Party favors for children's birthdays: The phenomenon of gift bags and party favors surrounding children's birthdays

In recent years, my children have increasingly come home with gift bags. They were often given as party favors or gifts after a children's birthday party, but sometimes also on other occasions at daycare or elementary school. You may know them too - the paper bags filled to the brim with sweets and cheap plastic toys that bring joy for only a brief moment before ending up in the trash.

I increasingly wondered whether there might be a better way to approach these party favors for a children's birthday party - surely it must be possible to find items for the gift bags that do not end up in a landfill?! So I asked other parents, my Stadtgärtner colleagues, as well as childcare workers and teachers, and collected ideas for party favors that are entertaining, high-quality, but not too expensive. Here are my results.

Buy sustainable party favors for children's birthdays

Avoiding waste and consumption is undoubtedly commendable, but at children's birthday parties, you encounter disappointed faces (and more...) when the party bags are completely empty. Most children also enjoy giving small party favors for a children's birthday party and do not want their guests to go home empty-handed. In addition, party favors have become the norm over the past 20 years, and it does not feel good for your own children to do things differently. At least, that has been our experience.

Sometimes things simply have to be bought. Fortunately, there are now many, many wonderful party favors that are not only sustainable but also delight the children and keep the birthday memorable for a long time.

Make party favors yourself at the birthday party

However, there is no need to have ready-made gift bags. Often, a good alternative is to incorporate a creative activity directly into the children's birthday party and make something with the children that they can then take home. Admittedly, you also have to buy materials here, but the children enjoy crafting and get to take home something they created themselves. Ideas include:

• Make friendship bracelets or necklaces
• Roll seed bombs (craft kit)
• Paint T-shirts, aprons, or caps
• Make your own bouncy balls (instructions)
• Make bird feeders (craft kit)
• Carve and paint stick gnomes (instructions)
• Make picture frames (instructions). Ideal in combination with a Polaroid camera, so you can put photos from the birthday party directly into the frames.
• Decorate chocolate bars

Outings with suitable gifts

Children's birthday parties are very often combined with an outing anyway, for example to the swimming pool, bowling alley, or trampoline park. In that case, it is often possible to give the children something they can use right away and then take home as a gift afterward. Here are some ideas for outings with suitable party favors:

• From around age 9, you can take the children on a trip to a climbing gym. You can give each child their own carabiner.
• From around age 6, you can take the children to a trampoline park and give them the appropriate "Jump" socks.
• A trip to a DIY workshop or, more specifically, a pottery class, where the children can of course take their creations home afterward.
• In many cities, there are also printmaking workshops that offer workshops specifically for children (and children's birthday parties), where they can take the prints they create home afterward.
• If you have your own garage or some space in the garden and the weather is good, you can make graffiti with the children on plasterboard panels, which they can then take home. Here is an example from a children's birthday party my daughter attended recently:
  
  
• Before a trip to the swimming pool, you can give each child 3 sponge water bombs. They are ideal for tossing back and forth or chasing one another down a water slide.
• Another idea is to go candle dipping with the children. This is especially enjoyable in autumn and during the (pre-)Christmas season, as the homemade candles can be used right away.
• In many towns and municipalities, sports halls can be rented by the hour. This is also a great outing for a children's birthday party. A great party favor here is a small ball or a self-sewn balloon cover.

Below, we will clarify the questions about party favors that we have received so far. But we're done with the ideas here. So, if you have any more ideas for sustainable party favors, feel free to write to hallo@diestadtgaertner.de. We look forward to more ideas and would be happy to expand the article! Either way: We wish you a wonderful children's birthday party!

Useful party favors for children's birthdays - The most important questions and answers

Since we put this page online, we have repeatedly received fairly general questions about party favors. We have compiled them here for you. If you have any further questions, feel free to send them to us at hallo@diestadtgaertner.de.

Who are Die Stadtgärtner?

Jan, Derk and I, Torge, country boys who love nature, love green. After moving to cities around the world to study, we missed the seasons, and Derk started rolling seed bombs to make Hamburg more beautiful. Soon afterward, he founded "Die Stadtgärtner" with Jan and me. Ten years and 15 million seed bombs later, we have become a real company. 😳 By now, we have developed more than 400 useful, beautiful and sustainable products together. All of them are handmade in sheltered workshops for people with disabilities in northern Germany. If you want to learn more, follow the white rabbit 🐇.

What our customers say

Jana(25.06.2023)

A great gift with a sustainability factor. I ordered the seed balls to give as party favors at a children's birthday party. Since I don't need all 10 bags for that, I have already given some to adults and children, and everyone was delighted.

Daniela H.(06.07.2023)

We ordered seed bombs for a children's birthday party and asked whether they could also send us the instructions as a PDF (one was already included in the package). That was no problem at all, so we could give each child a printout without much effort.

Maike(06.12.2023)

I give friends and family these wonderful products from Stadtgärtner for every occasion. Everything is so thoughtfully designed with warmth and purpose, packaged in an environmentally friendly way, and delivered promptly within 24 hours. So they are always a great option for last-minute gifts too 👍

Mariam H.(10.05.2023)

Fast shipping and everything as expected. The small flower seed balls (in little bags) will be our party favors for the communion ceremony, and the child receiving communion was delighted with them! We added the fish and sayings as well. 😉

Maren(18.01.2023)

Fast and undamaged delivery. The set is a great activity for children. Everything is included in the set - except water. Easy to understand.

Catha(12.10.2021)

I made the flower bombs with my daughter and handed them out as party favors at her birthday celebration at daycare. They were a big hit. A few were left over and dried out without germinating. I am curious to see whether they will bloom just as beautifully next year.

Alisa(25.02.2022)

We bought the flower seed balls as an additional gift for our friends' daughter. I expected the pack of seed balls to be a little larger, but otherwise I was very happy with our choice. The packaging looks cute, and it also includes an extra description of how to use the seed balls. Everything is illustrated and described in a very child-friendly way. We cannot say anything about the results yet, as the family wants to sow the seed balls in spring/summer. But it will certainly be exciting for the children! For the price, you get some excitement and fun while supporting a German company.

Michaela(07.03.2021)

A wonderful gift idea! I gave these flower seed balls to my colleagues as a summer greeting in 2020. During the holidays, I received lots of photos of the roadsides where the seed balls had randomly landed, as well as of the first buds and blossoms. The motto “whoever sows flowers for others...” really came true. Thank you for your great ideas!