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cicada
04-14-2009, 06:50 PM
Any ideas for affordable birthday party favors that aren't complete junk? I'm looking for favors suitable generally for ages 3-5.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

hollybloom24
04-14-2009, 06:59 PM
I have been giving Little Golden Books - they are less than $3 each at Barnes and Noble or Walmart. They also have won a Mr. Toy Classic Toy Award in the past which I like. I wrap them up in wrapping paper. (I "borrowed" the idea from a friend!)

I had been spending more than $3 on goody bags filled with schlock!

I also get quite a few thank yous from parents for not giving junk!

Good luck!

Twoboos
04-14-2009, 07:11 PM
Here's a list of ideas I just put together for SIL.

These are all pretty generic for boys or girls!!

- Mini-playdohs (there should be party packs out there w/20 or so)
- Bubbles (I always do these, my kids love bubbles)
- Pencils
- Bouncy balls
- Coloring book/crayons (I've found books & coloring books at our grocery store for $!)
- Stickers/stamps
- Bandaids (all kids love bandaids!!)
- Toothbrush/toothpaste (Stolen from someone here). Target has little combo packs
- If you want a snack, I've also done the little snack bags of goldfish/pretzels/teddy grahams. Still a snack but not a ton of junk.


We've gotten but never given:

- Gift cert for ice cream cone (Friendly's)
- Mini WebKinz (This must have cost a FORTUNE!!)
- Train Whistle, but it was a train theme bday
- Sand Toy stuff (pail, shovel)
- For springtime, maybe a whiffle ball & Bat?

MMMommy
04-14-2009, 07:56 PM
I found licensed character (Tigger & Pooh, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Dora, Diego, Disney Princess) boxed card game sets for $1 each at Michaels. I used a 20% off entire purchase coupon, making them only 80 cents each! Each set contained two different card games (Go Fish, Matching Game, and others). Michaels had a good variety of things in the $1 section suitable for party favors.

mom2kaivi
04-14-2009, 08:01 PM
Last year I gave out puzzles and crayola marker/crayon/chalk/pencil sets. I bought the puzzles from the Disney store for $2.50/each. I think they were normally $10.00/each but they went on sale and I bought 20 of them. Then I watch the sales at Toys R Us. A couple of times a year they'll do Crayola products on sale, buy 1 get 2 free. So I stock up. Instead of buying 1 marker set for $5.99. I was able to get 3 for that same price. I bought an assortment so the kids could pick what they wanted. I have boy girl twins so their birthday parties end up being pretty big and I try to get things that aren't gender specific.

For favors this year, I hit up the end of summer sales last year and bought everything 50%-75% off. I just put everything in a storage closet in our garage. This year kids will be able to pick nice kites, jump ropes, bow & arrow sets, fishing poles, frisbees, beading sets and sticker sets. On average I spend between $3-$5 per child but they get something that isn't going to just end up in the trash.

I really watch great sales during the year and I stock up when I get great deals.

Other gifts that we've received that I've really liked have been activity books, puzzles and short story books. Everything else pretty much ends up in the trash.

nabigus
04-14-2009, 08:27 PM
When Discount School Supply had that last big sale, I stocked up on things like this. They have a great sale section ongoing, too.

http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/community/welcome.aspx?welcomeid=326

emily_gracesmama
04-14-2009, 08:52 PM
I nabbed a bunch of disney beach towels last year for less than $5 a piece and did those, that's still on the pricey side imo though. I hate the crap, but bubbles, play tattoos, and the little books are great ideas.

Melaine
04-14-2009, 08:56 PM
If I am really really ambitious and on the ball (and start like 4 months early) I might make or at least dye playsilks as party favors for the girls' 3rd birthday. Here are directions for dyeing them:
http://kayciscrafts.blogspot.com/2008/12/childrens-playsilks.html

belovedgandp
04-14-2009, 09:32 PM
I usually try for one "nicer" item.

3 is the younger side, but I found Perler/iron bead sets on clearance at Michael's two years ago for kids 4 to 5.

Michael's has some fun stuff. They always stock mini-Perler sets for around $1. My favorite favor lately has been from there, they have tubes of 15 glow in the dark bracelets for $1. I use the tubes as weights for helium balloons then give each kid a balloon with the tube at the end. Provides decorations and favors in one.

