Sustainable and affordable children’s party bag ideas

If you’re planning a children’s birthday party, you’ll naturally need to spend time thinking about what to pop in the guests’ party bag.

Years ago, children would be happy with a slice of birthday cake and a balloon, but times have changed, and party bag expectations have risen.

On a trip to the birthday party supplies aisle in any supermarket, you will see an array of plastic toys that you can add to the bag. But are they really what children want?

Many parents today will be searching for children’s party bag gift ideas that combine affordability with sustainability. Moving away from unwanted plastic toys and thinking creatively can provide you with some excellent choices that we promise your party guests will love.

Here are a few of our favourite suggestions.

Offer a cake/brownie/biscuit-making kit.

This is sure to go down a treat with kids and parents alike. What better way to encourage your guests to get involved in a fun activity than by offering a cake or cookie-baking kit? Companies such as Craft and Crumb offer some excellent party bag favours. Not only can you choose between biscuits, cupcakes or brownies in a range of styles, but you can also personalise them with a printed sticker thanking guests for attending.

At approximately £5 per pack, these might be better suited to smaller party numbers. However, you could easily choose off-the-shelf baking packs from your local supermarket. ASDA offer Betty Crocker baking kits for as little as £2.50, with own-brand options for just £1.50.

A favourite book

Why not offer party guests an individual book as part of the party bag? Outlets such as Books2Door offer sets of books for low prices. For example, a ten-book collection of Horrible History books is available for just £19.99 – offering a low-cost yet fun way of filling your party bag.

If you want to take a more bespoke option, handpicking books for each guest, outlets such as The Works and The Book Bundle offer excellent options at low prices. Of course, the added value of filling your children’s party bag with a book is that there are endless options. You can choose between fiction or non-fiction, joke books, colouring books, or fact books, and you can tailor the book to the age of the children attending your party.

Hand-painted crafts 

If your child loves arts and crafts, why not head over to Hobbycraft to see what options they have available? Paint your own suncatchers, ceramics or wooden kits, which are always popular amongst children, often offering some much-needed relaxation and downtime after an exciting party afternoon!

Kits like these are often available on discounted bulk-buy deals, making them a highly affordable yet sustainable option to add to your birthday party favour bag.

Playdoh

If you are inviting younger children, why not offer party guests a small pot of Play-Doh and a shape cutter to your child’s party bag? Playdoh has been around for generations and is a long-lasting activity that kids love to play with again and again.

Playdoh assortment packs can be easily picked up from your local supermarket – approximately £7 for eight tubs of different colours. It’s another low-cost, affordable party bag filler idea that kids will guarantee to love.

Reusable straws and water bottles

Today’s younger generation is more attuned to environmentally-friendly options than ever before. They understand the impact of single-use plastic on the environment, and they are always happy to have their very own reusable items.

Why not add a reusable straw to your party bags? You can choose between a wide range of curly straws offering different shapes and sizes, or you can select coloured metal or even glass straws. Silicone straws will also be hugely popular and can be used again and again – giving a long-lasting reminder of your child’s birthday party.

Another option to add in is a reusable water bottle. The Works offer colour-your-own drink bottles, which will always be popular with children. Or you could stick with plain bottles and choose to personalise them with stickers. If you have a friend with a Cricut machine, you could easily add name labels or other personalised details to transform each bottle into something special. Alternatively, why not head to Etsy to purchase personalised water bottle labels? You could even tie in your water bottle labels with your party theme!

We recommend shops like The Range, B&M, and Flying Tiger Copenhagen offer excellent options.

Personalised tote bags provide long-lasting mementos

It goes without saying that the party bag itself could be a long-lasting memento of the party itself.

We’re all used to carrying fabric tote bags when we head to the shops, and children love having their very own bag that they can take to school, swimming, brownies, football or any other activity.

If you’re handy with a sewing machine, making your very own tote bag is quick and easy to do, with free patterns readily available. Or you can buy your own fabric tote bags in bulk in an array of patterns and colours.

As we mentioned, with reusable water bottles, your tote bags can be personalised with the same vinyl labels – offering a long-lasting solution to those last-minute requests from school to provide a named bag!

These are just a few options for your children’s party bag fillers

We hope you like these ideas – they are just a few of the options available for your children’s party bag fillers. The possibilities are endless – it depends on your timescales, guest list numbers and overall budget.

We’ve tried to keep our suggestions as affordable as possible. After all, the cost of children’s birthday parties is expensive, especially if you are hosting a party at an external value and need to pay a set price per head.

Our role as event planners in Devon means that we can help you organise your next birthday party with minimum fuss and maximum value for money. Our contacts with suppliers across the UK allow us to source suitable children’s party bags, and we can negotiate with our suppliers to lower your upfront costs.

To find out how we can help you plan your next party, please get in touch!

Alternatively, if you need any inspiration, why not head over to our Instagram or Facebook page.