Halloween Party Bag Ideas (Without the Plastic Tat)

Party bags are the bit of the party that gets left to the night before, and the bit that other parents actually notice. A Halloween party bag does not need to be full of plastic that ends up in the bin by Sunday. It needs one good bag, one thing to wear, one thing to keep and one thing to eat. 🎃

Here is how we put together a Halloween party bag that looks lovely, costs less than you think and does not involve a single plastic spider ring.

Choose your Halloween party bag 👜

The bag itself does most of the work. The Halloween Cauldron Party Bags x 8 from Meri Meri are a proper cauldron shape with bubbling potions on the front, and they hold far more than they look like they should. Set one at each place on the party table and they double as the place setting. For a bigger party, a plain black or orange paper bag with a name written on in a white pen is a lovely, simple alternative.

What to put in a Halloween party bag for under £3 a child 💷

Four things, that is all. Here is a bag for a party of eight that comes in under £3 a head, and every single thing in it gets used.

Swap the hair clip for a sheet of It's Halloween! Temporary Tattoos for the children who would rather have a skeleton on their arm than a bat in their hair, and the whole bag drops to under £1.

Halloween stickers, tattoos and nail stickers 🦇

If you only put one thing in the bag, make it something they can do straight away in the car home. The Halloween Shaped Stickers x 25 are ghosts, pumpkins and black cats with gold foil, and twenty-five sheets stretches to a whole class with spares. The It's Halloween! Temporary Tattoos are two big sheets you cut up, so every child gets three or four, and the Halloween Nail Stickers x 200 are the thing the older girls fight over. Put a bowl of them on the table and the party has an activity too.

Halloween hair clips and stick-on earrings 🎀

The Halloween Icons Hair Clips x 8 are enamel clips on gold tone slides - a pumpkin, a ghost, a bat, a black cat - and they are the party bag gift that is still being worn at school on Monday. The Halloween Icons Stick On Party Earrings x 124 are the cheapest thing on this list per child and the one every guest puts on the second they open the bag. One pack covers the party, the trick-or-treaters and probably next year.

Party bag fillers that are not Halloween at all 🦕

Children do not care that it is October. A sheet of Dinosaur Shaped Stickers, Kitten Club Shaped Stickers or the Animal Parade Temporary Tattoos goes down just as well in a cauldron bag as anything with a pumpkin on it, and it means the party bag is not thrown out with the decorations. The Puppy Party Temporary Tattoos x 6 are our favourite for the littlest guests.

How to set up a Halloween party bag station 🧙

For older children, let them fill their own. Line up the cauldron bags on a side table, put the stickers, tattoos, earrings and hair clips in bowls with a little card saying "take one", and make it the last activity before home time. It takes the job off your list, it keeps everyone busy while parents arrive, and the children love choosing. A honeycomb witch hat hung above the table turns it into a proper potion station.

Halloween party bag ideas for toddlers 👶

For the very little ones, skip anything small enough to swallow and keep it to three things: a sheet of the big stickers, a cauldron bag they can carry themselves, and a satsuma with a pumpkin face drawn on. The bag is the treat at that age.

Capture the Halloween party bag memories 📸

A row of filled cauldron bags on the table is one of the best photos of the party, so take it before the guests arrive. Tag us on Instagram at @littlebigpartyco - we love seeing your party bags! 🎃

Shop Halloween party bags 🛒

Party bags and fillers are in our Halloween Party collection, and the Meri Meri bags for every theme are in Meri Meri Party Bags. Free UK delivery over £40 and next-day delivery on everything in stock.