Fun Ways to Give Goody Bags at Parties

Tuck candy, noisemakers and note pads into bags.

When your guests take time and effort to come to your party, a goody bag is a way of saying thank you. These bags are common at children’s birthday parties, but passing out goody bags at a casual adult party will make your friends nostalgic for childhood sleepovers. Handing out bags in creative ways adds entertainment to your party and makes you seem like an inventive host.

Treasure Hunt

Make finding goody bags into a game and it can be part of the party’s entertainment. Write out a series of clues leading to different spots in the house. At each spot, hide one clue that leads to another spot and give the first clue to party-goers. If you have more than five or six guests, make multiple scavenger hunts, since a huge crowd will have a hard time working together. When guests find the final clue, they’ll find a goody bag waiting for each person.

Quiz

Make guests earn their treats by completing a quiz or answering trivia questions. At a birthday party, make a list of silly questions about the birthday child such as “What is Chris’s favorite flavor of ice cream?” If a guest doesn’t get the question right, keep reading questions until he answers correctly and earns his goody bag. For an older crowd, ask questions about current events or pop culture. Since it should be a fun party event, look the other way if guests whisper clues or act out the answers to help one another.

Performance

If you’re throwing a casual party for outspoken, confident guests, asking each one to perform in order to “win” a goody bag will be entertainment for everyone. Ask each guest to perform a song, give a speech or perform a dance move or trick and award her a good bag at the end. Even among a group of close friends, some children might be too shy so emphasize that giving a performance is optional and everyone gets a goody bag no matter what.

Hide and Seek

Hiding the goody bags in interesting places can turn into a friendly competition as some guests find a bag right away and others keep searching. Place goody bag items in small paper bags, since large bags will be too easy to find. Hide bags throughout the entire area, such as behind curtains, inside cabinets and under pillows, but explain what the parameters of the search area are so guests don’t go poking into other rooms. Each guest gets to keep the first bag he finds.

References

• Parents: Goody Bags