A birthday goody bag is often given out to children who are guests at the party.
Preparing goody bags for your baby’s 1st birthday party requires some careful planning.
Guidelines to Choose a Goody Bag
While making a goody bag for tiny guests, keep in mind the following guidelines
- Bag should contain things which the child can use in his everyday life.
- The gifts should be safe and healthy. For example, it’s better not to give balloons and tiny sweets to toddlers as they pose serious choking hazards.
- Choose colorful birthday bags, and give a personal touch by decorating with fancy ribbons and name tags. You can tie a balloon to the bag, with the child’s name on it, to make it special.
- Pay attention to quality over quantity, and assemble clever stuff for the bags. A good idea is to have one central big gift and several smaller items in each bag.
Goody Bag Ideas
1. Books
You can never go wrong with books.Touch and feel books, board books, scribbling books, activity books and story books with large colourful pictures are great for toddlers.
2. Art Supplies
Art supplies like crayons, child-safe markers, color pencils, coloring books, finger-paint and child-safe scissors are also much in demand among kids.
3. Small Toys
A small soft toy, doll, photo-frame, kaleidoscope or a card game can be a central item in the bag.
4. Creative Ideas
Be creative and add some glow-sticks, bouncing balls, mini flashlights, yo-yos etc
5. Feeding Supplies
Assorted feeding supplies, like child-safe cups, bowls, plates, spoons etc, with cartoon characters can be given individually, or grouped together, to form a gift-bag in itself.
6. Play-Doh
Play-doh and beach-toys are timeless gifts.
7. Bath Toys
Bath toys and toys that squirt water add to toddlers’ bathing fun at this age.
8. Educational Toys
Stacking toys, push toys, building blocks, wooden puzzles, toy phones etc improve their motor and spatial skills.
9. School Stuff
As many children would soon start with playgroups or toddler programmes, small fancy school bags and other school supplies like lunch boxes, sippers and pencil-boxes would come in handy.
10. Bubbles
Bubble-blowers with wands will delight kids of all ages.
11. Infant Toys
Rattles, musical toys and teething rings are good add-ons for smaller children.
12. Hair Accessories
Little girls would like cute hair accessories, or bead jewellery, in their bags.
13. Play Yourself
You can also give toy-sets like bat-ball sets, kitchen-sets, tool-sets, car-sets or doctor-sets to children a bit older.
14. CDs
If you have less child guests, and you can afford to spend more, gifting nursery rhyme CDs would be a good option.
15. Sweets
Lastly, fill in the goody bags with chewable gum-drops, candies or stickers.
As an example, a goody bag may have a book, a jar of finger paint/play-doh, a bubble-blower and chocolates. Shop at budget stores where you can get inexpensive gift items, and make it interesting by giving gifts based on the party theme.
You might also be interested in:
Where and How to organize your baby’s 1st birthday party.
Things to do on your baby’s 1st birthday party.
For more party planning ideas:
