Goody Bag Ideas

Hi S.,

The best goody bag my kids ever got was filled with sidewalk chalk (two pieces in a decorative baggie tied with ribbon), and bubbles.

Target also had a 1$ bin filled with all kinds of stuff. plastic cups, funky straws, notepads, buckets, sunflower growing kits,... all kinds of things that kids love so much :)

Good luck :)

1 mom found this helpful

I am in the same boat, my 4 yr olds b-day party is coming up too.
If you want to stick with a nature theme what about a small pot with dirt and a seed packet for them to plant at home.
I hope you find something!

1 mom found this helpful

Wow that's a lot of kids! I used to do something that went with the theme of the party. One year my daughter had a sleepover so everybody got a cool pillowcase. Another time was a campout and they all got a nice flashlight. One year was a safari-type thing and I got them each a stuffed animal monkey. Looking back now I'm sure I spent more than what I would have on a regular goodie bag, but the stuff lasted. Maybe you could do kiddie binoculars? I don't know if you can find any real cheap though. How about a butterfly net and bug catcher? Just thinking . . .

My sister did the personalized bucket idea and had a 'bug' hunt. She bought a bag of rubber bugs from the dollar store - they have to be the bigger bugs - and hid them throughout the play area. The kids loved it! She had stickers out to put on the buckets and they got to take home all the bugs they caught.

My daughter's 5th is next week and I bought the 16 oz. bubbles on sale at Jewel for $1 a piece. I printed off personalized labels that say "thank you for coming to (child's name) party!" and covered the original bubble label. I'll be tying a helium balloon to each one for take home gifts. About $1.50 per gift, and all kids love getting a balloon. Parents like getting something their kids can use. Tying a balloon to a small box side-walk chalk is a good idea too. It will serve as the party decorations around the room as well.

Have a great party!

What about a sand bucket (you can get them really cheap) They can carry them while on the hike and collect bits they find. Always fun to get letter stickers and put each childs name on their bucket.

How about a ball for each child. You could hand them out just as their parents pick them up. That way everyone gets the same thing and it can be used all summer.
Or "treat dollars" from your local McDonals or Dairy Queen. Each child could get a coupon for a "treat" later.

I would take good old paper lunch sacks and paint a creatures paw on each(trust me I am not artistic and I did this) you can do free hand or cut a stamp from a sponge or potato and just use kids black paint. Or put a wildlife sticker on the outside of each bag. Inside you could put a packet of gummy whatever that fits your theme, they are available in almost every shape. At the dollar store or target or walmart go to the cheapy section and look for the tubes of animal figurines and put an animal or creature in the bag along with a few hershey kisses and maybe get a multipack of superballs or some other very cheap toy to play with that comes in multiples. There doesn't have to be a ton in the bag, maybe a sucker or something. I am a cheapskate when it comes to goody bags as alot of times parent just pitch them shorty after arriving home and the kid doesn't remember they got them shortly after. Yup a book is too much, unless you are willing to spend 25 dollars and go to the dollar store and attach a packet of candy to the book and call it a gift.

My sister gave kites at my nieces. She got them from the dollar tree. No bags, no candy..the kids and parents loved them!

I agree about giving kids junk. Some ideas for a nature goodie bag are individual packs of trail mix, box of raisins, toy magnifying glasses (to look at bugs up close), gummy worms.

Another idea would be a "make your own dirt" goodie bag. When we did these, we put one sugar-free chocolate pudding, a small pack of Oreo cookies, and instructions to crush the oreos and mix them into the pudding. It was a real hit!

We usually do separate parties for my kids - one with family (15 kids) and one with friends (usually another dozen kids) so I feel your pain on how the goodie bags can add up. One year I got lucky and found these great bug-catching kits on clearance at Target that I used as favors (about .60, but I think they started out at $1.50).

I've also bought large packs of animals (dinosaurs, etc.) and put a couple in each bag along with temporary tattoos and candy or fruit snacks. Small bags of chips or pretzels are good (and cheap in bulk.) Light sticks and bracelets/necklaces can be found cheap/bulk at the dollar store. And I've been to a couple of parties lately where there is no goody bag, which is also fine.

For your theme, maybe you could order sunglasses and compasses from Oriental Trading (I've bought both before - very cheap) and give them to the kids at the start of the hike, and they can keep them for later.

(edit) Sand buckets can be inexpensive, throw a couple pieces or a pack of chalk if you can get it cheap enough,and some individually sized fish crackers. Floral - lei necklaces, glow bracelets (Target carries 10-packs of the necklaces and bracelets).If you have enough time, go to Oriental Trading.com or get a hold of their magazine. They always have a ton of stuff for many different themes and with the local VBS themes that are going around, they usually add some different stuff this time of year.
Have fun - four years old was probably my favorite age for my kids! Good times!

Go to the dollar chain called Dollar Tree. Some dollar stores can be pretty junky, but I am a fan of the Dollar Tree. There are so many items that are not junk there AND look more than a dollar. I've put some pretty cool things in my kids goodie bags for birthday parties. Instead of an actual goodie bag, you could buy some other fun containers from the Dollar Tree and fill it up. One idea that comes to mind that has the nature theme is BUG CATCHERS. I just saw them at Dollar Tree 2 weeks ago. (It's made out of a netting so the bug will live.) Last year they sold butterfly nets.They've sold bags of pretty shells before... not sure if they currently do. They sell learning books, kid's books, CDs,stickers, and all for just a dollar!

Have fun!