Loot bags, grab bags, goodie bags … extra little treats given out at the end of your celebration to thank your guests for coming! Nowadays loot bags are a hotly debated topic. Do you really have to have them? Haven’t the kids eaten enough sugar at the party? Do they need any more little plastic toys? Here at Hooray Day, we love to share all kinds of tips, tricks and hacks so that you can make the most of your precious time, and say Hooray to your special day! Check out our tips below for creating loot bags that your little guests will love, and that their parents will approve of too!
Go easy on the sugar – if you’re serving lots of sweet items at your celebration, it might be best to avoid loading up your loot bags with chocolate and lollies, lest you incur the wrath of your fellow parents. One or two sweet treats are probably fine (it is a special occasion after all!) but if you’re going down that route, perhaps give the parents a heads up so that they can vet consumption!
Theme your loot – loot bags are another great opportunity to really drive home your theme. Think toy animals for your Farm party, pretty floral hair clips if you’re having a Vintage bash, and play dough in bright colours for a Rainbow party.
Create economies of scale – see if you can use items from the party to fill your loot bags. If you’re having a colouring in station, pick up some extra crayons to include in your bags. Decorating your Pirate party with glitzy gold ‘treasure’? Grab some extra booty for the bags. If you’re setting out bubbles for the kids to play with during the party, pop some little bottles in the loot bags too, so that they can carry on the fun at home. Balloons, stickers and party whistles are also great inclusions.
Relieve yourself of some leftovers – depending on how you look at it, leftover party food can either be the best or worst thing about hosting a celebration. If you’re not keen to face temptation every time you open the fridge for the next week, why not keep your loot bags to the side and use them as a convenient way to package up leftovers such as cupcakes and cookies etc. for your guests to take home.
Make it personalised – kill two birds with one stone by including a handwritten thank you note to be included in your loot bags.
Be wary of creating landfill – many parents nowadays are critical of some of the more junky items often found in loot bags. Poorly made, plastic, single use toys tend to end up in the bin pretty quickly, which seems a bit of a waste. You don’t need to spend money on high quality toys, but it’s great to try to include items that are a little bit more durable or able to be used as part of imaginative play at least. Crafty items such as playdough, pencils, stamps or notebooks are great. So too are dress up items such as animal masks, eye patches, wands and wings. Mementos such as fridge magnets or badges are also cute. Buying one quality item will often end up costing less than a load of plastic disposable toys and give a feel good factor to those receiving them!
A ‘Prepare to Celebrate’ guide comes with every Hooray Day Party Kit. It’s crammed full of tips and tricks on everything you need to know about children party games, plus loads more, including food and decorating inspiration. It’s like having a party planner in your pocket!
