Kids Goody Bag Ideas: 70+ Birthday Party Favors That Aren’t Junk

If you are planning kids’ birthday party and are looking for affordable goody bag ideas that aren’t junk, this post is for you!

This is the first year that my daughter is having a birthday party with her friends, and I wanted to come up with cute and unique party favors to share. However, this is not my first rodeo as a mom of two kids. The junky small toys and sweet treats in traditional goody bags aren’t always a favorite among parents. Sadly, these items often end up in the trash after just a few days.

So, I decided to put together budget friendly swag bags for the birthday party guests with just a few useful items. I decided to go with spiral notebooks, gel pens, cute sunglasses, and reusable gift bags! But there are so options many depending on the child’s party theme and personal interests.

In terms of ages, this post will focus on young kids (five to twelve year olds), but many of these party favor ideas will work for older kids too!

I hope you find these goody / goodie bag ideas helpful! Let’s get started.

This post may contain affiliate links.

Are Goody Bags Necessary?

But first, are goody bags necessary kids’ birthday parties? Nope. You don’t have to do goody bags!

Goody bags and party favors are completely optional. Since you are hosting a party, you are already investing a lot of money to create a special day for the birthday kid and party guests. You really don’t have to do anything else!

However, it is also okay to do goody bags if you want to. If your budget allows, and if you enjoy putting together gift bags, then go for it.

There are a lot of things about kids’ parties that aren’t my favorite–the loud noises, too much sugar, etc.! But personally I have a lot of fun coming up with unique party favors. That’s just me.

Goody bags can be a great way to say thank you to the kids and families that attended the party. That is, assuming, the goody bags / party favors are not something that parents will hate! Which brings us to the next section of this post.

Affordable Goody Bag Ideas that Aren’t Junk

As parents, we’ve all received kids’ birthday party favors that sadly ended up in the trash the next day. I don’t blame anyone for buying those little plastic toys from the dollar store. They are really cute, and they do make my kids light up when they receive them as small gifts! This is a no judgement zone.

However, if you are looking for a better way to put together affordable goody bags that kids and parents will love, it is possible! This section is all about unique ideas for party favor bags. With a little creativity, you can put together goody bags with budget-friendly and useful items.

1. Gift Bag Ideas

To begin, if you are looking for simple party favor bags or boxes to hold a few stuffers, here are some good bags to choose from.

• Colorful small bags
• Brown paper bags
• Tie dye paper bags
• Rainbow paper boxes
• Lego paper boxes
• Mario paper boxes
• Brown paper boxes
• Iridescent gift bags
• Pastel mini crates
• Colorful tote bags
• Cute kids’ purse

You can also include gift tags with the party guests’ name for a personal touch. In addition, this helps you make sure that everyone gets their party favor! However, labeling the goody bags is not a necessity, especially if they are all exactly the same.

2. Notebooks

Let’s get into the best stuffers for affordable goodie bags! One great idea for slightly older kids is a nice notebook or journal.

These are the floral spiral notebooks we used for my daughter’s party favors. They come in a pack of four and worked out to be about $2.50 per child, which I felt was pretty good for the “wow” gift!

3. Gel Pens or Pencils

Secondly, gel pens are a good idea to pair with a notebook. You could give each child a small pack of cute pens, or simply buy one large pack and give each kiddo one pen (which is what I did)! The pens I purchased worked out to be about $0.70 each.

4. Sunglasses

Thirdly, sunglasses make fun party favors, and they are also practical for a pool party or summer party. There are so many styles to choose from, based on the party theme and color palette!

I chose these hot pink heart sunglasses for my daughter’s goody bags. Usually, kids’ sunglasses are made of plastic so I suppose they could be considered junky, but to me they are useful items that are also cute for goody bag ideas.

5. Coloring Books

For a toddler or younger kids’ birthday party, coloring books are one of the best party favor ideas! Similar to other swag bag ideas, you can choose a coloring book that fits the party theme.

6. Crayons

Crayons paired with a coloring book make one of the best goodie bags for younger kids. An 8 pack of Crayola crayons is only a few dollars, and they make fun sets such as glitter or metallic for unique party favors.

Personally, I always go with name brand crayons because others are waxy and break easily, in our experience. If you are concerned about crayons breaking with younger kids, try these jumbo crayons!

