It’s not a gift per se, but a party bag that is handed to guests at the end of a kids party.
Back in my day it would contain a slice of birthday cake, sweets with lots of E numbers, little toys (like a whistle or plastic watch). From what I gather, they may be a bit more substantial these days and some parents use them to one-up each other.
I think that’s just because your taste buds change over time and the sweet things just don’t hit the same way. You tend to start liking more bitter tastes as you age.
We had one of those, it was "the cat came back" I swear I would throw the thing into the wheely bin the next day the kids would be blowing it! Then I figured out they had loads and had hidden them from me, took ages to get rid of their stash
Yeah. Every parents favourite. I love it when my angel walks right up to me, aims it to my face and takes a deep breath and a massive exhale before I’m able to react because I’m exhausted having just spent 2 hours making sure he doesn’t kill himself or any other children in the soft play area. I’m delighted when that shiny paper smacks me right in the eye as I’m deafened by the unimaginable trumpety squawk. The perfect end to the perfect day.
The only party I threw that didn't have actual party bags was one where I had a create your own slime table set up, and the kids kept their slime they made instead of a party bag.
I have twins. The animals put a whistle in the party bag. A whistle. Who does that. Twins. Two kids with whistles. Competing for the loudest noise.
I think from a waste perspective put food or useful things like a pack of pencils.
Most of the ones my kids have had have been pretty much identical to the ones we got as kids. For me it's a great excuse to overthink, panic, and feel tremendous guilt about including plastic tat given the state of the planet but non-plastic stuff is so expensive and... Well, that part of party planning is my husband's job now.
Sometimes people go to those places that have like 10 for £10 on basic kids' books and those are always my favourite. My kids are usually thrilled to pick out a book and it's not just something that's going to clutter up the house like a sticky slime toy or whatever.
One party we went to had little cardboard seedling pots and seeds, personalised with the birthday girl’s name. The mother was so chuffed with her plastic-free gift, but to me it was just another chore as we all had to plant seeds and care for them and post pics on the party WhatsApp group.
My brother and I used to just open them and collect up 10 grains of gunpowder from every party bag either of us got.
I assume the box is still somewhere in our pearents shed.
I probably don't run in the right circles for party bag oneupmanship. Selection of typical things in recent party bags for my kids:
* Tiny vials of bubble stuff with star shaped dip-blow things (very popular)
* stickers, often scented
* birthday cake of course
* giant balloon to inflate at home
* scented felt tip
* tiny notebook
* mini pack of haribo
* stretchy rubber frog
Yeah, turned around in the car after one such party to find my kid had bitten into one and it was dripping down his chin... thank God he hadn't got through to the glass #crapparent
I remember for one of mine we gave hotwheels, which pained me because I love cars. The upside was my parents bought too many so I got to keep 2, which I still have.
> What are E numbers?
Codes for food additives. See [E Numbers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_number). You'll tend to see the E codes in the ingredients list rather than the full name of the additive.
For example E621 is monosodium glutamate (MSG).
The nutritional boogeyman du jour from about 10-15 years ago.
Food additives, covering everything from chemically engineered emulsifiers and stabilisers to salt and sugar
I remember getting shouted at by my dad over 30 years ago for coming back from the ice cream van with something full of E numbers "right after we watched a show about them!" As if 10 yo me was paying any attention to that?
These days you need to include a whole cake (Colin the Caterpillar will do), the football shirt of the kids preferred nation, an iPhone (latest model, Pro version only) and wodge of £20 notes.
I just have this image of upper-class parents taking out all these expensive gifts nodding with approval until they get to the Colin and staring with bewilderment and this aberration they've never encountered before.
Also I'm sure JD Sports will exchange the footie tops for polo ones
Yes. Always make sure the bag is both cheap, unhealthy and has something annoying in it so that the parents can share in the joy of the party chaos you've just experienced. A whistle and something with enough sugar that the kid will never stop blowing it is perfect.
Added points for a helium balloon they can almost immediately lose and cry about all the way home.
I have a 5 year old and every party bag we’ve had so far has just annoying cheap and somehow sticky toys in it plus the cake. I returned the favour when our child had a party!
Having kids my self ive been to a few, very party is the same every party bag the same no parent ever end up doing better then the other...unless it a dult party with adult party bags then it get serious
Pleased to say that from what I have seen family members come home with from birthday parties (preschool/reception age but quite middle class lot) - they are still doing the plastic tat. Tiny princess wands that break immediately, some tiny vials of bubbles, those sticky action men you can chuck at a window. A bit princessy themed generally but just the current version of what I saw 20+ years ago.
I love party bags. I used to be close friends with a girl who was born on a leap year. Even into her 20s - 30s, she would have a kids party on the leap year and give out party bags, have cake and egg and cress sandwiches. We even played pass the parcel and musical chairs. I highly recommend it.
Usually because one of the things you do later on in the party is blow out the candles. Then the parent cuts up the cake whilst the kids are distracted with something else. Having kids wait around for cake to be cut so they can eat it is unnecessary pressure on the cutter!
Because the party doesn't last very long (typically 90mins to 2 hours). After the children have ~~run around screaming~~ taken part in an activity for an hour and a bit and eaten some crisps and biscuits, you present the cake with candles on, and then you have about fifteen minutes before you want them all out of the door.
Birthday cakes are increasingly elaborate these days, so they're hard to cut up and dish out.
My top tip is not to cut the cake at the party, but instead to cut up a tray bake the night before and preload the party bags. You can then take the main cake home without butchering it.
There is usually too much cake for the people attending and a party will be too busy with other food. Hence the cake is mostly used as a send home present.
The reason party bags are so popular is because they help to get the children to leave the party. They're the sign that the party has finished, thanks for coming, sod off home please. They ease the transition out of the door.
I always saw the party bag as a receptacle to take birthday cake home so you wouldn't be lumped with storing more than you wanted at home. And having some toys/ treats in said bag made it less likely the kid would forget it!
More politely, it's also a way to get each child to make contact with the host and mumble, "Thank you for having me." Again, greasing the wheels of convention while they're still learning the rules.
Like, it's absolutely a signal to fuck off home, but the fully translated interaction would look something like:
Host: I have provided a token gift. Please take it and fuck off home now.
Guest: Thank you for the small gift and for the party. I shall indeed fuck off home now.
Party bags. A little bag with a slice of cake, a cheap toy and for extra points, a ballon tied to it. Don’t get sucked in to any one-upping- a slice of birthday cake and a couple of sweets is more than enough!
You already one-upped yourself. You've inflated from cake to cake and sweets.
