The origin of the party bags seems unclear. Some online searches state that the tradition of party bags or party favors dates back a few centuries to where wealthy Europeans would provide their party guests gifts before they left a party.
Some state that it was brides who started the tradition of giving gifts of sugar as a memory of a wedding.
Some state it was the ancient Egyptians who gave tokens, often symbolic in nature, intended to remind the guests of the occasion and protect against negative forces.
Tales of knights giving their beloved ladies gifts of handkerchiefs and ribbons.
Victorians giving guests cherished keepsakes of ornate pins and hand painted trinket boxes.
The 18th century brought the introduction of sugared almonds, a tradition still seen at some weddings today.
Whilst no solid history of where, when and why the birthday party bag we see today originated, we can see that party favors have been around for centuries.
Modern day sees a switch from carefully crafted, thought of and considered trinkets or gifts to the simpler and accessible (often) plastic favours we see today.
These small items inevitably bring joy to a child as they leave a party, often on a sugar high.
But what happens to the bottle of bubbles and the bouncy ball once they’ve run out or been lost?
They’re then added to the ever increasing plastic waste heading to landfill, along with the novelty bag they came in!
There then comes the cost, albeit many of the trinkets are cheap in price, but added together with the cost of the child’s party, the hall hire, the bouncy castle and the custom made cake, this simple bag becomes another expensive purchase on an already expensive day.
What then can we do, what can you do and what is the point of this blog?!
I’ll get there!
Let's look to another party favourite that has changed over the years - pass the parcel. Once layers of newspaper with one toy in the centre has become unfair and now each layer needs a toy or a sweetie in it.
Does it? Or should we look to “Lucky’s dad” from the ever popular show Bluey (season 3, episode 13 )
Lucky’s dad decides no more- no more is he spending money on sweets or trinkets for each layer of pass the parcel, he’s doing it the old way - one good present in the middle for one child! We find that Lucky's dad is an inspiration in saving plastic waste!
So what are we going to do?
Pass the parcel:
Next time you're at one of our swaps, pick up a generic toy that could go in the centre of pass the parcel - be Lucky’s dad and have that one present. Does a child need to see that it is new in packaging? No! Save the plastic waste not just from using a pre-loved toy but from the packaging that new toys come in.
Party bags:
How about instead of using novelty plastic bags we look to using gift bags that have been gifted to you?
Paper sandwich bags?
Making your own bags with paper and stamps or last years birthday cards?
All easily recycled.
The gifts then - what do we put in party bags?
At Berwickshire swap we have an array of small toys and loads of books.
Why not ask your child to come along and pick out party favours for their friends. They’ll have a great time considering gifts for others.
A book and a toy car? A cuddly toy? A dinosaur? Once you start to look you’ll see the possibilities are endless. Yes it might be a bit more challenging having to be a bit more organised, why not start a ‘gift drawer or box’. A space in your house where you collect pre-loved items from our swaps to use for parties (Start now. Right now!)
If you're having a full class with some kids that you don’t know, but then there's the option of anonymous bags. The excitement of what they will get!
Imagine a child who loves batman leaving with a toy batman! Will this toy last longer than a bubble wand? Probably. Can the parents then hand it back to the swap in a few months once the child no longer wants to play with it? Yes of course!
Then that can go again to another child. Thus saving families money and creating a circular economy.
Join us in a pre-loved party revolution to revolutionise children’s parties with pre-loved gifts. Set an example to our children on how to live more sustainably.
The gift for the birthday child… we have those too!
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