket and shovel, a pinwheel, and a "goody bag" of party popcorn (popcorn with white chocolate and rainbow sprinkles).

I know others do a craft as part of the party (shirt, hat, bag, etc) and just use that as the party favor...

1 mom found this helpful
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C.M.

answers from Chicago on

We do a craft that is the "goodie." One year the girls decorated tee shirts, another year they decorated flip flops. They also decorated pillowcases for a sleepover party.

The only other goodie that I did was one year I bought little plastic cups that looked like ice cream cones with matching spoons. They came in packets of 4 and we only had 8 kids so it worked out great. I served the ice cream in the cups and then the kids got to take them home (I cleaned the cups before I handed them out!) The kids seemed to LOVE them, and the parents thought they were cute! It was something cute and useful!

http://www.windycitynovelties.com/11192p/ice-cream-cups-a...

Check the dollar section of Target for useful things! Sometimes they have cute socks, hair ties for girls, erasers and pencils for both. At least if they are useful, they're not junk!

1 mom found this helpful
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R..

answers from San Antonio on

Our last party was at a kiddie amusement park...I gave each child a bag of cotton candy with a thank you for coming tag attached.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.S.

answers from Dallas on

I'm in the same boat as you, so I thank you for the question. I've got a bday party coming up this weekend and I've been confused on the issue. The past couple of years I haven't done goodie bags. I hate buying the junk. I know when my kids come home with that junk, it just goes in the trash after they have made a mess with it. If you want to give something I think your idea of a piñata with candy would be just fine. Have an empty goodie bag for the kids to fill.

1 mom found this helpful

S.G.

answers from Grand Forks on

I buy full size candy bars for each child. It costs me about $1 per child. I really hate all the plastic garbage that comes home in goody bags, and I know that for my kids a full sized candy bar is a huge treat.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

Depends on the number of kids. Last year some of my party supplies/games were gifts - inflatable dinosaurs, rubber skeletons. You could do something like get each kid a shirt (just a few bucks at Michael's) and let them go to town with stencils and fabric paint and that's their take home. Oriental Trading has a lot of craft sets that can easily be an activity + gift.

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A.M.

answers from New York on

For my son's birthday I bought a candy mold that matched the theme and made candy pops...attached a little card that said thank you and tied it to the pop with ribbon. I HATE that junk too- what a waste on money. I will be honest, throw it out when we get home from parties...I am sure many other parents do too!

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P.:.

answers from Phoenix on

I hate those goodie bags too. Not sure of the age of your group but I woulf give a book with a balloon tied to it. You could go to the dollar store and get crayons and a coloring book or a puzzle, etc. Sometimes the activity the kids do is their take away too. We've decorated aprons, tshirts, and have done other crafts.

R.R.

answers from Los Angeles on

I hate the junk, too, so I've made the things that go in the bags, pirate themed for my guy's 4th Jake and the Never Land Pirates party in April. I made spyglasses out of paper towel holders, scrapbook paper, twine, and stickers, pixie dust necklaces from tiny bottles of glitter (Dollar Tree) and twine, pirate ship chocolate suckers, coloring pages I printed out and small boxes of crayons, and a sheet of stickers, then decorated plain brown kraft gift bags with twine, red ribbon and a 3D pirate sticker. I bought everything at Dollar Tree, or on sale and with coupons, and the cost per bag was just a few dollars. They came out great, kids and parents loved them.

However, it was a lot of work, on top of baking and decorating the cupcakes and cake (beach cupcakes and a treasure chest this year), and preparing the food. So I decided from here on out I'm going with one thing like a bag of cotton candy with a balloon tied to it, a bucket of sidewalk chalk ($1 at Dollar Tree), a Pez dispenser (Dollar Tree or $.99 Cents Store), a candy bag filled with the same candy from a piñata, an activity book, a take-out box filled with a popcorn/pretzel/m&m's/melted chocolate creation, or do a craft at the party they take home.

My eyes were truly opened when my guy said a few weeks ago, "Remember when you made the gifts for my friends for my party?" I then realized the party with the food, cake, goodies, bounce house, games, etc. IS their gift for coming, the "goodie" bag should be a token of thanks :)

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

I don't give into the pressure to provide gifts to kids that come to a birthday party so I don't spend anything on goodie bags. They are a fad that "I" hope goes away very soon.

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K.H.

answers from Phoenix on

I give out a gift that matches the theme of the party, eg: cd with kids music we often listen to, Nat'l Geo Kids mag, etc

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B.

answers from Augusta on

Just don't do it.
Kids that come to birthdays don't need presents. It's not their birthday.
when my kids get um it all goes into the trash.

The pinata idea is fun for everyone , it's a game it's not a present for the kids that came.

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M.M.

answers from Boston on

I hate the junk too...we did and went to a plaster fun time parties...and the craft was what the kids went home with...another year, my niece did tie-dye shirts and that was it also. One year I went to Bath and Body works and bought the kids antibacterial foaming hand soap (since discontinued) for $2 a pop (it was a good sized bottle)and put that and a couple of colorful pencils in there....

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

I don't do it anymore because daughter is 18. However, when she was younger, like you I hated the junk bag.

Instead of junk and candy I would find something suitable to give that was $5-$10 or so...
McDonald's gift cards, Ice cream shop gift cards, when she was about 14 and we had a small party, I gave $20 Abercrombie gift cards.

Other ideas I have done are: sidewalk chalk, sand pail with tools, art kit with coloring book, books, etc.

I always tried to find something a little unique but after a while, it is hard to do that!!

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