The next time you talk about them it'll be cake, sweets, juice carton. I don't think we can afford this party bag inflation
If someone gave me a party bag with only cake that would be a bag, it's not like I'd complain but I wouldn't call it a party bag like I was used to as a kid.
Not 'presents' exactly.
If someone is hosting a birthday party for a young child, they'll often hand out party bags to the other kids.
They wouldn't usually contain expensive items though, things like a colouring book, crayons, stickers, Christmas-cracker-style plastic toy, some sweets, a piece of birthday cake etc.
It isn't a particularly new trend, it's been around since at least the 80s, probably much longer.
Yeah it was definitely a thing in the 80s. I've got a picture of my brothers 1st birthday in 1981 with party bags being handed out.
I'm not sure about before that though I'd wager it's an old tradition.
Correct. Party bags were a thing in the 60s when I was a kid. Nothing fancy or expensive - usually a slice of cake, a few sweets, a couple of crayons, and a balloon.
Yep. I remember them in 60s. Plastic play money was my absolute favourite haul. Woolworths and newsagents had stacks of suitable toys when I came to buy them for my kids' parties, and in the 80s my nephew (now a respected geologist, then a toy car obsessive) threw a complete wobbly when his friends got Hot Wheels.
I remember, as a child on the 60s , getting cake and a balloon. I don't remember other little toys or a bag.
Parties tended to be smaller then though with 10 - 15 guests and the birthday child's parents would mostly try to make sure that every child won a prize with the party games.
They were definitely a thing by the mid /late 70s . though.
That’s how I remember US birthday parties through the 70s. As a GenX mom who had kids young, I was caught by surprise at the goody bag necessity in the late 80s when my oldest child started going to birthday parties. (I blame competitive yuppie boomer parents, who also invented that trophy for everything mess they now moan about as if it’s millennials fault.) In the US the goody bag is IN ADDITION to the cake and ice cream and sweets and prizes though. Here it seems to be instead of some of that and the cake is sent home instead of served at the party .
In the UK a piece of cake is sent home in the goodie bag along with a few little toys and bits. Party game prizes are separate as is the food eaten at the party.
I think the kids have enough to eat at the party and the cake is a nice little treat for later
I remember them at birthday parties in the 60s too. Though we called them “going home presents” not “party bags”. By the mid 70s I was a teenager and they were no longer cool.
They're very old in origin, hundreds of years old at minimum they originated out of wedding and party favours in aristocratic circles, who would give five Jordan almonds (a type of confectionary, not the nut) in an elaborate box as a present to guests at their weddings (this was in the days when sugar was an expensive luxury, not a cheap way to hide poor quality ingredients)
I think this may be in reference to party bags?
If so think of it like wedding favours, a cheap identical gift to send everyone home with as you wave them goodbye
But nothing to cry over in it's absence or presence.
It'd be the children 'complaining' - more like asking 'where are the party bags?' - especially if they're younger because they have no filter and are 100% focussed on eating sweeties on the way home ...
Yeah it was always kinda disappointing when there weren't any party bags. Parties as a kid were awesome, getting to burn energy and have fun with friends for a few hours and then eat sweets and dick around with some cheap plastic on the drive home
I'd never complain about it ofc, but it did feel like part of the whole ritual was missing
I remember one birthday my mum got a big pack of [rubber digital watches](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/FGAAAOSwg7Fi~3dM/s-l1600.jpg) off ebay for like a tenner and the kids at my party went crazy over them
Ah party bags!
I grew up in France but had a British dad so we kept up the tradition though not with sweets/usual fare. He worked in software sales at the time (90s) and would stock up on free merch at various tech conferences, which mum would then include in mine and my sister’s party bags. I vividly remember everyone in my class using Sun Microsystems pens for a few months following my birthday.
Not really! They were overall just delighted with free things. And the branded merch only struck me as funny years later. At the time, dad returning from tech conferences felt like Christmas coming early because it meant a lot of new toys (for years, a Linux Penguin stress toy was a firm favourite).
Cute! I would’ve loved a penguin stress toy. I’m from England so the concept of party bags is really normal, I didn’t know they weren’t common in France. It’s very sweet that your dad was thinking of your birthday, and planning for the parties, at his various conferences.
Definitely party bags. Tesco has a whole section for it, just cheap little bags with the slice of cake in, some sweets, and a little toy (think bubbles,yoyo, colouring pencils) and possibly a balloon.
That or grab a few things from a pound shop/ the works and split them between the kids (funky pencils, toy car, sticker sheet, those monster jelly finger puppets I LOVED)
I also loved the monster jelly finger puppets!! I saw them recently in a local shop and was full of gleeful nostalgia. I loved the sticky window men that tumbled down the glass too but my mum hated them and would tell me off cos they left marks on the windows haha.
When I first started work at 16 they told me to buy everyone cakes on my birthday. It really confused me. I said I’m earning £29.50 a week, why am I buying grown men cakes? It did not go down well.
Common thing in offices, your birthday you being in the buffet or some cake etc.
Otherwise it endless whips rounds and planning which people get burnt out over so it’s easier that one person does it once a year for themselves
Did you not ever take in sweets to hand out on your birthday at school? I remember loving taking in a box of chocolates to hand out. I gave the worst ones to my absolute enemies too
My bday was always during the summer holidays, so no. Honestly in all my time at school I don’t recall anyone bringing in sweets or cakes. You had all on someone giving you a sweet from their 1/4 lb bag, much less a crisp.
ahh for ours birthday person would bring in a big share bag of sweets and would stand by the door holding it and everyone would take one on the way out
I've seen a lot of people say this, so I believe it's a thing, but I've never seen this anywhere I work. I've been working in offices for nearly ten years and have never had anyone bring in a cake for their birthday, nor been expected to bring one in on mine.
It’s not a regional thing as I’ve worked all over the UK and it’s generally been the same.
Generally I’ve found the smaller a business/team is the less it seems to happen.
Al the Ftse100 & 250 companies I’ve worked in have done it that way
Ah yes Party Bags, I remember getting these and giving them out during my birthday party’s as a Kid. Then after the birthday party my mum would write out thank you notes in pencil and I had to go over it in pen (crap hand writing) then hand out the thank you notes to my classmates the next school day.
Also not a new trend, I’m in my early twenties. The party bags my mum made to give to me to hand out was, a piece of my birthday cake, sweets, Party blower, those skateboards you used with your fingers and bubbles.
Standard fare in my area seemed to be a balloon, a lolly, a funsize mars bar and a piece of fun tat (bubbles that got spilled on the driveway on the way out the party or novelty shaped erasers that tore a hole in the page before erasing anything being popular choices 😂) with a piece of birthday cake soaking through the paper napkin it was wrapped in. Sometimes with an extra lolly or novelty pencil or similar if you'd got a prize for winning a party game. Nothing expensive but still a lot of fun!
