Ultimate List of 49 Kids’ Party Favours (that won’t end up in the garbage!)
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Party favours – kids love them, parents hate them. To kids, those dollar store trinkets are wonderful treasures. To most parents, they’re pieces of plastic that you’ll find all over the house for a few days, until they’re either forgotten about or broken. Eventually, they usually end up in the garbage.
As much as I would love to skip party favours altogether, I know how much my kids love them. They love choosing them and handing them out when they’re the birthday child, and they love receiving them too. So instead of foregoing them, I’ve come up with a list of kid-approved party favours that (hopefully!) won’t end up in the garbage a few days later.
I like to give out consumable items, like food or art supplies. I also prefer to give out one larger item, instead of a bag full of goodies. Depending on the number of kids at the birthday party, my budget is $5 per child or less, so I’ll stock up when I catch these items on sale. These favours are aimed towards the 7 and under age group
Art Supplies and Activities
- Colouring book and crayons
- Markers (go for something different, like fun colours, stampers, or scented markers)
- Play-Doh
- Word search or puzzle book
- Watercolour paints
- Perler beads. Buy a kit or make up your own.
- Melissa & Doug Water Wow! books. These have provided hours of entertainment in our house. My kids also love their Scratch Art and ColourBlast! books, which you can find in the same price range.
- Grab n Go Play Packs. We save these for restaurants or any time we need to occupy the kids quietly when we’re out.
Summer Fun
- Large bubble wand
- Sand toys
- Sidewalk chalk
- Frisbee
- Beach ball or basic kick ball
- Sunglasses
- Hula hoop
- Water squirters
- Jump rope
- Kite
- Beach towel
Related: 16 Best Outdoor Toys for Toddlers
Sweets and Treats
- Decorated sugar cookies. Buy or make these to match your party theme.
- Pez dispenser
- Ring pops
- Giant lollipop
- Cotton candy
- Popcorn (check out Pinterest for some fun ideas)
- Piñata goodies. Give the kids a bag to fill up with the piñata goodies and make that the party favour.
- Goldfish
- Apple sauce pouches
- Fruit snacks
Related: How to Survive a Road Trip with Kids: Snacks
Toys, Dress-Up & Everything Else
Small Lego kits or minifigures. My kids each got one of these Lego creativity boxes as a favour once and I thought it was brilliant! It kept them occupied for more than half an hour, and Lego is something that’s not going to be thrown out.
- A card game, like Uno, Old Maid, or Go Fish (Melissa & Doug sells a great three pack that you could split up as favours).
- Small stuffed animal. We gave out small squishmallows recently, and they were a hit.
- Matchbox or Hot Wheels toy car
- Rubik’s cube
- Puzzle
- Glider kit
- Yo-yo
- Bath toys or bath crayons (especially for young toddlers)
- A book. You can often find great books on sale for $5 or less.
- Flashlight. This would be great for a sleepover or camping-themed party.
- Glowsticks
- Superhero masks and capes
- Mickey Mouse ears or another dress up item to match the theme. We gave these ears out at my son’s party last year, and they’re still going strong in our dress-up bin.
- Water bottle. You can often find personalized ones – my kids love anything with their name on it.
- Personalized aprons
- Character socks
- Reusable sticker pads
- A $5 gift card to your local ice cream or frozen yogurt place.
- Helium balloons. Use them as decorations at the party, then give them out as favours when the kids leave. Kids love them, and they only last a few days.
Related: 127+ Stocking Stuffers for Kids
Do you have other favour ideas that I haven’t included?
I wish I’d seen this before my daughters’ birthday party last week, there are some great ideas here. I’ll definitely be getting chalk (and maybe some Lego) in the future.
Chalk is one of our favourites, because they go through it so quickly in the summer (or at least ours do!)