We did big outside playballs one year. Biggest challenge was buying a dozen of those at one time. I'm sure I was quite the sight to see.

cicada
04-14-2009, 09:35 PM
Thanks for all of the great ideas. I have one month so can't do much planning ahead, but these ideas help. FYI, last year I did thick outdoor chalk and inflatable beach balls, with some other stuff. The chalk and balls seemed to go over well with other parents.

Oregonmother
04-14-2009, 11:25 PM
I did the 20 pack of sidewalk chalk with a balloon tied to it one year. Target had them on sale for $1.50 recently. Coloring book with crayola markers. Pail and shovel/sand toys. These are just a few that we have done.

Twin Mom
04-14-2009, 11:37 PM
I've posted this one before but Walmart has a large bubble tube that only costs $1 but looks more expensive. My kids have gotten this as a favor at least a couple of times.

Last year, we gave out $3 gift cards to the local ice cream place. The year before I got some big bubblers (retail $9.99) for 75% off at Target. http://www.amazon.com/Spin-Master-Big-Bubbler/dp/B0007L7BTK

I think this might be too hard for the little ones but mini sticky mosaics would probably work for the 4+ crowd. You can get them for <$5 each although amazon has them much higher.

mom2mack&max
04-14-2009, 11:38 PM
My favorite party favor is a music cd a mom burned for each kid w/ a ton of fun, age appropriate music. She put a pic of her son holding up a "3" for his 3rd birthday. We still listen to it.

TahliasMom
04-15-2009, 12:30 AM
we done gold fish/bubbles and drawing pads when dd was 2 and we had the nemo theme. for her 3rd we had the curious george theme so we did an array of bubbles, stickers and tattoos. for the 4th we did it at chucke cheese so we didnt do favors. each child got tokens and i put couple lollipops (yummy earth) in each kids cup. now it's dd 5th and she wants princesses so im a bit clueless. i might hit the target $1 section and see what i can find.

GraceH
04-15-2009, 01:20 AM
could you do a combo. activity/favor? like, have a spring themed party and plant a couple green bean seeds in cute party-themed cups to send home with the kids?

Melaine
04-15-2009, 08:17 AM
I love all these ideas....will be keeping them in mind for sure!

EvaMC
04-15-2009, 08:35 AM
At a recent party we got a bubble wand gift and a kite from Wal-mart. Both were $1. The long bubble wand was a huge hit! I have seen with parties in this age group, that parents are handing out 2 bigger dollar gifts like the ones above.

I shopped end of sales for my son's bags, therefore I was able to put a bag together (including the bag) for around $3-4 each.

If you go the bag route, I recommend the straw handle bags from Joanne's. They come 10 in a package and you can get plain white or colored. After the coupons (i used the 50% off ones) they were around $2.50 for a package w/tax. I cut out clip art in my sons theme and decorated them on one side, along with a thank you for coming to my party on the other side w/clip art. We went to his friends house this week and he still had it 2 months later!

Melaine
04-15-2009, 08:50 AM
Oh, I also saw this on slickdeals, although I didn't test the code:

orientaltrading.com $10 off $30 - expires 4/30/09
Use code "BUNNY" for $10 off $30 between now and April 30th.

emschwar
04-15-2009, 08:55 AM
We like to do books from sortfloorbooks.com. I can usually fnd ones that fit with the party theme and cost around $2 each.

jammytoast
04-15-2009, 09:28 AM
I'm in the 'disposable' or 'quickly consumable' camp of favors, as I've lost count of the crap that I have to pretty much throw out before DC can find it, break it, and have a temper tantrum because the crap is broken.

We're doing a balloon (either normal helium or mylar from the dollar store) with the end of the string threaded into a mini play-doh tub as the 'weight'

maybeebaby08
04-15-2009, 09:37 AM
we done gold fish/bubbles and drawing pads when dd was 2 and we had the nemo theme. for her 3rd we had the curious george theme so we did an array of bubbles, stickers and tattoos. for the 4th we did it at chucke cheese so we didnt do favors. each child got tokens and i put couple lollipops (yummy earth) in each kids cup. now it's dd 5th and she wants princesses so im a bit clueless. i might hit the target $1 section and see what i can find.