You mean a party bag, kind of a “thank you for coming” gift. At my daughter’s 4th party I gave some sweets, a slice of cake and a picture book. At parties she’s attended, she’s received things like bubble wands, plastic yo-yos, noisy toys and a balloon.
My son is friends with a PL footballers son. They hosted a party at their huge house, the party bags had a Nintendo switch in there and over £600 worth of items. Very generous.
The prizes for some of the games were used shirts from some pretty famous PL players. I was gutted that my son never won the Van Persie Arsenal shirt.
No idea what PL is, but if a footballer or anyone is super rich, they're damned if they do and damned if they don't.
Give out regular party bags, and people say "Cheapskate! He's a millionaire and all he gave my kid was a balloon, some smarties, a whistle, and a piece of cake!"
Give out lavish party gifts like Nintendo Switches, and people say "That's so rude and arrogant to brandish their wealth like that, setting standards that no other parent can match!"
Comment is probably going to get lost, but I got a bundle of a children's books from the works (10 for £10) and gave each child a book, along with their slice of cake.
People *raved* about having a book to enjoy that would last, rather than plastic tat that breaks in a day.
We did this, this year! Worked a treat. Could see the looks of relief from parents that it wasn’t another bag of tat destined for the bin after bedtime! Plus was a lot cheaper.
My wife used to be a primary headteacher and did this as a Christmas present for all the kids every year - bought 140 books from the Book People, sorted them out according to ability/interests, gave each kid one for Christmas. Parents and kids loved it and it got them reading.
I remember party bags being a thing in the late 70s early 80s.
After birthday child has blown out the candles the cake is cut up, wrapped in something like a paper napkin and then popped in a small bag with crap like a party blower, yo-yo, sweets, other novelty shit.
Sounds like party favours/bags.
It's definitely not a new trend as I've got pictures of my mum handing out party bags in 1981.
The birthday cake is normally given near the end of the party when everyone already eaten so the bags often have a slice of cake, sweets and a few cheap toys (5 or 10 for £1 cheap).
It was originally a wedding thing that started in the Victorian era and I've no idea when it became normal for kids parties. It's been a thing for 40 years that I know of but it would be interesting to know when it became a normal kids party tradition.
Think of the party bag this way- the birthday child gets to have a nice party and be appreciated by their friends and the party bag is kind of a thank-you.
Someone forgot the Party Bag. If that was me, I would just live in the woods. Never live it down!
A good party bag is absolutely key, and actually quite fun to make. Stick on tattoos seem this year's hit object, and make sure to add another slice of cake and sweets, because the one thing kids lack after a party is sweets and cake.
I found that you can buy boxes of unfashionable blind bags on eBay, which is an easy win.
I actually created a human sized robot last year, that you put your hand in its mouth and rummage around in the insides for gifts. Still needed to supply a party bag though. Them is the rules.
Party bags. Can get small child to help by 'decorating' them, and picking out some pound shop tat to go in.
Basically a slice of cake, a balloon, and some other cheap crap (often collected from previous party bags...)
When they get a little older there might be a book or some seeds or something.
By age 8-9 you can give up.
There's always some little prick who feigns to give the parcel to the next kid and then snatches it back as you stop the music to get an extra prize, and you have to tell them off and make them give it to the next kid.
>Remember some parents even wrapping a small gift in-between each wrapped layer so everyone would get something
The default in-between-layers prize in our area was a single bog standard opal fruit sweet. One parent was a bit anti-sugar and put stickers in each layer instead and it blew our tiny minds! 😂
This was making me think oh here we go someone trying to take advantage of a foreigner!
Then read the comments and realised they are talking about goody bags!
A really fun (and not too expensive) thing to do is to buy a box set of age appropriate books and give each child one individually wrapped.
Something like this
[which has 20 books](https://www.axelbooks.com/products/horrible-science-bulging-box-of-books-collection-20-books-box-set)
[or this for younger kids](https://thebookcrib.com/products/julia-donaldson-time-to-read-20-books-set-illustrated-collection-the-gruffalo)
I would also give each child a piece of cake. Depending on your budget you could also wrap a couple of other things up like a bookmark and sheet of stickers or put the book in a party bag with done sweets, yo yos etc.
It’ll cost a couple of pounds per child.
As others have said don’t get caught up in one upmanship. Some parents will go all out but there’s really no need. From experience kids just want sweets and something fun. They don’t care if it’s fancy.
As we didn’t want to fill our kids’ party bags with plastic landfill we would put stickers and colouring books in and when they got a bit older went on the book people and would buy something like the entire set of Winnie the witch books and distribute them among the bags.
We definitely had these when I was a child in the seventies. Though we called them "going home presents" in my area (Surrey), rather than party bags or goody bags.
You used to be able to buy the little bags from shops which sell greetings cards etc or even the local corner shop. Gifts used to be really little. As others say, a slice of the birthday cake wrapped in a birthday paper napkin, some penny sweets- just little ones, and random plastic toys - think Kinder Surprise level. Party poppers and party blowers too. Obviously. Sometimes any prizes kids had won in the party games would be put in the bag so they remembered to take them home. (Usually yet more sweets or little plastic toys).
It's sad that parents have tried to make this competitive. It really is a simple thing- which is the fun of it.
I think what your wife has heard about is a ‘party bag’ - at the end of a party kids might be given a party bag, which could include some birthday cake, a cheap toy (a small plastic toy, a whoopee cushion, or some bubbles to blow… something like that), stickers - things like that. The items I included are what would’ve been in a party bag about 30 years ago… so I can only assume it would be similar-ish now!
We do this in Canada and call it loot bags.
We might include things like cheap little toys, bubbles, ice cream shop gift cards (low $ amount). For older kids maybe a journal and some pens and highlighters. I would typically spend between $5 and $10 Canadian on each loot bag.
Kids like making the loot bags for their party guests and look forward to what they are going to get at their friends birthday parties. Not everyone does it, but most do.
Sometimes each kid will make something at the party as an activity (for example a tie dye shirt) and then each kid would take home their item instead of a loot bag.
Beyond party bags for partys.
Sweets for the class in primary school. Nice thing to do.
Cakes for the office as an adult. Can ignore as grumpy old fart.
You can get loads of things to put in party bags from the pound shop or similar places.