7. Lip Balm

Next, cute lip balms are small items that make a big impact for kids. These Lip Smackers packs are so much fun, and very affordable for goody bags.

8. Fidget Toys

While some fidget toys are junky, there are also great options out there for goody bag stuffers! Here are my top picks:

• Infinity cube
• Sensory slugs
• Rubik’s mini cube
• Animal pop tubes
• Unicorn pop tubes
• Colorful pop its
• Dinosaur pop its
• Two-ty fruity pop its
• Snack food pop its

9. Sidewalk Chalk

Sidewalk chalk is another option for art supplies that will please young kids and older kids alike! Choose small packs of chalk with fun colors or shapes that fit the party theme.

10. Craft Items

In addition, crafts and DIY party favors are a great choice for artsy kids. You can find all kinds of seasonal and themed kits at craft stores or online. Try friendship bracelets, small canvases, or wooden birdhouses with paint.

11. Stickers or Tattoos

Finally, you really can’t go wrong with stickers or temporary tattoos in a goody bag. You can include large stickers that the kids can use on their water bottles, or small puffy stickers for art projects at home. And my kids always love tattoos!

Other Birthday Party Favors (Goody Bag Alternatives)

If you would prefer to skip traditional goody bags and instead give a single item to each party guest, here are some creative ideas! (These items could also be used as goody bag stuffers, but they are a little more expensive than the items listed above.)

1. Adopt a Stuffed Animal

First, one of my favorite small gifts for birthday party favors is a stuffed animal or toy to adopt. You can even create a little corral or basket where the stuffies are set up during the party!

Create a lasting impression by printing out some simple adoption certificates so that kids can name their new pets. Although we did traditional goody bags this year, I really want to use this idea in the future!

2. Small Lego Set that Fits the Party Theme

Secondly, Lego sets make great birthday party favors for older kids! I am convinced that there is a perfect small Lego set to fit every party theme. (I would recommend getting the same set for each party guest.)

• Unicorn
• Dragon
• Princess
• Space shuttle
• Go karts
• Spiderman
• Police car
• Minecraft
• Sports car
• Star Wars
• Friends

3. Paint By Sticker Book for Older Kids

Thirdly, these paint by sticker books for kids are some of our favorite craft items. They aren’t messy like painting kits, but you still get to see the picture come together! Choose a sticker book to match the theme.

• Rainbows
• Pets
• Dinosaurs
• Outer space
• Mermaids
• Zoo animals
• Unicorns
• Under the sea
• Bugs
• Rainforest
• Original

4. Water Wow Book for Young Kids

While the paint by sticker books may be a little hard for young kids, Water Wow books are a perfect choice for party favors! My kids absolutely loved these when they were younger, and you can use them again and again.

• Alphabet
• Seasons
• On the farm
• Adventure
• Sports
• Space
• Princess
• Under the sea
• Dinosaurs
• Paw Patrol
• Bluey

5. Gift Cards

Finally, a great last minute party favor idea is a gift card. This is also a way to support local businesses.

For example, try a $5 gift card for ice cream from a local store to give your party guests a fun experience to share with their family. Or, if you are purchasing a cake from a local bakery, they may offer gift cards if they sell small treats like cookies and cupcakes.

Affordable Goody Bags Example and Cost Breakdown

To finish up this post, I wanted to share a few more photos of the affordable goody bags we put together for my daughter’s birthday party. We included gift bags, spiral notebooks, gel pens, and heart sunglasses.

These cute swag bags were a hit with my daughter’s friends! The gift bags double as a kids’ purse, which is so fun.

Other girly items I considered including were spa headbands, mini brushes, hair scrunchies, or bracelets. But, in the end I decided to keep it simple since we already put most of our birthday budget towards activities (she had a gymnastics party at a local gym).

Using simple paper bags or boxes would bring the cost down to around $5 each, which I feel is great for affordable goody bags that aren’t junk! 

More Gift Ideas

Looking for other gift ideas? You may like these posts!

I hope you found this guide helpful if you are looking for goody bag ideas for your kids’ next birthday party! Stay tuned for Halloween and Christmas gift ideas coming soon. I am working on filling out the gift guide section of my blog, so if you have any thoughts or suggestions, I would love to hear them in the comments below.