No Goodie Bags, No Peace!
June 18 
A Giveaway That Won't End Up In the Trash. We Hope.Last summer, the season that my boys turned 6 and 8, I told them we were done with goodie bags. "I just don't want to perpetuate the plastic junk," I told them. "We're going to give everyone a book instead."
There were, unfortunately, grumbles.
In order to ban goodie bags, it is important first to understand why they hold such appeal. The joy is all in the discovery. When those small hands first hold that bag, anything at all could be inside. Oh, the variety! The discovery! But one day later (and sometimes sooner than that) all that treasure is on the floor of your home. And unless mucho money is spent, the things in that back are sub-standard. There may be an underwhelming box of crayons, or a bouncy ball, or a molded plastic figure. Or candy.
So to try to capture a bit of this magic, my turning-8-year-old I bought a stack of "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. They are published by a little Vermont company, and many of the titles are the same as when I was reading them.* We wrapped them in different papers, and nobody knew what title they were getting until they opened them at the end of the party.
My younger son was trickier, because not all the kindergarteners read (including my own.) But then we happened to find a paper airplane book to give away, and peace reigned in the kingdom.
This year, I stuck to the same No Goody Bags policy. My now-9-year-old and I chose sketchbooks. I found a dozen fancy-feeling hardback books at Blick.com. We personalized them with each child's name on the title page.
Et voila! A gift we can be proud of.
*Dating myself! Again.
Thank you to Megan at http://www.sortacrunchy.net and Your Green Resource for linking to this post! I adore Your Green Resource.
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Reader Comments (6)
We do word finds for the bigger kids, and coloring books for the smaller kids-- all bought at the local dollar store!
I like it, Anjali!
I completely agree with you about the goody bag insanity! By the time we get home from a party, the kids have opened their bags in the car and have already lost interest in the plastic junk toys inside. They're not lootbags; they're landfill bags. My daughter once got a pre-packaged "goody" bag that contained a one armed Barbie!
For many of my kids birthdays, I've managed to avoid the loot bags by having a make-and-take craft activity (painted t-shirts, picture frames already containing a photo of the guest and the birthday kid, decorating a flower pot and planting a seedling in it) but its not always easy to come up with ideas that work for the whole group. We're hosting a sleepover birthday this weekend for my 11-year old and I'm struggling to think of an idea. Maybe the sketch book idea would work, along with some fancy markers or pencils or something.
Overall, I do think it's important to point out to kids where all this plastic ends up when they're done playing with it, and maybe it won't seem so interesting. We just need more parents to buy into the goody bag boycott!
I did this when my children were in big birthday party mode, too, but not as well as you did! I grabbed paperbacks from New England Mobile Bookfair and stuck a small bag of candy with them to appease the crowd.
This is perfect timing for me! I'm working on my 3 year old's party and trying to come up with a good take-home treat. It's going to be a train theme, so I wanted to find wooden trains to paint, but haven't come up with any yet. You've given me some other good ideas to consider--thanks!
p.s. but if you happen to know where affordable wooden trains to paint can be found, let me know! :)
Lynda-- I once found unfinished trains! But it was over 5 years ago... and I have no idea where. That would be a great party take-home.