Friday, August 20, 2010

Aloha Friday - #27

Aloha Everyone! In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that they take it easy and look forward to the weekend.Friday used to be my friend, but today it signals the end of another week... that went by too quickly! But, I survived the week, so to celebrate! Let's sit back, relax and enjoy a little blog hop. No heavy mental lifting today... just one simple little question...

How Elaborate Should Goodie Bags Be For Birthday Party?

When I was a child, the fun of going to a birthday party was eating cake and playing games. I don't remember taking anything home with me. Now trends have changed and everywhere I turn there are instructions for what to put in a goodie bag for the young guests to take home. I guess I am torn. As a busy Mom, already tripping over clutter in our home, I don't want any more small trinkets for the kids. Dime Store style toys either brake easily or have small parts that pose a choking hazard for my youngest. Usually I throw them away when the kids aren't looking.

So that leaves me with the upcoming birthday party for my little girl. I am thinking of just giving away two toys for each guest. The guests will all be older than the birthday girl, but I still don't want their moms packing home a gob of junk. I have felt fortune cookies for each child to choose and take home... and a Zhu Zhu Pet as part of a home party promotion. Is this enough?

What do you expect from a party, or furnish in your goodie bags? Toys? Trinkets? Candy? I would love to hear what the consensus is.

If you are looking for more Aloha Friday fun, go to An Island Life and check out the other posts on the Linky. Have a great weekend!

5 comments:

  1. I think the zhu zhu pets will be a big hit!! Most parties we go to we get a baggy with a ton of junk! Those $1 store toys that come in a pack of 6-12 and then a bunch of random candies. I'm not a HUGE fan of those b/c then that stuff gets spread all over our house. We did have a pinata at our last bday party so kids got all of the candy and a few toys from that to take home. They also got dress up outfits(boys pirates and girls princesses)-Those were a HUGE hit.

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  2. Most anything will make kids happy!

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  3. I am surprised at what the kids bring home from birthday parties now. As a child when I went to parties people would wrap coins in foil and bake them into the cake and if you were lucky you were the one person who got the piece with the quarter in it instead of a dime or nickel. No one gave out treat bags like they do now. One year for my daughter's birthday I made all the little girls an apron with pockets along the bottom out of leftover fabric I had around. There was a little rolling pin in one pocket and a cookie cutter in another. I made cookie dough ahead of time and they each got to roll and cut out and decorate cookies. They all left with their aprons, rolling pins, cookie cutter and their wrapped up cookies they had made with the recipe attached. When I ran into one of the girls many years later she mentioned to me how she still had that apron and that it was such a fun party. It didn't cost much but it went over well because it was different. The pirate and princess outfits Dee mentioned in the comments above are a real fun idea.

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  4. keep it really simple, I usually end up throwing most of the stuff away maybe just one thing that is nice instead a bunch of junk :)

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  5. I think that's pleanty! Personally, I agree about not wanting to send home a bunch of cheap plastic flotsom. Here's my favorite party favors:

    Bubbles (if the party is outside)
    Stickers (cheap and easy and fun)
    Those little paper "horns" that don't make any noise but when you blow on them they uncurl and stick out...they're sort of flotsom but they're fun to have at a party (kinda like baloons...you don't realy expect them to last)
    Something that goes with the theme:

    Our last party was Star Wars themed. The only thing we gave the kids was a mask we printed and cut out for free (they're on the Star Wars site) and a light saber bubble wand (which we got at Walmarts for $1 each). They were perfect for the party and it's been 5 months and my kids still play with them. No complaints from any of the kids.

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