Birthday Party Favors - Chandler,AZ

If you have a theme, you could go to orientaltrading.com. My son had a "cowboy" theme last year. You could buy a "cowboy assortment" at a very cheap price. We received, I think, 50 party favors. We didn't know ahead of time exactly what would be in the assortment, but I easily made favor bags for the kids.

I made for my girl's party butterfly soaps, they are affordable and very easy to do, you need to go to Michaels and get the "soap", coloring, smell if you want and the molds, they sell all different shapes. You just melt the soap in the microwave and pour it in the molds and wait for it to cool off.

Put them in a clear bag and a colored ribbon with a little tag with your girl's name and you are done!

If you want a picture I can gladly send one to you!
Good luck,
M.

Bubbles. "I was blown away you came to play today on my birthday".
I wouldn't go overboard. The little stuff and candy gets broken or tossed on our house.

Last year we found light up nerf type swords at the dollar store. We had a ghostbusters party and passed them out. We said they could pretend to be proton packs, light sabers, fairy wands, pirate swords. Every kid was thrilled. That's all we passed out with a thank you for coming note attached.

The year before we made our own candy bar wrappers. I bought Hershey bars (the big ones) and made the wrapper match our theme and added a thank you. That was it. Nothing to extravagent, not too expensive. This year we are having a smaller sleep over party. Each kid is getting a flash light.

OK...get those freezer pops...you know the ones that are covered with plastic that you buy unfrozen and put in the freezer. I put 3 together, tied with a ribbon and a note that said, "thanks for coming to my party!" They look cuter when you seperate them...

Easy...cheap...

bubbles
sidewalk chalk
make photo frames out of craft sticks that kids can decorate at the party, and take photos of the guests to put in the frames.

oh, and instead of buying 'gift' bags - use plain paper lunch bags and have stickers and markers/crayons available for the guests to decorate their own bags (write names of the younger ones on the bags, the older kids can write their own names). This is a handy 'activity' to do in the beginning of the party while the guests are arriving

my son's 1st was a safari theme...I did animal crackers, safari bubbles, and a safari rubber ducky... www.orientaltrading.com is a great and affordable website for this kind of stuff...and for all ages...where I got the bubbles and rubber duckies.

We usually make a pinata and hand out goodie bags (lunch bags for the kids to decorate)...and the goodies they get from the pinata is what they get to take home for their party favor...I usually get small trinket toys from the dollar store or from the party store... The last birthday party we had was a bug theme--so, naturally, we bought little bug toys to put in the pinata. We also found bug fruit chews (the little snack bags), and bug stickers, and brightly colored pencils, etc...that we put in the pinata...(We also help even out the goodies so everyone gets roughly the same amount to take home because some of the older kids tend to gather more goodies and leave the younger ones with very little...) Anyway, I hope this idea helps. Have fun!!! Remember, it's not about the candy or favors that go home, but the memories that are more important...Childhood is fleeting, but memories last... :-)

We just had a water themed party that the kids all Loved. Our party favor/ goodie bag item was a big water bottle with a freeze stick in the middle. I am still hearing from parents how much they loved this item. Try to send the kids home with things they can actually use or it becomes clutter.

I like to give a balloon and an inexpensive book, craft project, small toy etc. I usually have a pinata filled with candy too. As a parent I hate the goodie bags with all the tiny items (although the kids seem to love them). Our house is overrun with tiny toys. I would prefer to spend $2 or $3 on one item instead of $2 or $3 on a bag full of junk. I have found the parents (and kids) like a balloon tied to a book. Have fun.

Through E-Bay, I was able to purchase some sets of small beginning reader books. They were inexpensive, and because you break them up and give them individually as favors, even more so. I gave out books for my daughter's 4th birthday, and they were a huge hit. Otherwise, just hit the local party store. or dollar store.They'll have a ton of stuff.
Good luck!

Hi
I personally think party favors are a waste of money and that most of the junk is thrown out when we get home or not safe for the kid it was given to. That being said, sounds like you want to do it. Please give em something safe and useable. I suggest 2 sets-Under 3, older than 3. The older than 3 kids would love a tattoo (Walgreens, dollar tree), all natural lollipop (whole foods, not that expensive), fruit leather (costco is cheap), chapstick, or small bouncy ball. The under 3 set would like a big shiny sticker, a small board book, a small stuffed animal, mini box of raisins. Actually, I think my one year old's favorite favor was the balloon he left the party with. Maybe just have em all take a balloon? My older son liked the paper hat he left a party with -he's 3.
I will tell you from experience that I throw out candy my kids get. I'm mean like that and my son reacts badly to artificial colors.
Chalk, crayons, coloring books, bubbles and small plastic toys seem to be popular by how often they are in the favor bag, but honestly most kids have them at their own house and they don't really get used or appreciated.

I like the light up sword idea below and the frame with instant picture idea- then the actual fun of the party would live on in using the sword or remembering by looking at the picture. Good ideas.