For decades, party bags have been a popular take-away tradition at children’s birthday celebrations. But one person recently questioned why they’re filled with so much crap.
The parent, who has a five-year-old, took to Reddit’s r/Parenting community to vent: “Please, for the love of god, stop the birthday party goody bag madness.”
They revealed they’d been invited to several birthdays over the past year and had left each one with a “goody bag full of crap” – specifically sweets, stickers, and pieces of “small plastic garbage”.
You know the ones: the jumping frogs, plastic whistles and bouncing balls that double up as an extremely efficient choking hazard for younger siblings.
“Yes I get that it’s fun for the kids to take something home,” they said, before pondering whether parents should instead consider “one token that won’t immediately get forgotten and subsequently put in the trash”.
It seems they’re not the only one to have this revelation. A previous post from a parent on Mumsnet’s Am I Being Unreasonable? forum suggested most children’s party goodie bags are “full of plastic crap that’s never played with and terrible for the environment”. Almost three-quarters (73%) of parents agreed.
There’s no denying these bags bring kids a lot of joy – and it’s hard to say ‘no’ when all the other kids have them at their own birthday parties.
So, what can you do instead?
The obvious answer is to ditch the plastic tat and replace it with something that’s a) better for the environment and b) will actually be played with or used.
You can get recyclable paper party bags from most supermarkets and card shops nowadays, as well as online.
Here are some suggestions from parents about what you could pop in party bags instead:
- Reusable water bottles (and stickers, so the kids can decorate them)
- Mini Squishmallows
- Fake tattoos
- Chapstick
- Seeds (to grow vegetables or flowers)
- Fun socks
- Consumables - birthday cake, mini packs of biscuits, pretzels, dried fruit etc.
- Small books
- A Lego/Playmobil figure
- Friendship bracelet or mini bracelet-making kit
- Paper craft kit
And if you do find yourself laden down with plastic tat after a year of birthday parties (is it just us or are they every weekend these days?) then perhaps it’s worth taking a leaf out of this parent’s book...
“I keep an eye out for goodie bag items my kids bring home when they get left around the house. I collect them in a box in my closet throughout the year and then I use that box as Halloween handouts along with candy,” said Reddit user acb5.
“My kids have never missed a goodie bag item I regifted, and the kids at Halloween seem to love the variety of something other than candy.”
Great idea!