Kid Party Help!

Hi B.-

Instead of giving a bag full of little things (junk usually) try to think of 1 larger item to give as a keepsake. For example, my kids attended a pool party and the party favor was one of those styrofoam kids' kickboards to use in the pool. My son had a cowboy themed party with pony rides. We gave each child a cowboy hat, bandana and sheriff's badge to wear for the party that we found pretty cheap at Oriental Trading Company.

For your themes, maybe you could get some Spiderman action figures, Thomas trains and Tinkerbell figures and let each child choose one as they leave. Maybe even wrap them so that they are getting a "gift" to open on the way home.

For decorating it sounds like you are going to have a Spiderman area and a Thomas area so you need to try to recreate "Pixie Hollow" from the Tinkerbell movie. You sound creative so I'll let you figure out how to do this, but if you could create some large mushrooms, flowers, etc so that the kids feel small like fairies when they are playing among them it would be cool.

Good luck,
K.

Regarding goodie bags....at one party, my kids received lunch boxes with the character that the party was themed after. For one, it was a "Car's" lunch box. Nice gift and something that we actually used. Maybe on line you could get a deal for Spiderman, Tinkerbell or Thomas ones. Oriental Trading Company is a popular place for party supplies, go on line.

At another party, we received a plastic drinking cup---you know the ones with the fabric on the inside with the name or initials monogrammed on them.
Many woman own those monogramming machines and make them, I don't know how much time you have.....check on ebay, lots of people make custom items and sell them.

Hmm, When I think of Tinkerbell I think of her wings.... and glitter.. Maybe a craft making wings?

How about a gift card to an ice cream shop? $5.00 each... Nobody wants all of the junk from party bags any more..

Instead of gift bags, I've done bubbles. Just get a few select colors and make your own labels for the bubbles - like a spiderman label, a thomas label, and a tinkerbell label. The print and peel labels are pretty cheap and you can make them at home on your own computer, print them, and stick them on!