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Don't Do Me Any Favors
Rated by 3 members
"Thank you for inviting me to Grace's party, Mrs. B. Now can I have my goody bag?" one of our guests asked at the end of Grace's sixth birthday bash.
"You're welcome and thank you for coming," I said. He looked confused when I explained there was no goody bag — the jumpy house, pizza, and cake had been the "goody" part and I was glad he had fun.
He still looked puzzled as he walked away. He wasn't the only one — a few more children seemed disappointed to be leaving empty-handed and I was left pondering this whole "goody-bag/parting-favor phenomenon" we've created.
Not to sound like a grump, but since when did we start teaching our kids to expect anything more from a birthday party than a ripping good time and a belly full of sweet cake?
After talking it over with several of my savvy mom friends, I realized that it doesn't have to be all or nothing. And having your kids give as well as receive on their birthday can be a way to teach generosity and the art of being a gracious host.
My crafty friend D'Lissa always has kids create something at parties. She kills two birds with one stone — entertainment and creative expression — that, voilá, yields a lovely handmade party favor guests can take home.
At my friend Jessica's daughter's spa-themed birthday party, guests walked away with the small nail polishes, nail files, and lip glosses they'd used to get glamorized.
And Lynette, a pastry chef, lets the kids make something like simple cookies or snack mixes that she bags up for them to take home and share with their family. Monkey Mix is a great one to try.
For a cowboy-themed party, Allison did a "country store" approach where she filled three tin buckets — each with different kind of old-fashioned candy — and let kids fill a small paper bag with goodies of their choosing. (Check out www.candy-crate.com for fun classic and specialty candy.)
With my fresh perspective and a simple approach, I have plenty of time to have Grace's 7th birthday party favor in the bag.
Member Comments On…
Don't Do Me Any Favors
This year for my daughter's fifth birthday party, we will be going to Chucky Cheese. I will be sewing each of the girls a drawstring backpack to carry home their collector cup and any other goodies they get when they redeem their tickets from games. I will also be sewing a drawstring purse to hold there coins in and a foam cup insulator decorated with fun foam for each girl. (With being a youth leader I find this ends the confusion as to who's cup is who and can be personalized to any theme.) The backpack and coin purses are sewn with extra fabric from other projects, and I buy the foam cups on sale at Micheals, and use the left over foam from other projects. Cost about a dollar a girl, and they have three great things they can reuse and are personalized. If you are having a party at home they can personalize them their selves, and this has always been a big hit. I have partys/get togethers threw out the year at my place and all they kids love it and want to do it each time.
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for my daughters spa party we got gems to stick on there face, spa headbands for facials,candy and some wooden picture clips that they are going to decorate we found everything for 1 dollor at michaels craft store and dollor tree!
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I found a simple party favor idea that saves on the cost of buying the goodie bag and the fillers. I purchase many different Barbie Dolls or Action Figures that are around $5 a piece. I then place a small "Thanks for coming to my party" card on it. As each child leaves, they choose one to take home. They are so excited to have their own toy. I buy extras and keep the receipt to take back the dolls that weren't chosen. It's always been a hit.
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I always try to have some sort of craft for the children to make and take home with them. On year we had a flower birthday and we made the Snowboarder Hat with floral fleece and flower foam, One year we had a Zebra theme and we tye-dyed white shirts black, We had a Webkinz party this year and everyone got to decorate a sleeping bag (made out of old bluejean legs)for their Webkinz pet. It seem better to send them home with a useful item rather than a lot of junk and candy.
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I like making up goody bags...but I agree that children should not expect them. For my daughter's first birthday, I bought some floral foam, and a bag of mini unicorn lollipops (the long thin swirly kind) and made a lollipop bouquet as a centerpiece, after the party, the kinds each got a pop. It was pretty and functional.
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My son just celebrated his 12th birthday last week. We talked about gift bags for the guests and I thought he was a bit too old. He decided this would be his last year but felt he was beyond typical gift bag fare. We decided he could pick his 12 favorite songs and we made compilation CD's for all the guests. He decorated the discs with permanent marker and we put them in sleeves we got from Wal-Mart. All in all the gift was well received by the kids and pretty minimal in cost.
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My Daughters Birthday is a week before Christmas so I would have her party at the first weekend of December and for the party favors I would have the kids make a christmas ornaments and I would make little christmas stockings for them to carry them home in
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I enjoy planning the goodie bags to go with the theme of the party/
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