I remember when I was a new mom and fairly new to children’s birthday parties. I’d hear mom’s talking about them…the planning, the food, the activities, and the expense. One expense of a child’s birthday party that can really add up – goodie bags, but you can have fun and frugal goodie bags for all the kids at a fraction of what you might think with a little creativity.
There are so many ways to have amazing and memorable birthday parties for your children that don’t break the bank.
Recently our nephew’s birthday party was held at the neighborhood park (free entertainment). There are even local fire stations willing to be the site of a child’s birthday party free of charge – getting to sit in a real fire engine would be a real treat for kids!
Be sure to check out our kids birthday painting party where we get really creative with goodie bags and the birthday cake too!
Frugal Goodie Bags
Here are some fun and frugal goodie bag ideas we have used.
(Affiliate links in post, where a small commission may be earned at no cost to you for any purchases made.)
1. Use solid colored gift bags of various sizes and colors (whatever you have in your collected stash…no need to buy, or buy the simplest multi-pack bags you can find)
2. Use wooden painted pieces (pre-painted and available at Walmart and Michaels in the craft sections)
3. Mark the child’s name on the wooden painted piece as a tag
4. Tape the pieces to the front of the gift bags (I used box tape cut up for strength)
We used animal wooden pieces to fit our jungle animal party theme. Lara’s Crafts is the maker of all the adorable wooden pieces shown above. The line has anything from ladybugs and flowers to palm trees and elephants. They are pre-painted and have felt patches on them for a great 3-dimensional look.
I’ve found them at both Walmart and Michaels and online at Amazon.
PARTY ACTIVITY: Another easy and frugal idea is to make the “goodie bag” a goodie in and of itself, as in these bucket and shovel goodie bags.
The take home goodie bag is a built in activity for the party. This works great with an outdoor party venue like a park!
1. Find inexpensive small buckets with attached shovels (often found around $1.00 or less)
2. Mark the child’s name directly on the bucket
3. Fill the bottom of the bucket with shredded paper (don’t buy it, just shred some construction paper or colored junk mail)
4. Buy a large box of sidewalk chalk and split it among the buckets along with some inexpensive water guns, bubbles, lollipops, etc)
Target’s dollar section and Dollar General or other dollar stores are favorites for filling “goodie bags”. It doesn’t have to be much at all – kids will be smiling.
YOU WILL ALSO LOVE:
