A goodie bag is standard issue at most parties. Instead of simply giving them out to the kids, why not make them earn their goodies? You get a party game out of it, and they get a sense of achievement! Here are some possibilities:
- A treasure hunt where they get to keep whatever they find. One fun variation we did was to completely darken the room containing the “treasure”, give each child a flashlight for the hunt, and let them keep the flashlight as part of their goodie bag.
- A memory game. Lay out the goodies and let the children look at them for a minute. Then cover them. The children take turns to recall what they saw, and whatever they remember, they get to keep.
- A ring toss where they keep whatever they are able to snag. We used bottles of bubble solution as both the toss target and the prize (see picture below)
I should add that as the parent, you’ll need to make An Important Decision. And that is: should all kids leave with roughly the same stash in their bags? Or should winning kids get more? An early introduction to the joys and woes of socialism and capitalism 
4 responses so far ↓
alternative-mom // 15 June, 2007 at 5:45 pm |
Wow! I really like these ideas, especially the torchlight one! Thanks for sharing them! I mighht try!
Were there any disgruntled children?
pilgrimparent // 16 June, 2007 at 10:16 pm |
If I recall correctly, Athos was a little unhappy because he didn’t get as much stash as the others. Hence that final point about what goodie distribution system to adopt
Hope it works for you!
alternative-mom // 17 June, 2007 at 8:15 am |
Thanks, Pilgrim Parent for the tip! Yeah, I would definitely consider what you have mentioned.
An Alternative Mom on….. » Blog Archive » Busy Week, Party Week // 5 July, 2007 at 11:19 am |
[...] to the Pilgrim Parent, I borrowed the memory game idea, but modified it to an ‘everybody wins spirit’. While each child took turns, both [...]