Mummy Knows Best

Looking for interesting goody bag items

Hello,

My wife and I are planning for my kids birthday and we came across your great website. We are looking for your expertise to help us find good gifts to be filled in the goody bags for children, both boys and girls in the age range of 1 - 15. Budget upper limit per goody bags is Rs 400. We already have the chocolates and the bags, looking for another 3 gift items.

Rajesh & Deepa

Hi Rajesh & Deepa,

First off, thanks for giving us a chance to  talk about one of our favourite topics - goody bags or return gifts! We’re always on the hunt for meaningful and useful gifts that don’t break the minute they come back from the party and are things the kids would want to actually use and play with long after. Your budget lends itself to some really nice gifts and you can even do 1 or 2 big items rather than 3 or 4 smaller - don’t try to go for quantity over quality.

Okay here goes, the links go to some of our older posts which give you more details.

1-4 year olds

Option 1
- Sing Along CD, details here, Rs.99 at Crosswords

-  Karadi Tales Rhymes or Audiobook Rs.125

- Tulika Books, details here, Rs.50 - Rs.200 at Strand or major bookstores

- Jump Start Baby computer CDs (about Rs.200) at Crosswords

- Hand puppets, beautifully made animals, maharajas and ranis etc. Rs.150-Rs.200 at Windchimes, #24, Hutchins Road, Cooke Town, Bangalore. Ph:080 2546 0697

Option 2

If you’d like to go for just 1 item, slightly higher priced then consider 

- Fisher Price Doodle Pro fpr 398/- details here OR Pooh or Disney princess Dart board for Rs.399 at the  Hypercity, Vashi sale. 

Throw in a bottle of bubbles with any of the above options (about Rs.50 at any toy shop) and you have an entertaining and enriching goody bag.

5-10 year olds

- Dora or Ben10 Projector watches (Rs.150-200) at Sona, Hill Road, Bandra
- Games like Uno Junior (Rs.59), Uno Regular (Rs.99), Jenga Junior from Funskool (Rs.149)

- Tulika books (look for titles for slightly older kids)

- Scrap book with stickers, coloured pages and space for photographs (Rs. 200) at Sona

- Craft kits from Rs.150 upwards - clay moulding, mosaics, activity cases, stencil books, warli art, shell work, beads…Hobby ideas  and Dhoop in Khar have a great range

A bottle of bubbles or a wooden top along with any of the above and you’ll have grateful parents thanking you for providing their kids with hours of occupation! 

10-15 year olds

This crowd is a little hard to please especially since you’re going for gender neutral gifts. Stick with just 1 big item gift so you give them something really nice.

- Board games - (Classics like Monopoly Rs.398, or traditional ones from Kreeda avaialable at Dhoop in Mumbai or Landmark in Bangalore)
- Funskool Rubic cube (Rs. 249), Cup and Ball from KEC (Rs.250)

- Scrap book

- A gift certificate from Reliance Time Out so they can choose their own CDs, books or games.

All board games and more are also available at shops like Sona, Hill Road, Bandra opposite St. Peters church. There are a few other toy shops on this strip who coordinate entire parties from gifts, and may provide good discounts on bulk purchases. PartyHunterz in Bandra on Ambedkar road is also a good place for exciting options, but a little expensive. Partymania (next to Tom’s Cafe, Frazer Town) in Bangalore also caters to various theme party needs. A lot of fun wooden puzzles handcrafted in Chennapatna are available in front of Cauvery Handicrafts on MG Road, Bangalore and make great goody bag stuffers.

Happy Shopping!