In this Ultimate Guide to Party Favors we discuss the best ideas, and the most annoying items. We also guide you to stay on budget, find unique party favors, and make kids happy! We also discuss toys for boys vs toys for girls, allergies, and all things related to birthday party gift planning. We tell you all about the advantages of using surprise toys, our party favor discounts and free services. Goody bags are time consuming, we want to help!
How to Choose Party Favors for Today's Kids?
Party favors became my passion from a few great parties as a child. I grew up in a rural area and can only remember attending a few parties. Those experiences left a huge impression on me! My favorite birthday party memory was my friend Erin's 7th birthday. Erin's mom put together a beautiful party. We all got colorful paper flowers to tuck behind our ears, and the best birthday favor was a small, hand-painted maraca. It was so fun to shake and became a treasured toy. Do you remember any stand-out party favors from your childhood?
When I became a parent, there were so many new skills to learn. For me, creating birthday party favor ideas was daunting. How would I keep it interesting, affordable, and fit the theme? What about toys for girls vs. toys for boys? How would I ensure party favors were safe for toddler siblings? How to avoid allergens in goodie bags? What is appropriate to give classmates for the holidays?
I have interviewed many customers, friends, and family members about their experiences with giving and receiving party favors and goodie bags here in the US. Many people find this very challenging part of parenting, grand-parenting, and guardianship. In this article, I would like to address the common concerns of the people I interviewed. I would also love to offer the ideas and solutions I have developed through lots of interviews. But let's not end the discussion here! I would love to hear your thoughts, feelings, success stories, or disasters to share! I want to continue learning how to provide the best party favor planning experience and unique favor ideas!
How to Find Unique and Interesting Party Favors
Before we started Tinywich, our family struggled to find unique, well-made party favors. We scoured the big box stores, the party stores, the quick-ship sites, and all the catalogs. We didn't like the quantity or quality of the tiny toys we found. If you end up going to many kids' birthday parties, you start to get the same slap bracelets and bubbles over and over again.
At Tinywich, we pride ourselves on curating an exciting collection of unique toys and surprising party favors. From Tinywich, you can order the exact amount you need for your party guests. However, we always recommend ordering a couple extra in case of a last-minute guest.
If you are planning a party, looking for fun wedding favors, or can't find a toy to fit the themed birthday favors… ask! We can custom order your toys in hundreds of themes to match your unique child's favorite things. For example, we can order toy dragons, toy reptiles, toy aliens, space-themed toys, toy rockets, unicorn toys, cute animal toys, toy llamas, axolotl toys, and even toy capybaras! Whatever your interest, we can special order surprising, unique toys for you to gift! You can also try Tinywich gift cards and give the gift of choice!
Are Surprise Toys Good Party Favors?
Many of our toys are sold as surprise toys, either in blind boxes, gachapon capsule toys, or surprise bags. This adds surprise toy fun to your party favors because all the guests won't receive the same item. Children love surprise toys and trading with friends. However, the surprise element can sometimes lead to disagreements over who gets what. With siblings, there is often the element of coveting what your sibling has, regardless of whether or not you really like it. Since you can order a single item from us, we can often correct these fairness issues as long as we have the item in stock.
With surprise toys, you don't have to spend time deciding what child would like which toy or which color because it's out of your hands! You don't even have to label the bags to go to a specific child. The element of surprise takes the responsibility off you and places it on the luck of the draw! Surprise toys are a great birthday favor idea and can be a good opportunity to teach children, "You get what you get, so don't throw a fit." Trading surprise toys also helps develop the skills of negotiation and compromise.
What do Kids Want?
The most popular characters change every few years, but some things are almost universal. We wanted Transformers, Hello Kitty, Harry Potter, Barbie, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and many of today's kids still do here in the US! Most children love cute animals or critters, adorable baby animals, and plushies. Kids love things that go, like metal car toys, skateboards, and balls. Sensory toys are almost always a hit as a children's party favor. Surprise toys are so beloved! Grandparents remember what excited them and guess what, it still works. So-called retro toys like slinkies, putties, horses, and balls are still popular!
How do you choose toys for girls or toys for boys?
At Tinywich, we think all toys can be gender-neutral. You don't have to worry about what toys girls prefer or toys for boys when putting together children's goodie bags. Many girls I know love car toys and toy bugs, and many boys love Squishmallows, cute animals, and pretend miniature food. If you are having a party with all genders or creating holiday goodie bags for the whole class, why not give everyone the same theme? Trolls, sensory toys, Little people, and animals are universally appealing. A child can trade with a friend if they want the pink cat or the blue llama. It is much easier to give party favors if you don't make separate goody bags for girls and boys.
What are the best Party Favor Ideas?
I heard many stories of empowered guardians going out of their way (and over their budgets) to put together some incredible party favors and find fantastic party supplies. They scour Etsy, Party City, Oriental Trading Company, Pinterest, Dollar Tree, Amazon, and Target and make it work! My proudest moment was gifting everyone car toys and setting up a Hot Wheels race track all over the park. The kids had a blast racing and ranking car toys. One dad set up a treasure hunt for a Pirate-themed Party in his yard. The children found gold coins using maps and clues. Then, they exchanged the coins for small toys from the Pirate's Treasure Chest. A passionate woodworker hand-crafted whistles and games to match their party's theme. One brave mom set up a whole mini shopping spree at the mall. She gave each kid a small gift card to several stores and let the children choose their dream party favor. Another mom delighted guests with candy in custom wrappers or cute bespoke cookies from a local bakery. One of the best ideas I've heard is custom-engraved metal reusable cups or water bottles. I also loved the handmade felt capes and masks for the Super Hero party. But let's face it, not all people can have the time, energy, money, or skills to make Pinterest-worthy party favors and goodie bags. Let me brainstorm with you! We can do this together!
