Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just skip it. No one cares.

+1

Everything people are listing here is junk except maybe the book.

Everything is junk to someone, even the book. My kid's taste in books might not be the same as yours.

But books are super easy to donate, and someone will like it.
If your kids' school does Scholastic, they always had collections of early reader or pictures books that were very reasonably priced. I always just ordered a bunch of those and split them up for the order. I also like the mini flashlight idea -- those are so incredibly useful for travel, power outages, kids who build forts, etc.

I also think driveway chalk is a decent idea that most kids will use, particularly going into the spring. I find that activity books and crafts are more dependent on the kid, and they are harder to donate because 90% of kids will open them, take out one thing or scribble one thing, and then lose interest. We have a whole closet of that stuff that I can't donate because it is partially used. Small beads are the worst -- they are a curse on mothers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Live goldfish! We did this one year and the parents still talk about it

I bet they do

I would hate that. OP please don’t do this to parents.

I used to do homemade playdough (though later found out some families dislike playdough), bubbles, tattoos and candy/snack.

Anonymous wrote:Live goldfish! We did this one year and the parents still talk about it

I bet they do

Live goldfish! We did this one year and the parents still talk about it

Anonymous wrote:Is there a theme for the party? For us the favor was usually tied to the activity (we did a lot of home parties). For example: We once hosted an “adopt a dog” party and they went home with the stuffed dog, a little bouncy ball for the dog, and the “collar” (aka bracelet) they made with beads.

+1. I like to give one theme-related favor. For a lego party, we gave one small lego figure, magnifying glass for a detective theme, beach ball for pool party, etc.

What is the theme/season? I try to pick something compostable if possible (like a mini pumpkin for my fall kid or a small thing for flowers for my spring kid). Otherwise those big vinyl water bottle stickers and a ring pop seem to be a hit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just skip it. No one cares.

+1

Everything people are listing here is junk except maybe the book.

Everything is junk to someone, even the book. My kid's taste in books might not be the same as yours.

something I can compost please!

Anonymous wrote:Skip it! You will thank me later.

Counterpoint - I think a favor is a nice gesture and I don’t regret having done them. I just keep them simple. Little kids are very easy to please.

Oh, a mini play doh is also nice.

the best one we ever received was a lego mystery bag mini fig. But to be honest it seemed too pricey for me to give it as a favor, so for kids we stuck to candy and something junky.

Miniflashlights are a great idea. You can buy in bulk in fun colors. We bought a bunch of them for a teenager's bonfire party, intending them as a favor. Some kids took theirs but a bunch left them.

Mini squishmallows, activity books

We did books for a couple years. We also have done a single more significant treat - like fancy lollypop or hot chocolate bombs. I hate bags of junk.

Skip it! You will thank me later.