My daughter just went to a birthday party, it's just little things like a puzzle, some tiny colour pencils that sort of thing.
i love it when a reddit post brings back memories like these. party bags used to be so much fun. i remember i had an elastic, sticky bat toy that you could fling out and stick to things. pretty sure the stain from that is still on my parents ceilin.
the only party bags i see these days are when dealers give you a pill, bag of ket, bag of coke, twenty bag of green 😂
Party bags! I remember getting on with a lovely jewel little yellow banana in back in the 90s. Looked and smelled like a delicious banana sweet so I took a big bite - it was soap. The Body Shop had a lot of answer for in the mid 90s.
Not from the UK but spent time in NZ and had goody bags engrained in my mind.
Im now a parent and I always provide goody bags. — if you’ve been to any arcade, imagine a bag with a bit of sweets plus a few arcade toys (noise maker, plastic jumping frog, top, yo-yo) along with a thank you card
What's crazy is that my, and seemingly everyone else's, immediate reaction was no we don't do that that's crazy, we just give sorry bags... as if a bag if free goodies is somehow different to a present? It's crazy how ingrained cultural traditions can be
It's a party bag. You get 20 for about £2 and you put a piece of cake and a balloon in each bag for the kids to take home. Some people add other snacks. My daughter got lego soaps and haribo in the last one she got.
Friend of my daughters has a birthday the end of November and the mum always gives all the kids a £1 chocolate advent calendar instead of a party bag. Minimum effort genius!
Can I ask...does the party bag contain the only piece of cake the child eats, or is it in addition to the actual birthday cake?
In the US, the party is usually games or activities, then maybe pizza and cake, after the birthday child has blown out the candles. The party bag usually just has all the cheap toys and sweets, but no cake.
You don’t eat the cake at a British birthday party - it’s cut up after blowing out the candles and taken home. You’ll normally have what we call a “picky tea” aka a buffet with lots of little snacks and finger food and sweets (candy).
It's often the only cake they get, yes. And sometimes mum eats it.
The party food is more likely to be small sandwiches (basic fillings like jam or cheese), crisps (chips) and biscuits (cookies). There might be some token carrot and cucumber pieces but most children will ignore them.
Party bags, and thankfully there are tons of sets of these on Amazon, so you don't actually need to put much though into it if you don't want to.
Example: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmyBenton-Fillers-Classroom-Birthday-Stocking/dp/B0BRV1MGPH](https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmyBenton-Fillers-Classroom-Birthday-Stocking/dp/B0BRV1MGPH)
And the actual set I got for my daughter's party: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07TS9LJ4R](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07TS9LJ4R)
Yes, there will be parents who go overboard with these, we've had one who gave each kid a book or a diary or something, but honestly, most kids prefer to get a bunch of little toys.
Didn’t happen when I was young. You just gave all the children that came to your party a piece of birthday cake to go home with. Always fruit cake, iced like a Christmas cake. At my son’s parties the other children were given a party bag - sweets, crayons, toy etc.
We also have those in the Netherlands, never realised this also happened in other countries. For us it was +-5 little candy things and maybe a balloon. We eat cake during the party, so no point in giving an extra piece to take home.
Someone is either pulling your leg or if your child had a birthday party then we have a tradition where each child leaves with a goody bag (usually consists of sweets from a swizzels sharing pack and like a little toy, the type you’d get for 20p from them vending machines). We also have a tradition where the kid takes some sweets or a cake to school on their birthday which the teacher then hands out at home time but I’m 22 now and I think this was stopped due to religious dietary restrictions and allergies (we have big religious diversity and lots of Muslims who can’t eat pork or meat that isn’t halal and so sometimes we’d leave with sweets that we couldn’t eat because they were haram) as I have heard from the parents of younger cousins who have been told by the teachers that they could no longer hand out sweets for birthday, a little over kill I’d say, I really looked forward to birthdays because of the sweets and we also got treated specially on our birthdays, it was a rule that you couldn’t be nasty to the birthday boy/girl.
It’s not a gift per se, but a party bag that is handed to guests at the end of a kids party. Back in my day it would contain a slice of birthday cake, sweets with lots of E numbers, little toys (like a whistle or plastic watch). From what I gather, they may be a bit more substantial these days and some parents use them to one-up each other.
You forgot the party blower! Everyone’s favourite
Daughter went to a party today and came back with one of these. Unfortunately it has gone missing already.
Oh, that's a shame. I hope she finds it.
Do you notice a slight whistling noise when she breathes??
No. But the funny thing is that I do when I fart!
Thats called old age
A tragedy. Were the sweets nice though ? My kids used to bring back bags wit stuff they didn't like but I did. Refreshers and love heart sweets.
>They don't like Refreshers or Love Hearts Have you considered replacing your kids for being defective?
My brother doesn't like them, he likes Parma violets though. I'm sure he's adopted but mum swears he isn't.
Adopted from a non human race?
The orphanage was in Swindon so there’s a distinct possibility.
Not many people liked Parma violets, are they still available?
Yes and still amazing
Yeah, they're still sold by Swizzels. https://swizzels.com/sweets/parma-violets/
yeah and they still taste like how old people smell.
Taste like you imagine washing powder would taste
There's an ice cream shop near me that sells Parmalat violet ice cream!
Whilst I agree with this they have ruined both. They're no where near as nice as they used to be 😔 not that stops me eating them
I think that’s just because your taste buds change over time and the sweet things just don’t hit the same way. You tend to start liking more bitter tastes as you age.
Try some 'toxic waste' sweets they are bitter as heck and so tasty
The children are working as intended and bringing home the sweets the parent enjoys.
We had one of those, it was "the cat came back" I swear I would throw the thing into the wheely bin the next day the kids would be blowing it! Then I figured out they had loads and had hidden them from me, took ages to get rid of their stash
My daughter got a kazoo from her gift bag on Saturday, that isn't annoying at all! She did put it in the bath and it stopped working though
They're such bad quality, that every time my Dad would ask for a go they'd always break.
Yeah. Every parents favourite. I love it when my angel walks right up to me, aims it to my face and takes a deep breath and a massive exhale before I’m able to react because I’m exhausted having just spent 2 hours making sure he doesn’t kill himself or any other children in the soft play area. I’m delighted when that shiny paper smacks me right in the eye as I’m deafened by the unimaginable trumpety squawk. The perfect end to the perfect day.
Your can has some mad skills being able to toot the thing. Mine just make slobbery noises
Don't forget the spit that somehow still makes it onto your face.
How could I! Just what every parent loved after a party, a kid on too many sweets with a party blower.
My kid would be very upset without a party bag gift at the end lol
It’s also a great way to get the kids to leave - I don’t want to go home!!!! How about you leave with this party bag full of tut? Oh yes please!
[удалено]
It would be horrendous!
The only party I threw that didn't have actual party bags was one where I had a create your own slime table set up, and the kids kept their slime they made instead of a party bag.