I'm clueless about princess... Does DD want Disney princess? They have the plastic cups at Walmart, Party City or Stop & Shop for under a $1, and you could fill those with princess pens,stickers,candy etc from the dollar store (they had a bunch of Disney Princess stuff I saw the other day) plus at walmart they had the Disney Barbies for $3.xx each, I saw the same ones at Target for $6.99

curlytop
04-15-2009, 10:23 AM
we done gold fish/bubbles and drawing pads when dd was 2 and we had the nemo theme. for her 3rd we had the curious george theme so we did an array of bubbles, stickers and tattoos. for the 4th we did it at chucke cheese so we didnt do favors. each child got tokens and i put couple lollipops (yummy earth) in each kids cup. now it's dd 5th and she wants princesses so im a bit clueless. i might hit the target $1 section and see what i can find.

For dd's princess party I made rice krispies but spread them into a shallow pan. Then I took at large star cookie cutter and cut them out (hint: The scraps can be reformed and cut - just like cookie dough). I then stuck popsicle sticks in the bottom and wrapped them in pretty cellophane and ribbon. I also found princess lipgloss rings to attach to the ribbon. The princesses loved their "wands" and I got a ton of compliments from their parents!

For another party I got nice $2 clearance board books from the Borders. Then took a thick ribbon and attached a ring pop and a little "Thanks for coming!" note to the end, and put it in the book like a bookmark. A hit!

One thing I'd add to the list, that I'm not sure I saw, is cute bubble bath and soap. I'm all about the consumables! I cringe when I see that plastic bag o'c__p come home!
HTH!

citymama
04-15-2009, 12:33 PM
Haven't had a chance to read the other replies, so I'm probably repeating myself. We've done bubbles and sidewalk chalk one year - big hit with kids and parents, total cost about $1.50 a favor. Another was the $1 waterpaint palette from Target - it's made by Rose Art, includes 8 water colors and a paint brush on a palette and was a HUGE hit. I've also bought the tattoo and sticker books at Target (less than 5 for the book, which have about 10 pages each - I've included a page of either stickers or tattoo in the goody bag, at about 10c a sheet). Party-favor size play-doh are also nice; also Pipsqueaks markers which periodically show up on sale at Target for 69-99 cents a pack.

Both in terms of giving and getting, I like the useful goody bags much more than lots of small plasticky junk objects. I also prefer bags that don't look like they cost more than the present we just gave the kid!

citymama
04-15-2009, 12:41 PM
My favorite party favor is a music cd a mom burned for each kid w/ a ton of fun, age appropriate music. She put a pic of her son holding up a "3" for his 3rd birthday. We still listen to it.

Just make sure you don't have any attorney parents invited to your party, or anyone in the music business! Went to one birthday party recently with burned CD party favors, and I heard murmurs from some of the parents who seemed appalled about the copyright violations. (I don't think any of this got back to the hosts, but I felt bad for them.) It turned out one of the dads was actually in the music biz!

Melaine
04-15-2009, 01:00 PM
Just make sure you don't have any attorney parents invited to your party, or anyone in the music business! Went to one birthday party recently with burned CD party favors, and I heard murmurs from some of the parents who seemed appalled about the copyright violations. (I don't think any of this got back to the hosts, but I felt bad for them.) It turned out one of the dads was actually in the music biz!

That was my first thought too....my dad was a printer, and copyright laws were always treated as real laws in my family!

pjsmom30
04-15-2009, 02:18 PM
We are giving out favors this weekend for my two son's party. We are giving out bug rubbing plates from Oriental Trading and rainbow crayons for rubbing, also from OT. Recently we got shrinky dink "paper" and colored pencils at a party, and those have been the best favor ever. But then I read about how toxic the fumes are from those as you bake them, so not so good after all.

NancyJ_redo
04-15-2009, 03:51 PM
I haven't read any of the other replies so don't know if this was mentioned, but we went to a bday party recently where the parent did a book swap instead of party favors, and I was really happy with that. We brought a new book valued at about $5 and swapped it for a book brought by another child.

