Clutter-Free Party Favors for Kids: Yes, They Do Exist

As the mom of two beautiful girls, I have been quickly indoctrinated into the world of birthday parties and favors over the past few years. Whether or not you believe favors should even be given at parties is a whole other post, but as an organizer I always feel an extra bit of pressure when it comes to the favors given out at my own kids’ parties. I feel an obligation not to add to the piles of plastic delights (although my kids would probably tell you they feel quite differently!) but I’m also busy running a business and raising my kids, so I don’t have hours to create Pinterest perfect creations. So what’s a parent to do?

I’ll start off by saying that this year was particularly challenging. My oldest daughter wanted to invite her entire kindergarten class, so I was looking for larger quantities of items that were not gender specific. When I was searching for ideas and soliciting suggestions, I got some great ones, but they were simply too expensive or seemingly skewed toward one gender. (By the way I’m all for not limiting favors based on gender- I was simply reading my specific audience.) Many of my suggestions are edible, but consumables are a great way to go if you are trying to ditch the clutter favors.

Here are 6 suggestions to celebrate your child without adding to the clutter:

1) Homemade Lollipops. This is what I decided to do. You can buy meltable candy wafers in all the colors of the rainbow , a mold, as well as lollipop sticks at your local craft store like Michaels. (I got my mold on Ebay for $1.99). You simply melt the wafers in the microwave, pour them into a mold and stick them in the freezer with a lollipop stick. Pop it out after 20 minutes and you are done. Then wrap it in a sandwich bag with some ribbon and voilà! If you are feeling extra fancy you could personalize it with a sticker on the back. 30 pops took me under one hour and they are impressive if I do say so myself.

2) A Small Pot and Packet of Seeds. I have found that my kids love growing things and having things they created and can call their own. You could do a natural style pot, or a ceramic one. You could even have them decorate the pots at the party if you are looking for an extra activity.

3) Gift Card for an Ice Cream Cone. This is one of my favorite ideas, and one that I used at a previous party when I hosted fewer kids. What kid doesn’t like ice cream? And having a treat to look forward to? YUM!

4) Cookies. You could easily put together your own little bags of a few Oreos and tie them with decorative ribbons. Or you could take it a step further and personalize them. If you are not a do-it-yourselfer check out Merry Go Sweets, an awesome small business that makes personalized cookies (and pops!) and even ships across the country.

5) Hot Cocoa Kit. Want to amaze a 5-year-old? Hot chocolate on a spoon would make the perfect favor for a winter birthday party in New England. You could also do other variations of this with everything from a Swiss Miss packet and marshmallows with ribbon to cocoa and marshmallows in a jar if you wanted to create them yourself.

6)Snack Pack. Take a paper lunch bag and fill it with a variety of kid snack packets (Goldfish, Pirate’s Booty and Fruit Snacks are some of our favorites.) You can personalize the bag with each kid’s name. You could pre-fill them and have them ready to go on the way out, or even have a station at the party where they get to decorate their bags and select which snacks they want inside.

Have another suggestion for a clutter-free favor? Leave a note below in comments.

My birthday wish for you this year is less time spent corralling plastic favors (or goodness forbid Slime!) and more time spent with those you love.