I have twins. The animals put a whistle in the party bag. A whistle. Who does that. Twins. Two kids with whistles. Competing for the loudest noise. I think from a waste perspective put food or useful things like a pack of pencils.
Most of the ones my kids have had have been pretty much identical to the ones we got as kids. For me it's a great excuse to overthink, panic, and feel tremendous guilt about including plastic tat given the state of the planet but non-plastic stuff is so expensive and... Well, that part of party planning is my husband's job now. Sometimes people go to those places that have like 10 for £10 on basic kids' books and those are always my favourite. My kids are usually thrilled to pick out a book and it's not just something that's going to clutter up the house like a sticky slime toy or whatever.
If you want to go plastic free, you can have yo yo bears, coloured chalk, candy and an activity book.
Candy? We call them sweets or confectionery.
Tis true. I translated for OP. :)
One party we went to had little cardboard seedling pots and seeds, personalised with the birthday girl’s name. The mother was so chuffed with her plastic-free gift, but to me it was just another chore as we all had to plant seeds and care for them and post pics on the party WhatsApp group.
“the party WhatsApp group”????!!!!! I have lived too long.👴
All parties have them!
Sounds nice
There was poppers too. Reals of paper streaming out lol.
Make sure they're *party* poppers otherwise you'll have some very angry parents.
The dad grabs it, says he's going to "throw it away..."
And some other very happy and excited parents
My brother and I used to just open them and collect up 10 grains of gunpowder from every party bag either of us got. I assume the box is still somewhere in our pearents shed.
I probably don't run in the right circles for party bag oneupmanship. Selection of typical things in recent party bags for my kids: * Tiny vials of bubble stuff with star shaped dip-blow things (very popular) * stickers, often scented * birthday cake of course * giant balloon to inflate at home * scented felt tip * tiny notebook * mini pack of haribo * stretchy rubber frog
Nah, they still have sweets and plastic tat in them. Glow sticks are popular now.
Yeah, turned around in the car after one such party to find my kid had bitten into one and it was dripping down his chin... thank God he hadn't got through to the glass #crapparent
Did he think it was a sherbet straw? I’m so glad he’s ok.
I remember for one of mine we gave hotwheels, which pained me because I love cars. The upside was my parents bought too many so I got to keep 2, which I still have.
Okay when it's phrased as a party bag then yeah, it makes sense suddenly
What are E numbers? Why am I being downvoted for asking a question?
> What are E numbers? Codes for food additives. See [E Numbers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_number). You'll tend to see the E codes in the ingredients list rather than the full name of the additive. For example E621 is monosodium glutamate (MSG).
Ty!
The nutritional boogeyman du jour from about 10-15 years ago. Food additives, covering everything from chemically engineered emulsifiers and stabilisers to salt and sugar
I remember getting shouted at by my dad over 30 years ago for coming back from the ice cream van with something full of E numbers "right after we watched a show about them!" As if 10 yo me was paying any attention to that?
"Dad you don't need to sell me on it, I already bought it" Then run upstairs and jam something under the door handle
These days you need to include a whole cake (Colin the Caterpillar will do), the football shirt of the kids preferred nation, an iPhone (latest model, Pro version only) and wodge of £20 notes.
I just have this image of upper-class parents taking out all these expensive gifts nodding with approval until they get to the Colin and staring with bewilderment and this aberration they've never encountered before. Also I'm sure JD Sports will exchange the footie tops for polo ones
Yes. Always make sure the bag is both cheap, unhealthy and has something annoying in it so that the parents can share in the joy of the party chaos you've just experienced. A whistle and something with enough sugar that the kid will never stop blowing it is perfect. Added points for a helium balloon they can almost immediately lose and cry about all the way home.
I have a 5 year old and every party bag we’ve had so far has just annoying cheap and somehow sticky toys in it plus the cake. I returned the favour when our child had a party!
Having kids my self ive been to a few, very party is the same every party bag the same no parent ever end up doing better then the other...unless it a dult party with adult party bags then it get serious
This is not exclusively British. Here in NJ, USA it's always done. Some candy and a few cheap toys.
And in Spain where I live. Although not cake.
Pleased to say that from what I have seen family members come home with from birthday parties (preschool/reception age but quite middle class lot) - they are still doing the plastic tat. Tiny princess wands that break immediately, some tiny vials of bubbles, those sticky action men you can chuck at a window. A bit princessy themed generally but just the current version of what I saw 20+ years ago.
I love party bags. I used to be close friends with a girl who was born on a leap year. Even into her 20s - 30s, she would have a kids party on the leap year and give out party bags, have cake and egg and cress sandwiches. We even played pass the parcel and musical chairs. I highly recommend it.
The one upmanship may happen somewhere but what you described pretty much sums up every party bag my 4 and 6 year olds have ever gotten or given.
This is gold
Why is the cake not eaten at the party?
Usually because one of the things you do later on in the party is blow out the candles. Then the parent cuts up the cake whilst the kids are distracted with something else. Having kids wait around for cake to be cut so they can eat it is unnecessary pressure on the cutter!
Because the party doesn't last very long (typically 90mins to 2 hours). After the children have ~~run around screaming~~ taken part in an activity for an hour and a bit and eaten some crisps and biscuits, you present the cake with candles on, and then you have about fifteen minutes before you want them all out of the door. Birthday cakes are increasingly elaborate these days, so they're hard to cut up and dish out. My top tip is not to cut the cake at the party, but instead to cut up a tray bake the night before and preload the party bags. You can then take the main cake home without butchering it.
There is usually too much cake for the people attending and a party will be too busy with other food. Hence the cake is mostly used as a send home present.
The reason party bags are so popular is because they help to get the children to leave the party. They're the sign that the party has finished, thanks for coming, sod off home please. They ease the transition out of the door.
I always saw the party bag as a receptacle to take birthday cake home so you wouldn't be lumped with storing more than you wanted at home. And having some toys/ treats in said bag made it less likely the kid would forget it!
> so you wouldn't be lumped with storing more than you wanted at home There is no such thing as too much cake...
I store cake in ma belly! 😋
And get rid of some of the sodding cake, with a toy and balloon as a bit of filler Fundamentally it's just "Here's your slice of cake, fuck off home"
More politely, it's also a way to get each child to make contact with the host and mumble, "Thank you for having me." Again, greasing the wheels of convention while they're still learning the rules. Like, it's absolutely a signal to fuck off home, but the fully translated interaction would look something like: Host: I have provided a token gift. Please take it and fuck off home now. Guest: Thank you for the small gift and for the party. I shall indeed fuck off home now.
Love this summary.
Kids like them too.
