When it was The Boy's last birthday I tried really hard to find some different party bags to do with the theme of cars. Not Cars, but cars. I didn't want Lightning McQueen all over them, nor at best did I want Roary on them. I wanted some nice Mr. Men type cars. In the end I settled for vintage racing cars.
I wasn't happy though because they looked so mass produced and it felt like it was just another party bag from just another party. I've already decided on next year's theme (not telling, don't ask) and am keeping my eyes open for appropriate party gear as and when I see it.
This is why when I was approached to review a set of party bags, I jumped at the chance.
How much more effective and individual would it have been if I had got the children to make their own party bags? It would also have given an activity for them to do, especially as they were stuck in doors due to torrential rain and gale force winds. In June!
Well using this really clever and creative set from RoseRed & Blue, that is exactly what you can do. They have a creative party bag set containing 10 natural cotton bags and a pack of 15 PastelDye crayons in order to personalise the bags. These plain cotton bags and the fabric crayons allow children to decorate their own bag and go home proud with something that they have done themselves; guaranteed to last longer than house-car-house-bin.
The Boy kindly tried them out for me:
The fabric crayons are incredibly easy to use and leave a vibrant and bold mark on the cotton bag, which can be fixed really easily by placing a sheet of kitchen towel or muslin over the top and ironing on a non-steam setting. They are the perfect size for a party bag. Once there's a small toy, a bottle of bubbles and a slice of cake in there, it truly would be the perfect party bag set to impress your little one and last a long time, far more environmentally friendly than plastic bags.
I am definitely going to be buying some more of these to top up the supply for his next party. At £17.50 I think this is a good price for the products. The fabric crayons will last for far longer than the inital activity with the children and so can be reused. I am pretty positive that I am not alone in spending £2+ per party bag and contents. With these £1.20 of that (the price of an individual bag) would be spent on each bag, but that is the present! I think it's very good value, providing an excellent activity for children's parties.
We were sent a Creative Party Bag set for the purpose of this review. My opinion is unbiased and honest.
I've done this for the girls' birthdays for the last 3 years! Initially I just used plain white paper bags, but this year I bought canvas bags and fabric pens from http://www.tickseed.co.uk. All the guests enjoyed designing their own bags, especially R & her friends (8th birthday). I also bought little things to go in the bags from the same site.
It seems to be catching on, because E. went to a party where they all decorated a plate (plates from Ikea, pens from somewhere else) to take home instead of a party bag. When R. started going to parties she would come home with bags full of plastic tat that would end up in the bin within a week. Now the bags are smaller and contents are more durable, and of better quality.
See, I always knew you were a bigger eco-warrior than me! I really like the idea and I'm so pleased to have found out about it. Any more top-tips for future reference?
Not sure how much of it is eco-warrior, and how much is lack of cash! A bit of both I suppose.
The aspect I have hated the most at the parties R. has been to, has been the waste of food. This has mostly happened at parties taking place away from the home when the whole class has been invited. The children are overwhelmed with the food presented, overload their plates and leave most of it. My girls have had their parties at home with a limited guest list. (I have time, not money). Savoury food goes out first, in small amounts. I'd rather re-fill plates than throw food away. Cakes come out later, sometimes not until hometime and go in the party bag! I've only tried jelly and ice-cream once, at R.'s request. Only half the guests wanted it, and half of those who wanted it, didn't eat it.
Naturally I use washable plates!
Planned games only work with over-5s. Under that, they are just too interested in playing with someone else's toys.
I did a treasure hunt for E.'s 4th birthday; chocolate money bought in sales after Christmas in paper bags (decorated by the children!) hidden in the garden. Each child had a very simple map of the garden with a large X to mark the spot. They took it in turns to find their own bag. Seemed to go down very well.
If you can do it, save the paper from this year's presents for next year's pass-the-parcel. R & friends like to have forfeits inside each layer (sing a song, count to 100 in 5s, be a duck) but that wouldn't work with under 7s.
In some ways, the parental competition here is about minimalist parties rather than who has the biggest party bag!
What a fantastic idea – you have just given me a brilliant idea for Daughter's birthday party next year.
I agree plastic party bags are a terrible waste of money & yet there seems to be an element of competitiveness surrounding what goes in a party bag these days – not that I succumb to peer pressure – these would win that competition hands down!
This is a fab idea! I will definitely think about this for the next party we host 🙂