Birthday Party Favor?

dbertagni

My daughter is turning 3 and we are having a party for her this Saturday with another friend from preschool who is turning 3 as well. It will be a joint party with preschool friends and then our own individual friends at a tumble gym. The party was very pricey (hence the reason we are sharing it with a friend) and we are providing cake and drinks. My friend does not feel like we need to do favors, but I am torn. She said it is all cheap junk that no one wants, and to skip it since we are having it at a location and the kids are being entertained for the morning. WDYT?

jlw2505

Honestly, I think it could go either way.  I don't love all the cheap junky things that you get at a ton of parties but you could do something like water bottles (I have seen them at Michael's for $1 each and you could put each kids name on it with a puffy paint pen).  We got $1 slinkies from the Target dollar spot for my DD's party in a few weeks.  Last year for my older DD's party, we did Princess or Cars cups and a squisshy ball for $2 per kid and everyone loved them - we still use the glasses a lot.

Smores730

I'm not a fan of all the cheap junky toys myself. I tend to hit up the dollar store to get each kid a small coloring book. I'm surprised the gym place doesn't provide gift bags because after most of those parties we've walked away with stuff spammed with their name all over it. I would most likely do them if I were in your shoes.

SummerMama12

I'd rather spend a few more $ and give something the kids will actually play with.  For DS's birthday party, I gave away a regular sized Thomas coloring book (ordered in bulk from Amazon), a box of crayons (super cheap at back-to-school time), and a container of PlayDough.  It was very well-received and probably cost $20 total.

readyin07

Our party was pricey too at about $250 just for the venue, but DH insisted on food and goody bags. His reasoning was that our son really gets excited over the goody bag (even the cheap crap) and that kids pretty much look for them at the end of the party at their age (true). I ended up doing a huge lollipop with a Dollar Store pinwheel attached. It cost me about $1.30 / favor plus I bought some cute ribbon to tie them with.

dbertagni

Thanks. We have a large group of kids coming, and I don't want to buy for my friend's friends she invited if she does not want to give them out. Hmmm..I may go look in the dollar spot, but I honestly don't want to spend a ton of money on stuff. I guess I'll see what if anything I can find.

jsugrin

I'd never even heard of or considered favors for kids parties until the bump so I'd say do whatever is normal in your circle.  Personally I don't want any more crap in my house so the only things I like are crayons, playdough, small books ect.  Otherwise I tend to find a way to "lose" it when DS isn't looking.

katmacwv

I think favors are generally expected at kid parties.  However, they don't have to be expensive or elaborate.  We attended a party this weekend where the mother put out 2 bowls of mixed candy and let the kids pick out candy for their treat bags. The kids were thrilled and since everything was edible, there is no leftover junk.

VTbride05

I like useful gifts. Crayons, bubbles, maybe a small pack of goldfish?

GeauxTigers82

I think the kids really look forward to the favors...junk or not! I know all the moms hate the junk, so definitely try to get something useful.

The dollar store has different theme puzzles for different age groups. They're actually pretty nice puzzles, especially for a dollar.

I put wrapped theme cookies and chocolate mold suckers in the goodie bags, so that with the puzzle and maybe a few stickers or tattoos is all I do (We had 54 kids at our last party, so I hate to spend too much on the favors). Plus we always have a pinata, so the parents would kill me if I gave out anymore crap. Not to mention the fact that the party is a couple weeks after Halloween!