How to Make Fun Owl Treat Bags for Kids' Parties

PARTY!- KARAMU!- FIESTA! FOREVER! As a mother of three and now a grandmother (ahggg) of six, it does seem like I have been planning or going to birthday parties forever! However, planning a party for your child doesn't have to be a stressful or costly undertaking. I have found that often the simpler the party, the better and more enjoyable it is for the kids. The basic ingredients for a great party still seem to be: good food, cake and ice cream, a few fun games and activities and opening the gifts!

It has become customary at most childrens' parties to have a favor for each of the guests to take with them as they leave. It can be something as simple as a goodie bag filled with treats or small toys from the dollar store to a hand made friendship bracelet made by the child for each of her guests.

In our family, breaking a pinata is one of the "must haves" for any of the kids whose birthday falls during the summer months. Making their own treat bags to take home their candy (if there is any left) can be part of the party festivities and a fun way to keep the kids occupied for a little while.

Teachers in primary classrooms will also find this activity fun for those special school events such as Halloween, Valentine's Day or Christmas. It is a great way to involve parents as well!

I would like to share with you an easy way to make cute treat bags that are adaptable to the age of the party guests, the theme of your party and that are fun for both girls and boys.

In this video, my granddaughter demonstrates how to make a simple, fun "owl" treat or goody bag that can be made as a party favor or a children's party craft activity. Treat bags for other occasions (Halloween, Valentine's Day, etc.) can be made the same way.

• YOU WILL NEED:

  ~ a small paper bag with handles for each child

  ~ various colors of tissue paper

  ~ scissors

  ~ white glue

  ~ small brushes (one for each child)

  ~ construction paper or color paper

  ~ scraps, ribbons, buttons, aluminum foil, googly-eyes, streamers, etc.

  ~ a few samples or templates (patterns) ready

• HOW TO:

  1. Mix white glue with water in small paper cup or plastic container

  2. Cut tissue paper into smaller pieces or strips.

  3. Using brush, paste tissue paper onto paper bag until it is completely covered.

  4. Add features (ex. if it is a "dog", cut out ears from construction paper and glue on; if it is an octopus, use streamers for the tentacles; paste googly eyes or eyes from construction paper... etc.)

  5. Let dry.

• TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS:

  *** With younger children: Use glue sticks instead of white glue with water. Cut the tissue paper into pieces or shapes (squares, triangles, circles). This will make it easier for the little ones to decorate their own bag.

  *** If this will be craft activity for your party, pre-cut the tissue paper strips, or paper shapes and accents so that the treat bags are easy and quick to assemble.

Whether you plan to make your own treat bags or plan a party activity for each of the guests to create their own, you will need some basic craft supplies: bags, scissors and glue, tissue paper, and brushes. Have fun!

Making your own treat bag is a fun party activity that can work not only with the younger children, but with older kids as well. This activity is probably more appropriate for girls than for the older boys. (In my experience, decorating a bag would NOT be an activity the older boys would care much to participate in :) The younger boys, however, could be motivated to make bags decorated as dragons, dogs, pirates, superheros, etc. The girls enjoy making the cute owl, butterfly, bird and almost any other design. The older girls like to get much more creative designing their bags and prefer to make artistic and abstract designs and colors and like to decorate their bags with their initials.

Adapting this craft for young children is not difficult to do. If you are using one of the patterns, it is helpful to have all of the pieces cut out in advance- then assist the children with gluing the pieces onto the bag with their brushes (don't be surprised if the eyes and noses end up in unusual places :)) Or if you prefer, let the children have fun cutting or tearing the tissue paper and gluing it onto the bags themselves. Another idea is to cut the tissue paper into various shapes such as circles, triangles and squares and let the children create their own designs on the bags. The possibilities are only limited by their imagination!

Kids love decorating their own treat bags. See below for some fun patterns to use. You can download any or all of these to print out and use. Patterns include: dragon, frog, owl, monkey, cat, lion, bird, butterfly and dog. Just click on the link to visit the web page. Enjoy!

The treat bags are so colorful, they can also be used as decorations for your child's party. Here are links to a few other ideas for make-it-yourself festive party decorations: paper flowers; cut-paper banners; super easy pinatas.