Party Favor, Party Bag Idea's for "COOL" 10 Year Old Boys...

sounds like fun!! Can I come! :) Try Rebeccas Wholesale - it's open to the public and is in South Euless on Euless Main. The website is http://www.rebeccas.com. They have all kinds of wierd stuff! J. D.

My kids birthdays are 3 days apart, we almost ALWAYS have a combined party at the skating rink. I love having all the kids entertained and the mess cleaned up for me lol. The best party favors we've ever had were light up glow sticks, necklaces, and balls. They have all of these things at the dollar general or can be ordered from oriental trading. The kids enjoy them a lot at the skating rink and can then take them home. Another favorite of the kids is a coupon for a free snow cone from a local snow cone stand.

Hi K. P.,

Just a thought. I used those little Tech-Decks that you can get at Wal-Mart. They have some that come 10 to a box and I let my son put them together the way each of his friends would like. We also bought hot wheels because all boys old and young love them. You can also buy skateboard stickers. I hope I have helped some. Keep me updated.

Good Luck

As a mom of two boys - one on the brink of turning 13, I can tell you that the traditional goody (junk) bags are just not necessary.

On my son's 12th birthday party, we took a large group of boys to play at GatSplat, a paintball field. As a courtesy, I gave each of them a "Paintball Survival Kit". It was clearly labeled and the kids immediately dove into the bag to see what they may need. It included the single use ice packs, kleenex, bandaids, a glow stick, gum, a camo bandana, and a dollar for the vending machines. This kit was less of a 'goody bag' and more of a safety thing. Since kids do fall when they are skating, you could do the same kind of thing.

Have fun!

Not sure how much you are planning to spend on the gift bags, but you could always do a $5 Blockbuster gift card. Then they could go a rent a video game of their choice. Every once in a while you can find some inexpensive hand held games at Target, Walmart, and $1 stores. I found one for my son at Target around Easter. Boys are hard to shop for. My oldest is only 6 and I was worried if he would like his goodie bags for his party this year!! Don't have any girls. Good luck!

K.,
I made CD's for my son's party. i just compiled a playlist of his favorite songs and burned it to a cd, then just made as many copies as needed, I named it Jordan's 11th birthday party hits and made a album cover to place inside the cd case. Very easy, and very inexpensive party favor. all the kids loved them. I still have parents tell me that it was a great party favor gift!

Hi K.:

I agree! Boys are a little tougher in this area! What I started to do when my son was about 6 was get rid of the goody bags. Instead, I took the money that I would have spent on a lot of little things and bought each child one 'bigger' thing. Last year for his 8th birthday, we gave each boy a pack of signed football cards and two handfuls of bubble gum (that one was easy for us b/c my husband is a football coach). How about a gift card to Game Stop or Best Buy? Even $10 each is awesome (I'm sure you know how much you can spend on gift bags with lots of loot - not to mention the time you spend searching for the items and putting them together).

Good luck and have fun!

I got one of these for an adult party but i think your son woudl love it....
Have him help you make a birthday mix cd. 'cool' songs funny cut blurbs from his favorite tv shows, his inside jokes or secret boy codes. He can design and print the labels for the cd and the plastic case. You may even find the small cd cloth or vinyl carrying cases at the dollar store. I have seen them for an actuall 1.00. He could paint what ever the 'cool' symbol is or you could hot glue a patch on them to spicy them up. He can do a lot of the work and he could show off his talent as well.

I love the CD idea, especially because I was going to suggest that, too. LOL ;) REally, though...maybe download some of his favorites that they can enjoy, too.

Make a cover label that he can (help) design. Maybe add a skateboarding sticker in the CD case as the "cover" or something (leave the sticky back covered, though, so the kids can use them).

I remember when my son turned 10 we took him and his buddies to a basketball game and got them all party favors in the terms of a cool hat to wear so we could always see them. (they got to sit on the floor next to the team) We had the hat loaded with "eats"/"snacks". Boys always love to eat. they loved it. It sounds like your son would be good at burning discs of his favorite songs for his friends. Then when they listened to the CD they would remember your son's party and him. We have also given $5.00 blockbuster certificates tied onto a bag of microwave popcorn. Hope your son has a terrific birthday. He already has a terrific Mom. Enjoy him and his friends. My son is now 25 and we are still so close. Have fun.. D.

