The goodie bag dilemma
Earlier this week, a reader asked me if I had any good ideas for kids’ goodie bags. She and her family throw a big Christmas party every year. She cooks all sorts of delicious food, organizes games for the kids and dresses up as Santa. She had been stressing out over the prizes and gifts she usually gives out, which she herself called “crap.”
I remember those parties well when my kids were little. They’d come home with a bag full of junk that they played with for only a few minutes—and that was if they’d received an above average goodie bag. And when I threw parties, I dreaded putting these bags together.
The mom asking about the goodie bags said her kids were fine with simple items, having lived a sheltered existence. But the kids coming to her party would expect something more impressive. What do you do when you invite kids from the “real world” to a party? You don’t want to be a stick in the mud or alienate your children’s friends but you also don’t want to buy into the consumer crap-fest (well you don’t if you’re reading this blog, I assume).
Crowdsourcing low-waste goodie bag ideas
My first idea was seed packets. My second idea was to take to Instagram.
I was bombarded with great ideas! I’ve tried to group them below into themes. These would also make good stocking stuffers.
Nature
- Seed ball kits
- Packs of seeds
- Small terra cotta or cardboard pots for the seeds
- A small plant
- A bean sprout kit (go here for a post on sprouting beans)
- Feathers
- Shells
- Pinecones
- Acorns
- Crystals
- Tumbled stones
- Pet rocks
Small toys
One of the most suggested items was homemade Play-Doh. You could put it in a small jar or a wax wrap. Here is a recipe. Other small toys:
- Glass marbles
- Wooden yo-yos
- Wooden tops
- Playing cards
- LEGO pieces
- Magnifying glasses
- Reusable water balloons
- Small unfinished wood trains
- Ribbon streamers on sticks
- Hacky sacks
Art supplies
- Crayons: melt broken ones down into multicolored small shapes
- Small wooden shapes to paint
- Wooden bracelets to decorate
- Stationary: small blank books, notebooks, coloring books, coloring pages
- Cat’s cradle string
- Stickers
- Friendship bracelet kit
- Felt balls
- Homemade pompoms made with leftover yarn
- Rubber stamps
- Pencils, colored pencils, erasers
- Origami paper and instructions
- Buttons in a jar
Activities
- A treasure hunt: list things the kids could find in the garden
- Chalk for hopscotch
- Cloth bag for trash pickup at the local play spot
- Make something at the party to take home: snack bags, puppets, ornament
Practical
- Secondhand books
- Other small secondhand items from the thriftshop
- Cloth hankies
- Hair accessories
- Money
- Bamboo toothbrush
- A small jar filled with Dr. Bronner’s soap for blowing bubbles
- Cute reusables: utensil sets, straws
- Experiences: passes to activities like Skyzone, the museum, tours at the museum
- Tiny Bonne Maman jars (someone please give me these)
Food
- Clementines and mandarin oranges
- Small lady apples
- Popcorn in a bag
- Small cookies
- Hot chocolate mix with snowman poop (i.e. marshmallows)
- Energy balls the kids make: dates, nuts, coconut
Reader responses