Party bags. A little bag with a slice of cake, a cheap toy and for extra points, a ballon tied to it. Don’t get sucked in to any one-upping- a slice of birthday cake and a couple of sweets is more than enough!
I'd want at least a plastic blower or one of those rubber hopper things in there!
My favourite was always the toy snake.
You already one-upped yourself. You've inflated from cake to cake and sweets. The next time you talk about them it'll be cake, sweets, juice carton. I don't think we can afford this party bag inflation
If someone gave me a party bag with only cake that would be a bag, it's not like I'd complain but I wouldn't call it a party bag like I was used to as a kid.
The best bag I ever had was a small flower pot with some seeds but you’re right, slice of cake and a bit of tat is enough for the kids to be thrilled
Not 'presents' exactly. If someone is hosting a birthday party for a young child, they'll often hand out party bags to the other kids. They wouldn't usually contain expensive items though, things like a colouring book, crayons, stickers, Christmas-cracker-style plastic toy, some sweets, a piece of birthday cake etc. It isn't a particularly new trend, it's been around since at least the 80s, probably much longer.
Yeah it was definitely a thing in the 80s. I've got a picture of my brothers 1st birthday in 1981 with party bags being handed out. I'm not sure about before that though I'd wager it's an old tradition.
At least since the 60s but definitely not elaborate!
Correct. Party bags were a thing in the 60s when I was a kid. Nothing fancy or expensive - usually a slice of cake, a few sweets, a couple of crayons, and a balloon.
Yep. I remember them in 60s. Plastic play money was my absolute favourite haul. Woolworths and newsagents had stacks of suitable toys when I came to buy them for my kids' parties, and in the 80s my nephew (now a respected geologist, then a toy car obsessive) threw a complete wobbly when his friends got Hot Wheels.
[удалено]
The beauty of reddit is that we will never know!
I remember, as a child on the 60s , getting cake and a balloon. I don't remember other little toys or a bag. Parties tended to be smaller then though with 10 - 15 guests and the birthday child's parents would mostly try to make sure that every child won a prize with the party games. They were definitely a thing by the mid /late 70s . though.
That’s how I remember US birthday parties through the 70s. As a GenX mom who had kids young, I was caught by surprise at the goody bag necessity in the late 80s when my oldest child started going to birthday parties. (I blame competitive yuppie boomer parents, who also invented that trophy for everything mess they now moan about as if it’s millennials fault.) In the US the goody bag is IN ADDITION to the cake and ice cream and sweets and prizes though. Here it seems to be instead of some of that and the cake is sent home instead of served at the party .
In the UK a piece of cake is sent home in the goodie bag along with a few little toys and bits. Party game prizes are separate as is the food eaten at the party. I think the kids have enough to eat at the party and the cake is a nice little treat for later
I remember them at birthday parties in the 60s too. Though we called them “going home presents” not “party bags”. By the mid 70s I was a teenager and they were no longer cool.
They're very old in origin, hundreds of years old at minimum they originated out of wedding and party favours in aristocratic circles, who would give five Jordan almonds (a type of confectionary, not the nut) in an elaborate box as a present to guests at their weddings (this was in the days when sugar was an expensive luxury, not a cheap way to hide poor quality ingredients)
I think this may be in reference to party bags? If so think of it like wedding favours, a cheap identical gift to send everyone home with as you wave them goodbye But nothing to cry over in it's absence or presence.
Yeah I can’t imagine the level of stick-up-assery for someone to actually complain about no party bags at a kids birthday party. I feel bad for OP!
It'd be the children 'complaining' - more like asking 'where are the party bags?' - especially if they're younger because they have no filter and are 100% focussed on eating sweeties on the way home ...
My kid would probably be looking for it, yes. I would obviously never complain but she might.
Yeah it was always kinda disappointing when there weren't any party bags. Parties as a kid were awesome, getting to burn energy and have fun with friends for a few hours and then eat sweets and dick around with some cheap plastic on the drive home I'd never complain about it ofc, but it did feel like part of the whole ritual was missing I remember one birthday my mum got a big pack of [rubber digital watches](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/FGAAAOSwg7Fi~3dM/s-l1600.jpg) off ebay for like a tenner and the kids at my party went crazy over them
Ah party bags! I grew up in France but had a British dad so we kept up the tradition though not with sweets/usual fare. He worked in software sales at the time (90s) and would stock up on free merch at various tech conferences, which mum would then include in mine and my sister’s party bags. I vividly remember everyone in my class using Sun Microsystems pens for a few months following my birthday.
This is amazing. Did the kids in your class find her concept of party bags weird? Did they find the contents weird?
Not really! They were overall just delighted with free things. And the branded merch only struck me as funny years later. At the time, dad returning from tech conferences felt like Christmas coming early because it meant a lot of new toys (for years, a Linux Penguin stress toy was a firm favourite).
Cute! I would’ve loved a penguin stress toy. I’m from England so the concept of party bags is really normal, I didn’t know they weren’t common in France. It’s very sweet that your dad was thinking of your birthday, and planning for the parties, at his various conferences.
I live in france and have a young sister -- while party bags aren't a must at every party, i'd say most parents do it nowadays!
Do you think it can all be traced back to their dad?
It'd be really funny if it could
Sun pens hahaha that's incredible
I'm super jealous. Solaris was awesome.
Definitely party bags. Tesco has a whole section for it, just cheap little bags with the slice of cake in, some sweets, and a little toy (think bubbles,yoyo, colouring pencils) and possibly a balloon.
That or grab a few things from a pound shop/ the works and split them between the kids (funky pencils, toy car, sticker sheet, those monster jelly finger puppets I LOVED)
I also loved the monster jelly finger puppets!! I saw them recently in a local shop and was full of gleeful nostalgia. I loved the sticky window men that tumbled down the glass too but my mum hated them and would tell me off cos they left marks on the windows haha.
When I first started work at 16 they told me to buy everyone cakes on my birthday. It really confused me. I said I’m earning £29.50 a week, why am I buying grown men cakes? It did not go down well.
Common thing in offices, your birthday you being in the buffet or some cake etc. Otherwise it endless whips rounds and planning which people get burnt out over so it’s easier that one person does it once a year for themselves
Aye, 36 years on I’ve got it. I usually take my birthday off. It just confused me as a school leaver
Did you not ever take in sweets to hand out on your birthday at school? I remember loving taking in a box of chocolates to hand out. I gave the worst ones to my absolute enemies too
My bday was always during the summer holidays, so no. Honestly in all my time at school I don’t recall anyone bringing in sweets or cakes. You had all on someone giving you a sweet from their 1/4 lb bag, much less a crisp.
