What to put in gift bags?

[boss1]

My son will be 8 years old soon and we are giving him a birthday party. I have no idea of what items to include in the gift/goody bags? What would 8 year old boys and girls want?

[alien_host]

I'm a big fan of "consumable" goodies. If you don't want to give out a lot of candy, snack sized bags of cookies, chips, pretzels could work too.

Do you have a theme or what are you doing for the party (bowling etc.) Maybe you could tie something in?

[deannanb]

sticky hands - bendable figures -
I know the party stores have all of that

or another option is to make a donation to toys for tots or some other holiday toy program in the friend's name in honor of coming to your son's birthday....

you could put a little note in a bag that says - donation has been made to xxx in your name in honor of son's birthday.
and put a pack of gum in the bag along with it.

I can remember most of the goody bags from around that age were played with in the car... and then never played with again -

hth

[jessicallyn]

These goody bag toys were big hits at the latest "season" of 7-8 yr. old birthday parties:

kazoos
mini foam rockets (with little squeeze launcher)
bounce-back balls (attach to wrist strap with elastic line so they return)
good old-fashioned punching balloons
suction cup balls
foam paper airplanes
and
I have no idea what they are called but they are half rounds of rubber that you turn inside-out on the floor and in a few seconds they spring up into the air.

Honestly, there's not much you can put into a goody bag that will be played with for much more than 15 minutes after they get home from the party. These toys did seem to be fun (at least in our house) for a few days. Things that can fly through the air seem to be a big hit with boys of this age. And 1 fun toy is better than 5 little plastic and paper things that go straight into the trash.

Good luck,
Jessicallyn

[Tondi G]

Is there a theme? How much would you want to spend and how many kids?

[SnuggleBuggles]

What has he received in goodie bags that you have both been happy with?

I am at the point that I don't want any more "stuff" at home so I am with another poster on wanting consumables. It could be food or maybe a gift certificate somewhere. I know Baskin Robbins does g.c.s in $2 increments so you can probably find something that fits your price range. Movie theater g.c. would be nice too.

If it was something tangible I would probably err on the side of some cool art supply or a book/ magazine.

Beth

[boss1]

We are having a laser tag birthday party. I was hoping to make gift bags that follow the "Laser Tag" theme. I would like to spend no more than $5.00 to $8.00 per bag. Any other ideas are greatly appreciated.

[alien_host]

How about burning a CD for each child? You can make a playlist of songs on your PC and burn a bunch of copies. It can include your DC's favorite songs. You can get CDs and jewel cases for pretty cheap and it looks like a cool favor. You can make your own =song list and even include a fun title and your DC's photo for the front of the jewel case.

maybe you can search for some "Laser Tag" songs, to be honest I'm not that familiar with it.

[pinkmomagain]

I have an 8 yo dd ..... the kids in her class seem to like the Foohy (sp?) erasers....the have fruity smells. They are also very into these goofy pens called Kooky pens (TheKookys.com).


HTH,

Gina

[ctmom]

Yes, Kooky pens!!! My dd just went to a party and they gave out in the goodie bags, one Kooky pen and a journal (which I know the mom got at the dollar store). My dd loved it! I got my dd one at Staples at the beginning of the school year and I've seen them at other places.

If you want to stick with a laser tag theme, how about a laser pointer pen with a journal.

something like this
http://www.vistawholesale.com/Laser_Pen_p/laserpen.htm

Mary
dd#1 2/01
dd#2 12/03

[jesseandgrace]

>I have an 8 yo dd ..... the kids in her class seem to like
>the Foohy (sp?) erasers....the have fruity smells. They are
>also very into these goofy pens called Kooky pens
>(TheKookys.com).
>
>
>HTH,
>
>Gina


LOL, I don't know how the marketers/advertisers do it, these are big in my 7 yo ds class also!

[pinkmomagain]

Believe it or not, they are even big in the middle school too!

[Tondi G]

My thoughts would be...

a cool pen/pencil

maybe something glow in the dark... glow sticks/bracelets/necklace

they have those bouncy balls that blink when you bounce them on the floor

You could buy little drawstring backpacks and use fabric paint/markers to put each childs name on it

http://www.orientaltrading.com/application?namespace=browse&origin=searchMain.jsp&event=link.itemDetails&demandPrefix=12&sku=48/2398&mode=Searching&erec=4&D=drawstring%2Bbackpacks&Ntt=drawstring%2Bbackpacks&Ntk=all&Dx=mode%252bmatchallpartial&Ntx=mode%252bmatchallpartial&N=0&sd=Neon+Drawstring+Backpacks

Good Luck!

~Tondi