Favors for Movie Theatre Birthday Party?

Don't feel obligated to give goodie bags. You are already doing a lot!

But here is an idea if you still feel swayed.

Give each kid a bag of unpopped microwave popcorn. They come individually wrapped which makes it easy. Attach a note that says, "Thank you for popping by and coming to my party."

It is movie themed,simple and cheap..yet it isn't a cheap plastic toy nor candy ;)

Don't even bother doing goody bags. The kids normally don't eat much of the candy and play with the toys once or twice if that. It is already a lot of money you are spending. I like the idea with the popcorn I saw down there

Very funny line about needing your real friends to sit! Love it!

I agree you are already spending a fortune. The kids will be bouncing off walls as it is! And I think the party favor/goody bag idea is really overdone, with parents giving (no kidding) a $25 gift card to every guest when the birthday kid got a $20 present! If you buy candy/drink/popcorn, serve cake, and then send them home with another movie ticket plus M&Ms, you'll be broke and the kids will all be diabetic by morning. And Halloween is coming up too - another giant sugar rush. (Many of us in our neighborhood don't give candy for that anyway since one child is a serious diabetic. We give favors like stickers and pencils and tattoos and slap bracelets. But that's another topic!)

I love the idea of some popcorn and the note. The dollar stores also sell plastic containers that say "popcorn" - tall rectangles that resemble the movie containers. You could put the microwave popcorn in that.

Also, instead of getting each child their own combo, see if the theater will sell you a large bucket of popcorn and then let you divvy it up. We see that all the time at our theaters - your bring your own large cups (like Solo cups, maybe 9 or 10 ounces) and use one for scooping out from the big bucket into individual cups. That keeps down the mess, litter and the expense instead of each kid getting too much food that they are just wasting because none of them can finish it.

You could also buck the trend and say the kids don't need a favor for coming to what's already a $30+ per child event!!

I wouldn't do one, you are already doing so much. Just make sure son writes thank you notes to all that attend.

It sounds like you have a great party planned. I would skip favors.

Remember when going to a birthday party, hanging out with all your friends and eating cake was enough? :)

I'd say no favor, and if my kid went to your kid's party, I wouldn't think you were tacky. I'd think about how cool it was for you to provide my child with the whole movie theatre experience on your child's birthday. JMO.

No need for a favor.

edit:
I totally forgot about bringing solo cups in and scooping out from the giant popcorn bucket, until Diane B mentioned it. It saves money.

No need for a favor.
Though depending on the movie you may get inspired. When we had a Harry Potter movie party for my older daughter I found cute cheap little light up wands and the kids LOVED them :-)

You don't ever have to do favors if you don't want to. Personally, I like to give out goody bags but I don't feel like someone is cheap or tacky if they choose not to.

For the past several parties, I have given books as party favors. I usually order something through scholastic so it only costs $1-3 per book. I may also throw a couple of pieces of candy in as well, but that's it.

My daughter's party is coming up soon (she's turning 4). Each child is getting a coloring book and box of crayons plus a few stickers. I'm also doing a pinata but filling it with snacks (pretzels, goldfish, granola bars) instead of candy since it's so close to Halloween.

You should ask the movie theater if they will throw in popcorn vouchers with your party package that you could use as favors. Might be worth it to them since people can only use them if they come buy a ticket for a future show.

In any case, do not feel obligated to give favors. The kids will still have a great time at the party and the parents will be happy not to have more stuff cluttering their house. : )

How old is your son?

I am not a fan of the treat bags full of junk. However, if you could find a neat trinket or something related to the movie... that might be cute.. (pencils, erasers, notepads, stickers, temporary tattoos)

I like your idea of a movie ticket and that is something I would do. However, it depends on your budget.

We haven't done birthdays in a while but when I did, I typically gave 1 nice treat ($5-$10) for the guests to take home... art set with coloring book, books, ice cream coupons, gift cards, etc.

It sounds like a fun party!

You're paying for tickets and concessions. Forget about the favors.

No favor needed. We have gone to several of these and never gotten favors at them. :)

I like M. W answer!

I agree-no need for a favor but I like Momma W's idea.

I did a movie b-day party once and cannot remember what I did-how sad. But yes-I know the movie and the snack pack thing added up but it was neat because my son got to go and start the projector. He thought he was pretty cool-lol.

Have fun!!!

your first sentence made me giggle!
i say no favor. this is already an uber-generous party.
:) khairete
S.

How about a popcorn ball tied up in a favor bag with a balloon tied to the outsite (just the blow up kind). It fits with the theme and don't give it to them until it's time to go home (so they don't eat it at the theater). You can easily and inexpensively make them yourself.

Why do mom's follow fads? This is not something all mom's do. I refuse to give kids a gift for coming to a birthday party. I have seen kids rip open the bags and drop everything on the floor except candy. They act like greedy little gluttons then act ugly from too much sugar at once.

Cake with or without ice cream is ENOUGH sugar for the whole day. They don't need candy too. A movie and snack is more than enough.

When my daughter turned 5, we invited our friends and their kids to come see The Avengers with us (since it opened her birthday weekend, and she's a fan of the superhero genre).
We paid for the kids, the parents paid for themselves.
We got a big bucket of popcorn, and filled little plastic reusable Avengers cups I found at the store for less than a dollar each.
We bought drinks, but only for the 5 kids she got to invite to the party (all the parents had to buy their own drinks).

If the parents didn't want to stay, that would be fine. We've got movies down. (We also go to the earliest showing, so the tickets are cheaper.)