My son had a skating party at 10 & 11. He went to the candy store and found some oddball stuff he thought would be fun.. like candy with a worm in it.. We also bought some of those plastic bracelets like you get for a "cause" from oriental trading in colors.. and some squirt toys. They loved them!

I read over the responses below and I really like the hacky sack and the candy bar (our local Wal-Mart has the 6-pk. of regular-sized candy for $2.00; yours might too). The gift card idea is cool too: any place that has ice cream. :oP

Good luck!

P. <><

i like the cd idea, but maybe some parents of the kids that are coming to the party wouldn't like their kids listening to the type of music he likes. me i am open with my kids and wouldn't mind. my son who is about to be 10 is into the same things as your son. what i would do is, maybe (if you feel the party bags is what he wants) is to give a $5 or $10 gift certificate to putt-putt where they can play arcade games. there is also a skate park in plano, for skateborders where you can give addmission tickets to. i hope this helps. =)

K.,
I found a lot of cute candy and goodies at Oriental Trading. Their website is orientaltrding.com. I know a ton of parents would cringe at the candy, but it was relly cute and fun! Best of luck!! My little one is younger, so it's an idea to help you in the right direction. Plus, it's CHEAP!

Maybe you can make a cd with songs you plan to have played at the party, some of your son's favorites? A pack of cd's is fairly cheap and it should be easy to do... You can also talk to some places, like the skating rink or one of your son's favorite stores, a movie theater, etc, and see if they sell coupons. Sometimes places will give away or sell coupons if you tell them it's for kids at a birthday party. Other than stuff like that... I would say they may be at the age now where they each get one thing instead of a bag (like they each get a $5 baseball cap or shirt or something that your son picks out...)
Good luck!!

What about making a music cd of some songs that your son likes. You could then put a on the a thanks for coming to my party. Then you could ask the skating rink if they would mind playing the cd at the party. Good luck on finding the right party favor.

This year my son turned 10 and we gave $5 Blockbuster cards. I wanted to make sure the parents wouldn't have to end up spending more money with MY goodie bag. I have a friend who has given a box of candy (movie theater size) for the past couple of years and the kids love that, too - and it is so much cheaper!! Have fun!

What about a free pass to come back to the skating rink another time?

I have gotten, from 10 year old boys' parties, basketballs, footballs, anything that is a ball, that they like. They dont have to have some small keychain or something, they like the ball idea! Hope this helps!

My son turned 10 this year and in lieu of a goody bag we gave each boy a skateboard (I found them for $5.00 each)and they were a big hit!

My son and his friends thought it was really cool to get water bottles (as the "bag") that they could use later with candy.

I don't do party bags anymore. This year when my son turned 9 I jsut couldn't come up with anything and decided to do Target gift cards ($5) -I figured that is what I would have spent anyway. Kids seemed to like it and the parents appreciated it too. But an idea I do have -my same son went to a bike park party and they made cool cd's with the kids favorite songs burned no them and put them in a paper case with a cool label! They had Rock Band type music and current music. That doesn't take much money -- just a little time making them! I bet they would like that!
E.

I agree with another post that after a certain age, goody bags really aren't necessary. If you feel like you need to do something, I like the CD idea.

I had a nephew of mine who got a sticker for his skateboard that was designed by one of his friends...perhaps something like that...local skate shops may be able to tell you where to contact to get started.

burn some cds with a variety of "cool" music - a mix cd

How about making CDs with your son's music. Have him make a list of his favorite songs, burn them onto cd's, have him make the covers for each friend, and maybe include a coupon for something like icecream at McDonald's. You could do all that for about $1 per kid. Hope that helps.

Hi K.,

If your son loves music then I think a good idea is to burn cd's with his favorite songs on them and give them out for the party favors. You can get pretty cool colored cd cases and put a label on it with the names of the songs and who it is from. Good Luck!!

Have you thought of going online to limewire and letting your son create a mix cd to hand out to his friends? My 14 year old daughter made a mix cd for her birhtday and for the party favor we handed out copies of the cd and assorted candies.

