Healthy and Eco-friendly Kid’s Party Bags

The party bag. The lolly bag. The loot bag. The bane of parents!

Let’s eat heaps of junk for two hours and…… if you still haven’t had enough, here’s a bag full of sugar and plastic to take home with you.

How did that all happen?

Anyway, it doesn’t have to be like that. You can certainly still participate in the party bag tradition in a much healthier and eco-friendly way. The parents will thank you too.

Okay so here are some of my top tips for Healthy and Eco-friendly Kid’s Party Bags:

The bag.

Think outside the square. You don’t have to go and buy plastic bags that end up in landfill. What about…..

Paper bags. Get your kids to decorate and add their friend’s names. Use stickers or stamps in keeping with your theme or just drawings! Fun and personal. You could even put a little eco message ‘recycle me’ on the back! I love these mini wooden dolly pegs too – super cute!

Fabric bags. If you are clever on the Janome, whip up some little cloth drawstring bags – these can be re-used by the kids to store their treasures. If you are not so good at sewing (like me), just cut some circles of fabric, load your goodies in and tie up with a pretty ribbon or string.

Noodle boxes. Again decorated by your child or you can also use this as a craft activity at the party. (Can you see how good delegating is?!)

Paper doilies. Fold large paper doilies up into an envelope or cone shape for the goodies.

Snack pockets. We love these little snack pockets for our lunchboxes, but they also work well for parties! They are 100% cotton and canvas fabric, ethical and eco-friendly. The Natural New Age Girl is in love with the little birdy print! Visit the website here.

Paper cups. Decorate paper drinking cups and add a cute little string handle. Get them from as cheap as 0.29c each from Eco Party Box.

The goodies.

Here are some ideas that don’t involve lots of sugar, artificial stuff and cheap plastic. My tip is to not go overboard. A party bag is just a small token to say thanks for coming.

Popcorn Butterflies. I love this cute idea from Collette at Cut out the Crap. Take a look here to see how to do them. This in fact can be the party bag!

Mini boxes of dried fruit. Try to find organic ones as regular dried fruit often contains sulphur dioxide.

Home-made treats. Pop in a biscuit or some chocolate coated nuts (pictured).

Organic, good quality packet snacks. Here are some good ones – Berry Choc Chunk Bars (lots of superfoods) or some organic biscuits and bars from Organics on a Budget.

Organic or additive-free lollies. I don’t serve usually serve lollies at the party, but pop one or two into the party bags. Check out Organics on a Budget for some healthier lollies and chocolates.

Playdough. So easy to make a batch of homemade playdough – colour with some beetroot or spinach for a really natural dough!

Organic seeds. Cute and eco-friendly! Find them at Gardening 4 Kids. They have lots of other cool things as well.

Colouring-in pages. Print off some colouring in pages to suit your theme, roll them up and tie with string.

Bits and Bobs from The Eco Party Box. Crystals, eco-balloons, alpaca wool finger puppets (pictured)  pencils, notebooks and wooden whistles.  Browse the goodies here.

Wooden Click Critterz. Eco-friendly beechwood with lead-free paint from Biome.

Or do something different to a party bag and try:

Lucky Dip. Wrap small toys in some tissue paper or recycled gift wrap and put in a box!

Little Golden Books. You can buy these so cheaply and you can inscribe in the cover – “Thanks for coming to my party, Love xx”. They also make an awesome idea instead of a birthday card, but I digress.

Craft. Get the kids to make something crafty at the party for their take-home gift.

I always think it’s a nice idea to include a thank you note in the party bag too. It’s old-fashioned, but it teaches kid’s good manners and to focus on the fun time spent with friends, rather than just presents!

A tip if you don’t want your child to have a party bag from a party, is to tell them you will swap it for a healthy treat at home.  How else do you handle this?

I would love to hear what healthy and eco-friendly things you put in your party bags !