Birthday Party Goody Bags & Party Entertainer

[shaanmom]

Hi Mummies - thinking about LO's 4th b'day... so, what's the best return gift or goody bag you've ever received at a birthday? We got a personalised pencil case once which is still quite useful. Any other suggestions appreciated!
Also, can someone suggest a good party entertainer recently seen/used?

[carang]

i just gave out xmas goodie bags to the kids at my playgroup centre who enrolled in special xmas classes.

each bag was a small see-through, drawstring, cloth bag. inside, they got a fancy pen (was felt covered with little "teddy" wearing a santa hat on top), a pack of 6 xmas rubbers/erasers, a pack of xmas stickers, a small set of snowflake colours (one colour fits into the next, so it looks like one long pencil).
kids were thrilled and it cost me about $12-15 to put each bag together.

you really don't need to go so fancy. i remember when i was a kid, a birthday was all about the kids getting together to play and eat cake. it seems to me that in hk, it's more about keeping up with the jones's...

my two kids are having their birthdays in early feb. my eldest will be 6 and my youngest, 4. we are going to have friends round to our house for a bbq. will plan 2 or 3 games, maybe a craft or something for the kids to take home and cake. i know my kids will have a great time as they will get to spend time with their friends.

[shaanmom]

Thanks for your ideas carang! My guy has just started KG and told me he wanted to invite everyone, and I think it's nice to get to meet the other parents! So that's what I'm going to do.. I think as kids get older, they get a bit more "picky" about who they want at their parties, which is what I see for my friends with older kids. For the goody bags, am considering a colouring/activity book with a small box of colour pencils or crayons. Just wanted to get some other ideas. :-)

[rani]

We've given small backpacks/ pencil cases/ stationary / water bottles/ travel game cards. Head down to Sham Shui Po. There's a lot there.

[shaanmom]

Thanks Rani. Where in Sham Shui Po? It's pretty big... :-(

[rani]

The stores are on Fuk Wing St

[carang]

sorry, i wasn't aiming my comments at you in particular. it's just something that's been bugging me because i now have to contend with:

"but X had a party at Pizza Express"
"Y had a party at Ocean Park"
"Z went to Disney"
" A had TWO bouncy castles!"

from my two kids... i have a hard time because my two have their birthdays only 6 days apart so they've always had shared parties. before you know it, there's 60 people and prices just skyrocket!

so, in "retaliation" we're keeping it very simple this year. we've decided to go all out on the birthday cakes and have 2 made and then bbq hot dogs, chicken wings etc ourselves with some mac & cheese and a few other things.

by the way, we did get all of the things for the xmas bags in sham shui po. they are wholesalers, so you can get 12 teddy bears for $180 etc. they have some fantastic deals and i will NEVER buy anything for bags anywhere else again!

something else you could do:
there is a craft shop on sai yee street in mongkok (aptly named CRAFT SUPPLY SHOP). they have craft kits for $10 ea that include almost everything (except glue) for various crafts, like hand puppets etc. At the back of the shop they have masks (that can be painted or decorated), wooden pencil boxes, piggy banks etc that can all be painted/decorated (these range from $5-15 each). Upstairs, they have foldable cardboard cars (again can be painted), and white baseball caps that can be fabric painted....

those might be things that the kids can take home, don't cost an arm and a leg, and are kind of cool, too!

[shaanmom]

Hey carang, I agree with you about keeping things small! Unfortunately, my LO needs some social networking and we have to put in an effort too! LOL! Thanks for your tips reg SSP and also the shop in Mongkok. I especially like the idea for the foldable carboard cars... will go with my theme...!