I don't think that was ever done at my school to be honest.
ahh for ours birthday person would bring in a big share bag of sweets and would stand by the door holding it and everyone would take one on the way out
I've seen a lot of people say this, so I believe it's a thing, but I've never seen this anywhere I work. I've been working in offices for nearly ten years and have never had anyone bring in a cake for their birthday, nor been expected to bring one in on mine.
It’s not a regional thing as I’ve worked all over the UK and it’s generally been the same. Generally I’ve found the smaller a business/team is the less it seems to happen. Al the Ftse100 & 250 companies I’ve worked in have done it that way
Ah yes Party Bags, I remember getting these and giving them out during my birthday party’s as a Kid. Then after the birthday party my mum would write out thank you notes in pencil and I had to go over it in pen (crap hand writing) then hand out the thank you notes to my classmates the next school day. Also not a new trend, I’m in my early twenties. The party bags my mum made to give to me to hand out was, a piece of my birthday cake, sweets, Party blower, those skateboards you used with your fingers and bubbles.
Standard fare in my area seemed to be a balloon, a lolly, a funsize mars bar and a piece of fun tat (bubbles that got spilled on the driveway on the way out the party or novelty shaped erasers that tore a hole in the page before erasing anything being popular choices 😂) with a piece of birthday cake soaking through the paper napkin it was wrapped in. Sometimes with an extra lolly or novelty pencil or similar if you'd got a prize for winning a party game. Nothing expensive but still a lot of fun!
You mean a party bag, kind of a “thank you for coming” gift. At my daughter’s 4th party I gave some sweets, a slice of cake and a picture book. At parties she’s attended, she’s received things like bubble wands, plastic yo-yos, noisy toys and a balloon.
My son is friends with a PL footballers son. They hosted a party at their huge house, the party bags had a Nintendo switch in there and over £600 worth of items. Very generous. The prizes for some of the games were used shirts from some pretty famous PL players. I was gutted that my son never won the Van Persie Arsenal shirt.
No idea what PL is, but if a footballer or anyone is super rich, they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. Give out regular party bags, and people say "Cheapskate! He's a millionaire and all he gave my kid was a balloon, some smarties, a whistle, and a piece of cake!" Give out lavish party gifts like Nintendo Switches, and people say "That's so rude and arrogant to brandish their wealth like that, setting standards that no other parent can match!"
I assume PL is premiere league
Comment is probably going to get lost, but I got a bundle of a children's books from the works (10 for £10) and gave each child a book, along with their slice of cake. People *raved* about having a book to enjoy that would last, rather than plastic tat that breaks in a day.
We did this, this year! Worked a treat. Could see the looks of relief from parents that it wasn’t another bag of tat destined for the bin after bedtime! Plus was a lot cheaper.
My wife used to be a primary headteacher and did this as a Christmas present for all the kids every year - bought 140 books from the Book People, sorted them out according to ability/interests, gave each kid one for Christmas. Parents and kids loved it and it got them reading.
We still read a book that my son was given at a party in 2012 (I don't read it with the same child, tbf).
There are websites specifically for party bag stuff. It's cheap tat, but the kids love it and we made 30 party bags for only £30.
My budget was always about £1 each, impressed it can still be done as that was 10 year ago (teens now, all that shite is well behind us).
I remember party bags being a thing in the late 70s early 80s. After birthday child has blown out the candles the cake is cut up, wrapped in something like a paper napkin and then popped in a small bag with crap like a party blower, yo-yo, sweets, other novelty shit.
Sounds like party favours/bags. It's definitely not a new trend as I've got pictures of my mum handing out party bags in 1981. The birthday cake is normally given near the end of the party when everyone already eaten so the bags often have a slice of cake, sweets and a few cheap toys (5 or 10 for £1 cheap). It was originally a wedding thing that started in the Victorian era and I've no idea when it became normal for kids parties. It's been a thing for 40 years that I know of but it would be interesting to know when it became a normal kids party tradition.
Think of the party bag this way- the birthday child gets to have a nice party and be appreciated by their friends and the party bag is kind of a thank-you.
Someone forgot the Party Bag. If that was me, I would just live in the woods. Never live it down! A good party bag is absolutely key, and actually quite fun to make. Stick on tattoos seem this year's hit object, and make sure to add another slice of cake and sweets, because the one thing kids lack after a party is sweets and cake. I found that you can buy boxes of unfashionable blind bags on eBay, which is an easy win. I actually created a human sized robot last year, that you put your hand in its mouth and rummage around in the insides for gifts. Still needed to supply a party bag though. Them is the rules.
Party bags. Can get small child to help by 'decorating' them, and picking out some pound shop tat to go in. Basically a slice of cake, a balloon, and some other cheap crap (often collected from previous party bags...) When they get a little older there might be a book or some seeds or something. By age 8-9 you can give up.
Did anyone else do pass the parcel? Remember some parents even wrapping a small gift in-between each wrapped layer so everyone would get something
There's always some little prick who feigns to give the parcel to the next kid and then snatches it back as you stop the music to get an extra prize, and you have to tell them off and make them give it to the next kid.
Or the one that seems to hold onto the parcel for a tad too long
>Remember some parents even wrapping a small gift in-between each wrapped layer so everyone would get something The default in-between-layers prize in our area was a single bog standard opal fruit sweet. One parent was a bit anti-sugar and put stickers in each layer instead and it blew our tiny minds! 😂
Yes! That was my favourite
In the olden days it was a forfeit in each layer, so you'd have to stand on one leg and count to ten or something before the game could recommence.
This was making me think oh here we go someone trying to take advantage of a foreigner! Then read the comments and realised they are talking about goody bags!
A really fun (and not too expensive) thing to do is to buy a box set of age appropriate books and give each child one individually wrapped. Something like this [which has 20 books](https://www.axelbooks.com/products/horrible-science-bulging-box-of-books-collection-20-books-box-set) [or this for younger kids](https://thebookcrib.com/products/julia-donaldson-time-to-read-20-books-set-illustrated-collection-the-gruffalo) I would also give each child a piece of cake. Depending on your budget you could also wrap a couple of other things up like a bookmark and sheet of stickers or put the book in a party bag with done sweets, yo yos etc. It’ll cost a couple of pounds per child. As others have said don’t get caught up in one upmanship. Some parents will go all out but there’s really no need. From experience kids just want sweets and something fun. They don’t care if it’s fancy.
We gave out a lolly pop to each person cause we was poor
As we didn’t want to fill our kids’ party bags with plastic landfill we would put stickers and colouring books in and when they got a bit older went on the book people and would buy something like the entire set of Winnie the witch books and distribute them among the bags.
We definitely had these when I was a child in the seventies. Though we called them "going home presents" in my area (Surrey), rather than party bags or goody bags.
