Does anyone have ideas for an alternative to a Party Favor bag?

My 5 yr old daughters bday is coming up. Party favor bags are fun, and deemed necessary for proper party ettiquete. However they are expensive, and basically filled with usless crap. I am wondering if there is an alternative? Perhaps something small and with more worth then candy or cheap crappy toys, that is fairly inexpensive that I can give out as a parting gift?
Thanks

I totally agree. I call those goody bags full of cheap plastic junk "bags of crap". We can all do without another bag 'o crap. Most of it I throw away anyway within a day of my kids bringing them home. I have done books as well; trickier with 5's as most of them aren't reading yet, but I've bought boxed sets from the Scholastic book orders the schools send home and given those books out; they end up being about $2 each. I will give a book with a fancy lollipop (hard to describe but it's on a 10" stick with a heart or flower shaped candy piece at the end. That way there's still the candy element but not so much that it's overkill. With 5's you need to assume a parent will read the book; go with something with mass appeal like Strawberry Shortcake. Maybe if you go the book route you can consider those paint with water books.

I've also given out seasonally appropriate t-shirts; one of my daughter's birthday is in May and I have given out patriotic tshirts (in stores for Memorial Day, continue wearing all summer/4th of July.) These shirts are easy to find at Target for $5; a little less at Kohls if you use a coupon. Again I package with a lolipop. I have seen them on kids all summer. Other friends who feel the same way have given out hula hoops, those skip-it things (like a jumprope that attaches to your ankle and has a ball at the end), and a stuffed fairy. There are a lot of perfectly cute toys out there in the $5 range; too cheap to give as a gift but perfect as a "party favor" which is what you are giving instead of a bag of crap.

Five year olds might not "get it" right away as to why they aren't getting a plastic bag filled with yo-yos that don't work, teeny paper pads they don't use, etc. but it's fine to explain you are giving "one nice thing" instead of a bunch of "little stuff your mom just throws out".

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