Things to fill pinatas.....

[marshallandcartersmo]

Having both DS's birthday parties together (turning 10 and 7, 4 days apart from each other).....we have done this every year and it's great! One party, one busy day, and one clean up.

However, we let them pick their own theme, so we have 2 of everything....2 sets of decorations, and this year 2 pinatas.

Besides candy, what else can go in a pinata?? Boy related only, no girls allowed. I'm also going to have this as their "goody bag"....so would like a few "substantial" things.

Which raises another question.....there's always that one kid that dives and grabs handfuls of stuff while another kid stands back and ends up with 3 pieces of candy......how do you handle that? Like I said, this is the guests goody bag so I want to make sure everyone gets a good amount of loot.....I'm thinking maybe having some items in their bags already (the bags they'll be putting their pinata stuff in) would be best.

 

[littlezar]

The last birthday party we went to that had a pinata just had candy in it. After the kids dove for the stuff, the Mom had a bag with more candy in it and she put a handful in each kids bag. The pinata had more hard candy like smarties, gum, laffy taffy and the stuff she gave out was 3 musketeers, reeses...the stuff that would have squished easily if someone stepped on it!

 

[v.t.]

You could put green army men, hot wheels, mini yo-yos, etc. If you are worried about the "grabbers" let them know that it is one a piece on the toys. As for candy, I would have a bowl of extras for those who have manners.

 

[cstwwt]

I have added toothbrushes......they were actually a 'hit' You could also try little cars, pencils, etc......

 

[merekc]

Go to Oriental tradings website. There are all kind of little inexpensive toys that can be bought in bulk. Make sure to order with coupon codes and rebate programs for extra savings.

 

[stephbillalec]

I always get so much that it never all fits in the pinata. This works out b/c the overflow goes into a big bag which I empty where ever I see a kid that could use some more loot!
Extra stuff....Oriental Trading is the place to go!

 

[figment3258]

We put fruit snacks in ours silly bands were a big hit too

 

[mjkacmom]

Stick with candy! I wish oriental trading would just go out of business already- those cheap pencils, rings, stickers, erasers, etc. go from the goodie bag to the garbage bag!

 

[mamaLori05]

pretty much any little toy that you can fit in the hole will work. I have put in match box cars, bouncy balls, mini bubbles, candy necklaces, pretty much anything I see along the way that looks like it would fit. Not sure what price ranges you are looking at, but those hexbug things (the little robot bugs that are really popular with boys that age) would fit in there. I would tell the kids ahead of time that they could get one of each toy, and then they had to share their extras with friends that didn't get one. As for candy, you could tell the kids they can fill their bag to a certain point and then they need to stop and let someone else get some. Maybe even make a line across the bag so they know where the cut off mark is.

 

[MSSANDRA]

just candy and make it GOOD candy. No way to keep one kid from getting all the "extra" stuff. I filled DGS last one with all the good chocolate that he can eat(peanut allergy). By 10 most kids do not want the junk stuff and
I know moms don't!

I always have an extra bag of the same candy to fill out the slower to the candy kid's bags!

 

[Catira]

Having both DS's birthday parties together (turning 10 and 7, 4 days apart from each other).....we have done this every year and it's great! One party, one busy day, and one clean up.

However, we let them pick their own theme, so we have 2 of everything....2 sets of decorations, and this year 2 pinatas.

Besides candy, what else can go in a pinata?? Boy related only, no girls allowed. I'm also going to have this as their "goody bag"....so would like a few "substantial" things.

Which raises another question.....there's always that one kid that dives and grabs handfuls of stuff while another kid stands back and ends up with 3 pieces of candy......how do you handle that? Like I said, this is the guests goody bag so I want to make sure everyone gets a good amount of loot.....I'm thinking maybe having some items in their bags already (the bags they'll be putting their pinata stuff in) would be best.

This is one of the reasons I sometimes don't like pinatas. My kiddos were always that child that only had 3 pieces of candy because others were better at grabbing the candy. Now, when we do a pinata, we always put the good stuff in the goodie bags (chocolates, cookies, small toys, etc) and the pinata gets hard candy and any extra toys. Another option, is to have extra candy and small toys to give to any children that you see were not able to get much candy.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

I did a pinata with my Sunday school kids and just divided the goodies up into goodie bags. Put those in the pinata. (I had 25 kids and 25 goodie bags weren't fitting in it- I had the extras in a box to the side.) I let them know every one was going to get the exact same thing, there was to be no pushing or grabbing of bags or the offender wouldn't get any. I was thrilled how angellic they were about it

Agree with the no crappy junk toys or candy that will just go in the trash. I'd get something a little bigger (a Matchbox, Lego minifig, my kids always liked mechanical pencils) and then fill the bag with decent candy, little bags of gummi snacks {to theme!}, etc.

 

[zoemurr]

I did a pinata with my Sunday school kids and just divided the goodies up into goodie bags. Put those in the pinata. (I had 25 kids and 25 goodie bags weren't fitting in it- I had the extras in a box to the side.) I let them know every one was going to get the exact same thing, there was to be no pushing or grabbing of bags or the offender wouldn't get any. I was thrilled how angellic they were about it

Agree with the no crappy junk toys or candy that will just go in the trash. I'd get something a little bigger (a Matchbox, Lego minifig, my kids always liked mechanical pencils) and then fill the bag with decent candy, little bags of gummi snacks {to theme!}, etc.

goodie bags right in the pinata. To make it a bit more complicated you could do small toys wrapped in tissue paper. Tell each kid they can grab one green, blue, and red wrapped toy.. or something like that.

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

great ideas! thanks

 

[MeekoB]

We put rubber bouncy balls in with the candy. The balls bounced all over which got the boys moving away from the small space scramble for items from the pinata.

 

[MissAndrea]

I don't think I saw playdoh listed, but you could get one of those $5 bags of the little ones.

 

[Mrsdennison]

I think that diving for the candy is half the fun. We have one every year for my girls bdays. I always buy two extra big bags of candy. When the pinata is broke open and kids start diving, I tear open a bag and sprinkle it to the back where the younger kids/ non divers are. The kids love the candy raining down from over them.

I do like the bouncing ball idea. I might have to try that in March for my youngest.

Mrsdennison

 

[Mom2micayla]

One thing that has always been a hit here is those sticky hands. The kids LOVE those things. lol Also tattoos. You can get them dirt cheap on ebay in just about any style imaginable. I also agree with bouncy balls.. another hit here.

 

[DisneyScraps]

We have done pinatas I have a love hate with them. They are fun but there are those kids that are smaller or less aggressive. Hold back some of the goodies. There is something about beating it with a stick that I don't like. Last time we did one I found a pinata that had strings on the bottom and all the kids pulled them and it opened. I like that a lot better.

You can fit anything you want in the pinata, it's easy to make the hole bigger and then seal with with tape. We were at a party and there were a few gold coins in the pinata. Anyone that got a gold coin got to choose a larger gift. The kids had a lot of fun with that.

This year for DD we did a candy buffet. I liked that a lot better and I was shocked at how respectful the kids were. I laid down some ground rues and it went really well.

I am with the people that can't stand all the little plastic junk. I ends up in the trash.

Lisa

 

[kittycatalina65]

My son is insisting on a Lighting McQueen pinata for his upcoming Lego party (he'll be turning 6). I was lucky enough to find a bag of legos at the thrift store for $3.99, so I'll be putting those in there with the usual candy.