For Young Children, Choose Bath Toys or Consumables
When my child was a toddler, I used the paper towel trick to see if a toy was safe. If a toy can fit down the paper towel roll tube or has small parts that can break off, it can be a choking hazard. At a certain age, every toy will become a chewing toy. We fell in love with rubber ducks because they are generally too big to be a choking hazard and don't have small parts. Rubber bath toys aren't made of rubber anymore, but the name has stuck. What do you call a rubber duck that's not a duck and not made of rubber? This has been a big question at Tinywich!
Whatever you call them, bath toys and bubbles are a great party favor because they have universal appeal to children and their parents alike. Many kids need encouragement to take a bath or shower, and fun bath toys keep them engaged. Today, you can find rubber ducks in endless shapes or sizes. We can custom order bath toys to fit many birthday party themes. For example, we have unicorn bath toys, llama bath toys, cat bath toys, dog bath toys, farm animal bath toys, and even bug bath toys! The possibilities are endless! Classic rubber ducks can also come in many fun themes and colors. As a parent, I always appreciated chalk, bubbles, art supplies, playable dough, and other consumables that little hands often use up quickly. One mom told me, "Always Squishmallows, everyone loves them! Everyone!"
How to Avoid Allergens in Goodie Bags
When I was a kid, goodie bags were mostly candy. We got candy at almost every party and holiday. As a child, I loved all the sugar, but today's parents seem more concerned than ever about limiting sugar. There are more food allergies, food intolerances, and special diets in this modern era. Not to mention religious, cultural, or ethical differences, and of course picky eaters. How do you find candy or treats that are safe and appropriate for a large group of young children? All of these factors have made the candy-filled goodie bag more challenging. Obviously, nuts and dairy are some of the most common allergens, but gelatin or artificial coloring can be a problem, too! At Tinywich, we say, "Tiny toys are the answer!" Toys bring more delight; you don't have to worry about food allergies or special diets.
How to Give Affordable Party Favors?
Budgets are always an important part of any party planning. From birthday decorations to party entertainment, food, and drinks, party expenses add up quickly! At Tinywich, we find that buying party favors elsewhere can cause the budget to go off the rails! You start by planning a few items per child that each cost a dollar or two, but then you end up concerned about what they will like and a hand a few more. Or you find a great bulk price but end up with a much larger quantity than you need. You can also save money with our 15% discount for bulk orders of some of our items and by ordering the exact amount you need. Save time by letting me do the research for you. I can search all of my vendors for the items that might fit your theme and budget, and then all you have to do is choose which ones to order.
Do Party Favors Encourage Waste, Consumerism, and Too Much Plastic?
Here's how my friend Priscilla feels:" I dread little filler Easter-egg-sized plastic-type toys such as little clackers, spinning tops, mazes, whistles, discs, etc. These items often get scattered about my house after a few seconds (of actual playtime). I scoop them up, store them in a bin to obligingly keep for the week, and donate or repurpose somehow someway in hopes of not being wasteful."
Party favors began as a small and polite "thank you for attending" gift to give your guests. These days, they feel like more of a requirement, and the expense has grown exponentially. Many of the parents and guardians I spoke with opened up about how they appreciate the gesture but also dread the contents of the party favor bag. Especially when that bag is full of poorly made generic plastic toys their children have seen before. There is also a lot of disdain for items that make a big mess, like slime, glitter, and excessive packaging. Sometimes, these bags get tossed unopened somewhere in the backseat or under the sofa and aren't found for months.
I don't miss the irony of being someone who sells a lot of tiny plastic toys and complaining about children having too many small plastic toys. Many of today's children, especially in the US, have an overabundance of toys, especially plastic. Obviously, it's also not great for the planet. It's also not fun to be the parent or guardian who has to tidy and organize all these things. Haha, Check out my next article on toy organization ideas! But raising children is always full of paradoxes! How do you celebrate and spark joy while building character? How do you encourage creativity and imaginative play when all you can think of is the mess it will make? What do you do with unwanted toys?
Raising children is certainly a balancing act. In our home, we talk about those less fortunate and try to give or donate our unwanted items as much as possible. I was one of those children, and my heart soared when someone gifted me a used toy or book! We also discuss how you can keep the memory without keeping the item. Almost everyone I spoke with said that quality is more important than quantity for toys and party favors.
Many of our vendors offer more environmentally conscious toys, use recycled materials for packaging, and offset their carbon footprint from shipping. We can order you recycled (and cute) cardboard boxes instead of plastic favor bags. Please let us know if you want to learn more about these environmental initiatives.
Our Passion is Finding and Selling Quality Toys to Spark Joy and Imagination
That is part of why we started Tinywich. We grew incredibly frustrated by the need for more quality, variety, and customer service from all the big stores. We set out to find the highest quality and most unique toys. We also want to offer excellent customer service with easy returns for unopened toys. We offer complimentary sourcing services to find and custom order the sort of toys you are seeking. Please let us know how we can spark joy for you today! Thank you for reading, and if you have any thoughts or ideas to contribute, please email shop@tinywich.com. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the writing of this article! Just don't forget to hand out your party favors, haha!
