Personally I liked to keep it simple with just a wee game, a sticker sheet and a wee bag of crisps. Last year I just gave a box with handballs for my child to bring in class and a bag of chips for each. I think this year I will have pizza delivered to the class and no party bags

And an addition: small school supplies, like slightly fancy erasers or pencil sharpeners often go down well too. Stickers are usually popular in primary school. And if you can find them – shops like The Reject Shop often have them – small craft kits or supplies (like mini easels) can be good.

books are great – depending on the kids’ ages, coloring books or picture books can be had for a dollar or two. Small notebooks can be good, and amazingly enough, most kids love post it notes, especially if you find the ones in funky shapes. Finger puppets maybe if you can find thm at a reasonable price.

Or get some of the cards that have seeds in them for the kids to plant! It put in a little bag of seeds! So much fun.

I actually really enjoy putting the party bags together! It does depend on the age and it sounds like it’s gender inclusive. Temu has great and cheap options. I.e. mini books, slap bands, book marks, bubbles, bouncy balls, etc. Iput non diary lollies from Kmart generally. All the sensory toys are generally a win. And a balloon?!

Another thing we did was visit a party shop that was not expensive. It gave us some very good ideas for themes and we also did purchase some items at the shop and at other cheaper places. It is a good idea to let creativity flow and think of different party themes and party bags.

Party bags are such fun and they are also a joy to make up for parties. If a party has a theme it makes it easy to come up with ideas for party bags; in fact it is easier if there is a theme. We went arts and crafts items, little notebooks, pencils, erasers, stickers and the list goes on and on!

I bulk bought some fancy pencils (so they didn’t cost much) to go in party bags. At various times I did the same with notebooks, pencil sharpeners, and reusable plastic cups with superheroes or Star Wars characters on them. The cups were a particularly big hit and cost about $1 each. One Mum told me her son was still using it a year later!

I love that you want to avoid toys that are terrible and just a waste. Temu, AliExpress and Amazon are the worst for this, just junk that stays on the planet forever. Depending on the ages you could give out colouring books and pencils, something crafty that will be enjoyed. Maybe one or two pieces of chocolate or lollies.

I love the good old Party Bag yes back in my day it was all lollies no toys in there.
You can usually pick up some really good stuff from any discount stores I usually put in a small note book pencils or crayons and oh dont forget the balloon

Great question! I’m very nostalgic and so I like to give the kids things that we got when I was a kid ie, sticky hand, wrist slap bands etc
Temu and Ali express have good ‘junk’ toys. I think squishy toys and fidget toys are all the rave these days,