OMG The TickleMe Plant Party Favor was a huge hit at my daughters Birthday Party. In it you can grow a real animated house plant that suddenly closes its leaves and lowers its branches when Tickled! Check it out.
http://www.ticklemeplant.com

Ten years old is tough! They want to be grown up...yet are still kids. A $5.00 gift card to McDonald's is way cool! It keeps them from looking like a little kids by leaving a party with a "bag" and they have money to spend! It won't break your bank and your son will be really "cool" with his friends!
Good Luck!

Have him choose some of his favorite music and burn a CD for the boys.

I work at Pump It Up and see party bags for all ages every day :) Some of the best ideas I have seen; oversized frisbees, water toys for the swimming pool, extra large Hershery bars, Hackey Sacks, Bounce balls, and even a $5 blockbuster gift card given away. It is also not uncommon for older parties not to hand out goodie bags at all.

Hope that helps!

Last year for my son's 10th birthday I gave each boy a party bag with 2 pieces of candy and a small hand held device that plays 30 sounds - some gross, some funny.....they all loved it! They were only $4.99 with free shipping and I figured I spend that on stuff they'll just throw away anyway and this would be better.

I agree that party favor bags are not really necessary for older kids. I have two boys, ages 9 and 14, and when they bring them home, we usually end up throwing it all away after a week or so. If I do one, I try to make it something disposable, like candy, gum, and they love silly string, snap pops (buy them at a dollar store - throw them on the ground and they pop). The CD idea is great! One of my boys friends (a girl) always has a custom t-shirt made for the party (her mom has a t-shirt business.)

part of me wants to advise to do away with the goody bag altogether - the party is the event, I hate that it is an expectation!! - most kids throw it away anyway!!

That being said, I always do them!! I had my own party business and I favor 1 nice thing instead of a bunch of little crappy things.

I would not dream of spending more than $5.00 per kid!! I have done some awesome things by finding deals and planning ahead.

Like my dd 5th birthday all the girls got a gorgeous pink dress - that I got at The Children's place on clearance for .99!!! They were GORGEOUS formal dresses that were originally $70!! The girls got to wear them home - and I only spend a little - I think we played games to win jewelery, lip gloss, nail polish and tiaras!!

I love to get metal puzzles ( really hard ones), cheap gift certificates ( a meal at a fast food place, for an ice cream cone or a free pass somewhere) Cool, and unexpected candy like things we had when we were little ( cry baby gum, chewing gum in those pouches, personalized M&Ms). Really anything that an adult would find kind of cool would be great.

OK- cool idea if hes into music-
Go online and copy some songs onto cd's- go to staples and get the cool cd covers- viola!-name on the cover-- ta da!
Ck with the skate place- they may offer some coupons for next visit and 10 yr olds always love that goop stuff that's like silly putty (even my 17 yr old would play with it- ha!!) -and maybe a skateboard place may have a cool "sticker" that they usually have near the cash register.

Have fun!
It goes by so quickly
D. S
www.partyangelsus.com
____@____.com

What about gift cards for music downloads? I'm pretty sure I've seen them at the check out stands at Target.

I don't know your budget, and I don't have a 10 year old boy, so I don't know if this would be cool, but could you buy each of them a music CD? Or, could you pick a few songs and burn them on do Cd's for them? (Most songs are 33 cents each I think.) Maybe your son could pick some favorites?

What about videoing them while they are skating and cutting up and then making it into a video at home. Your son could pick some music for the background and then you could burn a copy for each kid and mail it with the thank you note.

Other than that, I don't know. What does your son think is a cool thing for the goodie bag? Also, at what age you do stop doing a goodie bag? I thought it was for little ones that don't quite get that they don't get a "present"?

You got some good ideas; I was also going to suggest a music download gift card. My husband got me an I-tunes gift card for Christmas, and he actually bought it at Wal-Mart.

We also give glow sticks instead of goodie bags for skating parties. Dollar tree has the best selection for the price, and you can look out on the skate floor and know exactly which kids are in your party.

Go to Dollar Tree and get some of those glow in the dark necklaces. Kids LOVE those. You could give them those when they come to the party to wear while they are skating. I agree with the other mom that said a "party bag" really isn't necessary.