Birthday party goodie bag ideas by what you spend

Put one thing the child can use again in each goodie bag. Use a paper craft, a coloring page, a book, socks, a mini game, or a snack a parent has already cleared. Or set a station and let each guest choose.

Ideas by what you spend

Band	What can go in the bag
From the house	A coloring page, a crayon, a paper bookmark, seeds in an envelope, a thank-you note the child colored
One shop stop	A small craft kit, a mini game or card deck, play dough, socks, pencils, a picture book
Paper and cloth	The finished craft, a name coloring page, a seed packet, a thrifted picture book, fun socks
Instead of a stuffed bag	A pick-your-own station, a craft they finish at the party, a drawing sent to a charity

Match the colors to the party theme. A theme for the colors is on kids birthday party theme ideas. For paper you hang on the wall, see DIY birthday decorations.

One shop stop

Craft stores sell kits for less than $2 a kit, on the Pin Chasers list. The same list says you can score as many as 72 temporary tattoos for under $5. Dollar stores there carry miniature games, coloring books, and containers of play dough.

Gum is recommended for children 5 and up on the Clif Bar favor list. That list also names socks, pencils, a flashlight, and a craft the child finishes at the party and takes home.

The Pin Chasers list names craft kits, temporary tattoos, snacks, and dollar-store games, and that page does not sort favors by budget.

Paper and cloth, not a pile of plastic

A no-plastic favor is something that is not a toy that breaks on the way home. Use the craft they already made, a seed packet, fun socks, a thrifted picture book, or a coloring page. The Partytrick station guide names a picture book, a finished craft, and a drawing for a charity as alternatives to a stuffed bag.

The Clif Bar favor list treats a party favor as optional, and that page does not include a printable page.

A station instead of stuffing bags

Set bowls on a table and let children fill a bag as they leave. Release them in pairs or small groups to select 3 to 5 items, and ask for one item per basket, on the Partytrick station guide. One item per basket keeps the popular bowl from emptying first.

A piñata can be the source of the favors on that same page. Clear the swing area before the first turn. Keep a small backup pile for a child who comes up short.

Small toys and snacks

Children's products intended for children under 3 that present a choking, aspiration, or ingestion hazard because of small parts are banned, on the CPSC small parts page. Writing materials such as crayons, chalk, pencils, and pens are excluded from that small parts ban, on the same CPSC page. Balloons are among the products that must be labeled with a warning, on that CPSC page.

If a snack goes in the bag, ask the other parents about food allergies, as the Pin Chasers list says, and read the package for milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame, named on the FDA allergy page.

A name page as the favor

The Personalized Name Coloring Page is a coloring page with your child's name in big outline letters above a dinosaur, mermaid or unicorn scene, for the party table or a favor. It includes three theme coloring pages: dinosaur, mermaid, unicorn, a Party Maker file that puts your child's name across the page in hollow letters, blank-name PDF editions for hand lettering, and a how-to-print guide. Type the child's name in the included Party Maker, then print; the PDFs have a blank banner to letter by hand. It needs a printer and paper, and a web browser to add the name. It is sized for US Letter and A4 as separate PDFs. It is print-only. It is black-and-white line art for crayons or markers, not a colored print.

Ask the birthday child what they would want to take home, as the Pin Chasers list suggests. A favor list still cannot know which guest will keep it.