"Picnic" party kids gift bag ideas

[Shagley]

We are having a big picnic this summer for my Sister's 40th birthday, and we will have quite a few kids there. I am trying to think of ideas to put together some little gift bags for the kids of items they can use or play with to keep them occupied while at the picnic. The kids ages will range from about 1 - 8, so I need things that will be safe for the younger kids, but fun for the older kids as well. I really need some help with ideas. So far the thing I have come up with are...

Bubbles
small inflatable beach ball (large enough to not be a choking hazard)
kite (for the Adults to help fly)
Some sort of fun cup with straw

What else would fit the "picnic" theme, but entertain them for a while?

 

[ceecee]

Jump ropes, hula hoops? Maybe do a savenger hunt if you're outside.

 

[WDWHo]

We are having a big picnic this summer for my Sister's 40th birthday, and we will have quite a few kids there. I am trying to think of ideas to put together some little gift bags for the kids of items they can use or play with to keep them occupied while at the picnic. The kids ages will range from about 1 - 8, so I need things that will be safe for the younger kids, but fun for the older kids as well. I really need some help with ideas. So far the thing I have come up with are...

Bubbles
small inflatable beach ball (large enough to not be a choking hazard)
kite (for the Adults to help fly)
Some sort of fun cup with straw

What else would fit the "picnic" theme, but entertain them for a while?

How about:

Jump Ropes
The paddles with the balls attached (dollar store)
sidewalk chalk (if you have an area to use them)

Have a blast at your picnic!!

 

[Piffle]

I had HOURS of fun as a kid with one of those big red wiffle ball bat and ball set. And sidewalk chalk. And toss across (beanbags/tic-tac-toe hybrid).

And Jarts (but those are toy-a non grata anymore.)

 

[Ilovemyprincesses]

If you have a dollar tree check there. They had mini frisbee's, kites, bubbles with disney characters. They have chalk and lots of other stuff for summer.

 

[Brenda in CA]

Thought it would be cute to put a box of "ants" (raisins) in each bag.

Everyone else has given some really great ideas!

 

[Accentuate+]

How about play food? I've seen plastic/toy versions of hot dogs/hamburgers etc - even toy picnic sets. They can pretend to do their own cooking and maybe won't want to "help" so much with the real cooking.

edited to add - www.orientaltradingcompany.com has cheap toys/games/stuff for nearly any theme you can think of.

 

[luckey-lasvegas]

How about squirt guns or water balloons. We just had a picnic and the kids were so hot from playing they wanted to have a water balloon fight instead of doing the balloon toss we had planed. Sand toys would also be good if there will be sand where you are going.

 

[momm2four]

Bubbles are always a hit at a picnic. As are frisbees.

Lori P.

 

[seagee]

Will the picnic go on until the evening? Add glowsticks then!

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Side walk chalk, Nerf balls, Disney waterbottles, yo-yos.

You could also make "dirt" for dessert if you are having a kids table.

 

[brymolmom]

At dh's family picnic last year - I brought a craft box. We set up on the picnic table - I brought construction paper, lots of glue and glue sticks, lots of glitter, some stickers, and some of those foam shapes. It was a big hit and kept a lot of kids (differing ages) occupied for 1 - 2 hours.

The best part is...I HATE getting the glitter out at home because it NEVER is all cleaned up. But here we were on a picnic table and cleanup was a snap - a big trash barrel and basically 'swept' the whole table of stuff into it.

 

[Shagley]

Wow, what great ideas!!

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

Frisbees!

Those squishy balls that you dunk in water and they absorb a lot...and soak the people you throw them at...kids can have fun throwing them at each other, like water balloons, but without the parents having to pick up a million little pieces of plastic afterwards! maybe some cheap plastic cones (to set up bases or starting points for races),cheap visors to decorate??

 

[tink2dw]

Badminton - a cheap set works great - we just used the sidewalk as the net

Ring Toss set - plastic set - even little little kids like this

Check the party store for things to put in sacks

 

[waughzee]

Gummi burgers!!

 

[rockyroad]

At dh's family picnic last year - I brought a craft box. We set up on the picnic table - I brought construction paper, lots of glue and glue sticks, lots of glitter, some stickers, and some of those foam shapes. It was a big hit and kept a lot of kids (differing ages) occupied for 1 - 2 hours.

The best part is...I HATE getting the glitter out at home because it NEVER is all cleaned up. But here we were on a picnic table and cleanup was a snap - a big trash barrel and basically 'swept' the whole table of stuff into it.

I used to teach first grade and I let the kids use glitter.

They love the stuff.

What I would do is to have them get their artwork all ready for the glitter including the glue and then I would come by with a low cardboard box, like the boxes in the grocery that canned goods sit in and have them apply the glitter in the box and tip off the extra. It worked great.
(I also did the same thing with black paper and that fake snow like goes in snow villages. The snow pictures were great fun too.)

The picnic sounds like wonderful!

You can't really put it into a bag, but a well thought out treasure hunt is great fun. And maybe making ice cream with the two coffee cans, sugar and cream inside the small coffee can, ice and salt in the larger one and then they roll it around until it freezes. You could even have them make butter (cream in baby food jars). They love that too.

 

[ReneeQ]

One year my nephew had a overnight camping out BD party, and one year he had a picnic party at the park. My sister made gift bags for the kids to use at the parties. These are some of the things she included:

A bug catching kit (from the Dollar Store) it was a plastic box to put bugs in, had a little net, and a magnifying glass
Bubbles
Sunglasses
Colored sunscreen
A cup with each child's name on it
Flashlight (Dollar Store) for the camping party, as it went into the night
Balls and/or frisbees
For the camping party we actually found little "backpacks" at the Dollar Store, and that's what she used at the camping party, so they got to keep that, too.

 

[I Believe n Fairies]

The kids around here are loving bug collector cages. They're at Dollar General for a couple bucks. They love digging in the dirt to find bugs.