I loved it because we didn't come home with a bunch of random junk that would force me to look for all the pieces and throw them away after a week of seeing it around my house. And this is said by someone who actually goes all-out and spends a decent amount on her own goodie bags, which I realize is still usually just annoying crap given to the kids. I will probably do the book swap at our next party.

C99
04-15-2009, 04:04 PM
My favorite, inexpensive favor is a $2 ice cream GCs to Baskin-Robbins for a kiddie cone.

cicada
04-16-2009, 12:20 AM
Thanks for all of the great ideas. I actually had seen the book swap idea on a local listserv and may have to try it at some point. I'm doing favors both for the preschool class and for our smaller party at home, so wouldn't be feasible for preschool unfortunately.

sunriseiz
04-16-2009, 09:37 AM
Bubbles are one of my favorites, especially for this time of year. We've also done silly straws and flower seeds (10/$1 at the dollar tree). The kids actually loved the seeds! Oh, and DS has received hot wheels before, which at $1 is reasonable and boys love (not junk IMHO).

maybeebaby08
04-17-2009, 01:51 PM
Has anyone read the new copy of Parents? They have a birthday article and a great idea for favors. They took a tin and labeled it Candy Necklace kit and then put in fruit loops, licorice string and lifesavers so you could make a necklace.

cicada
04-17-2009, 02:00 PM
I saw that last night, actually. Very cute idea but a little too DIY right now for this very pregnant working mom!

Mayme714
04-17-2009, 02:38 PM
I found licensed character (Tigger & Pooh, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Dora, Diego, Disney Princess) boxed card game sets for $1 each at Michaels. I used a 20% off entire purchase coupon, making them only 80 cents each! Each set contained two different card games (Go Fish, Matching Game, and others). Michaels had a good variety of things in the $1 section suitable for party favors.

awesome idea and great find! thanks

jerigirl
04-17-2009, 04:00 PM
I c&p'd this from my post in Alien Host's thread about non food favors:

Just got my May COOKIE mag today. Page 62 has some neat ideas for inexpensive party favors, plus more online.
http://www.cookiemag.com/food/party/...4/party-favors

Mentioned in the mag were:
Paratrooper playscene- glue photocopy of a map into an interlocking envelope, then tuck 2 toy paratroopers inside.
Magnet pouch- fill a fabric pouch with about 10 magnet marbles and then attach a mini horseshoe magnet to the tie.
Jewelry Jar- pour wooden beads into a small jar and tie 2 pieces of waxed cord (for stringing) around each lid.
Bathtime kit- fill jar with tub tints (spraypaint lids if you want) and secure a rubber duck to the top w/ double side tape

KrisM
04-17-2009, 04:07 PM
We're doing Squeeze Rockets and kites. The rockets were $2.25 or so each and the kites were on clearance last year for about $1 each.

almostamom
04-18-2009, 04:28 PM
We have a very large playgroup (28 children), so I needed our party favors to be inexpensive. For less than $1 per child, I got each child a pencil box, 24 pack of Crayola crayons, 2 Elmers glue sticks, and 2 pencils at the back to school sales. I just stored them until DS' birthday in November. Obviously this wouldn't work for you now, but perhaps it's an idea you can use in the future.

I think this year we might do an indoor swim party where DS takes swim lessons (a little something different for November). I'm keeping an eye out for beach towels to go on sale this summer.

ETA: My friend just did a party at the park for her DS. She bought $1 kites at Wal-Mart. The children flew them during the party and had a blast!


Linda

MarisaSF
04-21-2009, 03:15 AM
For DS's 2nd birthday, we'll have kids ranging in age from 1.5-6, so I wanted a favor that could be enjoyed by all. I'm going with plastic sand buckets with shovel ($1 at Target, also seen at the dollar store and Oriental Trading has smaller ones), bubbles (6-pack at Target is ~$2.25, I think?) and a CD that I'll burn with some of our greatest dance hits. :boogie:

egoldber
04-21-2009, 06:35 AM
My favorite, inexpensive favor is a $2 ice cream GCs to Baskin-Robbins for a kiddie cone.

OK, I *love* this idea.

I've done playsilks before in the past (dyed with Kool-Aid) and that was easy and fun.

Last year Sarah had a movie themed party and I gave out bags of microwave popcorn and Red Vines in a "popcorn box".