Plastic-Free Kids Party Bag Ideas

Reducing the amount of plastic we use is a high priority for a lot of us right now but it can be a real challenge, especially when you have children. In particular, when it comes to planning my children’s birthday parties, with so much to organise and buy, the lure of cheap plastic items is almost too easy to pass up on.

One of the biggest culprits has to be the party bags, a collection of cheap plastic toys, that will no doubt break before you’ve left the party, inside a plastic bag. I really wanted to steer clear of the plastic party bags when planning my children’s parties this year so needed an alternative that would still please the kids and not break the bank. I saw this idea at a party a few years ago and knew it was the perfect solution for us as it also involves our favourite thing, books!

When all the children leave the party, instead of giving them a plastic party bag of plastic, give them all a book!

With up to 75% off the recommended retail price The Book People is my go to place for these party favours, they have an amazing selection of books for children at significantly reduced prices. The books that I’ve found the best value are the Children’s Books Collections where you can often find sets books that work out at around £1 each. My youngest turned 3 recently and we chose these two bundles from The Book People to use as favours for his party:

Story Time with Guy Parker-Rees that includes all these funny picture books – currently priced at £10.99: £1.10 per book.

The Mog Picture Book Collection by Judith Kerr with 10 wonderful stories about our favourite fictional feline – currently priced at £11.99 for 10 books: £1.20 per book.

There are so many great book collections to choose from and you might just manage to get some that match the theme of the party, a nice touch but definitely not a deal breaker.

The selection is not just limited to picture books, there are plenty of collections of chapter books that would be suitable for older children at similarly low prices.

I chose to wrap the books up individually and add a little tag to thank each guest for coming (I had intended to help my son write his name on each of them but realised this would be far too time consuming! It would be a good task for an older child though).

I popped the pile of books by the door and at the end of the party when each guest was leaving we handed them a book, so simple!

All the children were so happy to go to a birthday party and also get a present to unwrap at the end of it. It is definitely an idea that pleases parents too as their child doesn’t come home with more plastic tat and after all, who doesn’t love getting new books!?

And just in case your number of guests doesn’t match up with the number of books in the sets you choose here are some ideas for you what you can do with the books you have left over:

1. Save them for gifts to give to another child for their birthday.
2. Donate them to a school/nursery/doctor’s waiting room.
3. Put them aside until Christmas to use as stocking fillers for your own children or emergency presents under the tree for when someone brings your child a present unexpectedly and you need to return the favour.
4. Just add them to your child’s bookshelf and enjoy!

This is a sponsored post in collaboration with The Book People. I received two Children’s Book Collections from The Book People in return for writing this post but all views and opinions are my own.

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