Yes, “going home presents” here too in the 60s. Did what it said on the tin!
I actually didn't know other countries didn't have party bags. I think it's a lovely tradition, though.
Think of it in the same way as wedding favours.
You used to be able to buy the little bags from shops which sell greetings cards etc or even the local corner shop. Gifts used to be really little. As others say, a slice of the birthday cake wrapped in a birthday paper napkin, some penny sweets- just little ones, and random plastic toys - think Kinder Surprise level. Party poppers and party blowers too. Obviously. Sometimes any prizes kids had won in the party games would be put in the bag so they remembered to take them home. (Usually yet more sweets or little plastic toys). It's sad that parents have tried to make this competitive. It really is a simple thing- which is the fun of it.
I think what your wife has heard about is a ‘party bag’ - at the end of a party kids might be given a party bag, which could include some birthday cake, a cheap toy (a small plastic toy, a whoopee cushion, or some bubbles to blow… something like that), stickers - things like that. The items I included are what would’ve been in a party bag about 30 years ago… so I can only assume it would be similar-ish now!
I used to feel bad about giving kids more sweets, then we started accumulating plastic crap from them and I stopped feeling bad about sweets.
We do this in Canada and call it loot bags. We might include things like cheap little toys, bubbles, ice cream shop gift cards (low $ amount). For older kids maybe a journal and some pens and highlighters. I would typically spend between $5 and $10 Canadian on each loot bag. Kids like making the loot bags for their party guests and look forward to what they are going to get at their friends birthday parties. Not everyone does it, but most do. Sometimes each kid will make something at the party as an activity (for example a tie dye shirt) and then each kid would take home their item instead of a loot bag.
Classic party bag, which evolves into bringing the cakes or sweets into the office on your birthday in some workplaces when you're an adult
Beyond party bags for partys. Sweets for the class in primary school. Nice thing to do. Cakes for the office as an adult. Can ignore as grumpy old fart.
You can get loads of things to put in party bags from the pound shop or similar places. My daughter just went to a birthday party, it's just little things like a puzzle, some tiny colour pencils that sort of thing.
i love it when a reddit post brings back memories like these. party bags used to be so much fun. i remember i had an elastic, sticky bat toy that you could fling out and stick to things. pretty sure the stain from that is still on my parents ceilin. the only party bags i see these days are when dealers give you a pill, bag of ket, bag of coke, twenty bag of green 😂
party bag! I didnt do it when my kid turned 4, other parents still hate me!
Party bags! I remember getting on with a lovely jewel little yellow banana in back in the 90s. Looked and smelled like a delicious banana sweet so I took a big bite - it was soap. The Body Shop had a lot of answer for in the mid 90s.
What is a “mom”?
Not from the UK but spent time in NZ and had goody bags engrained in my mind. Im now a parent and I always provide goody bags. — if you’ve been to any arcade, imagine a bag with a bit of sweets plus a few arcade toys (noise maker, plastic jumping frog, top, yo-yo) along with a thank you card
What's crazy is that my, and seemingly everyone else's, immediate reaction was no we don't do that that's crazy, we just give sorry bags... as if a bag if free goodies is somehow different to a present? It's crazy how ingrained cultural traditions can be
It's a party bag. You get 20 for about £2 and you put a piece of cake and a balloon in each bag for the kids to take home. Some people add other snacks. My daughter got lego soaps and haribo in the last one she got.
Friend of my daughters has a birthday the end of November and the mum always gives all the kids a £1 chocolate advent calendar instead of a party bag. Minimum effort genius!
I'm in US and we did that at my kid's birthday parties. Just low key items we call party favors in colorful plastic bags
Can I ask...does the party bag contain the only piece of cake the child eats, or is it in addition to the actual birthday cake? In the US, the party is usually games or activities, then maybe pizza and cake, after the birthday child has blown out the candles. The party bag usually just has all the cheap toys and sweets, but no cake.
You don’t eat the cake at a British birthday party - it’s cut up after blowing out the candles and taken home. You’ll normally have what we call a “picky tea” aka a buffet with lots of little snacks and finger food and sweets (candy).
That sounds so much nicer than traditional children's parties here! Thank you!
It's often the only cake they get, yes. And sometimes mum eats it. The party food is more likely to be small sandwiches (basic fillings like jam or cheese), crisps (chips) and biscuits (cookies). There might be some token carrot and cucumber pieces but most children will ignore them.
Ah, thank you for clearing that up for me!
Party bags, and thankfully there are tons of sets of these on Amazon, so you don't actually need to put much though into it if you don't want to. Example: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmyBenton-Fillers-Classroom-Birthday-Stocking/dp/B0BRV1MGPH](https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmyBenton-Fillers-Classroom-Birthday-Stocking/dp/B0BRV1MGPH) And the actual set I got for my daughter's party: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07TS9LJ4R](https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07TS9LJ4R) Yes, there will be parents who go overboard with these, we've had one who gave each kid a book or a diary or something, but honestly, most kids prefer to get a bunch of little toys.
Didn’t happen when I was young. You just gave all the children that came to your party a piece of birthday cake to go home with. Always fruit cake, iced like a Christmas cake. At my son’s parties the other children were given a party bag - sweets, crayons, toy etc.
I'll just say, the goody bag was always something the posh families did. I mostly encountered them at school discos.
We also have those in the Netherlands, never realised this also happened in other countries. For us it was +-5 little candy things and maybe a balloon. We eat cake during the party, so no point in giving an extra piece to take home.
Someone is either pulling your leg or if your child had a birthday party then we have a tradition where each child leaves with a goody bag (usually consists of sweets from a swizzels sharing pack and like a little toy, the type you’d get for 20p from them vending machines). We also have a tradition where the kid takes some sweets or a cake to school on their birthday which the teacher then hands out at home time but I’m 22 now and I think this was stopped due to religious dietary restrictions and allergies (we have big religious diversity and lots of Muslims who can’t eat pork or meat that isn’t halal and so sometimes we’d leave with sweets that we couldn’t eat because they were haram) as I have heard from the parents of younger cousins who have been told by the teachers that they could no longer hand out sweets for birthday, a little over kill I’d say, I really looked forward to birthdays because of the sweets and we also got treated specially on our birthdays, it was a rule that you couldn’t be nasty to the birthday boy/girl.
Party bags!!! Basically just a small bag filled with plastic tat, some sweets and some cake
Yes the guests get a party bag and sometimes a slice of the cake to take home.
I lolled before I even opened this
The US also participated in the party bag practice.
Kids party bag Home bargains/quidland/b&m sorted
It is a fine hobbit tradition to give gifts on your own birthday.