Pinata ideas?

[MrsMike]

My son's birthday is in a week and we'll be having a little party. He is OBSESSED with the idea of a pinata. He talks about it everyday. I'm fine with the idea, but I'm not sure what to fill it with. We don't really do junk food/candies that much. Chocolate is out because it'll be outside and it's been in the 100's these past few days. I thought about little crap toys, but then I worry about lead. Any suggestions?

[Drummer's Wife]

We just did candy - like chewy and hard stuff - nothing that would melt. With a group of kids, the amount they had in their little goody bag really wasn't too much. Would stickers or temporary tattoos fall out okay? Hope you get some better ideas of what to fill it with.

We've done both the kind where you pull the strings and the ones you have to hit.

[newbymom05]

My 5 y/o had a pirate themed party, and I got a treasure chest pinata from Party Express (I think,ordered from 2 places) and a kit that converted it to a pull-string. I did the pull string so I wouldn't have to worry about DS being upset if someone else popped it first. That did happen on his 3rd year and it was a bummer.

For filler, I filled individual goody bags (1 per kid) with tattoos, an eye patch, little squirt gun, little pirate toy, skull ring, and one mini candy bar. Having them already enclosed in bags was perfect b/c there was no melee over the loot and everyone got exactly the same thing. I ordered some of it online, and then went to USA Toys and picked stuff that was themed and looked relatively lead-free. It's a fine line--you don't want cr*p toys, but you don't want a bunch of cr*p candy either. That's one thing, I got good quality candy--I hate when we go to a party and come home w/ the super-cheap pinata filler candy. I went w/ chocolate and we didn't have a problem, but I also considered little jelly bean boxes or bags of gummi bears.

[mumkimum]

Goodie bags are a good idea, I kinda like that.

We've done stuff like the yummy earth lollipops, mini raisin boxes as well as stuff like mini play doh or silly putty, pencils & erasers (markers/crayons/notepads are good too).

I'll add tossing some confetti or cut up tissue paper inside is pretty cool - you don't really need as much filling in a pinata as you might feel like you do (they're smaller than they look, sometimes, too )

[chamomeleon]

We just had a pinata for my son's 5th birthday party. It was the string-pull kind (and didn't open until the very last string - what are the chances??) I filled it with some candy (lollipops and hard candy), stickers, and silly bands, which were a big hit.

[MrsMike]

Lots of good ideas here! Thanks! I'm definitely going for the pull string kind. :-)

[flower01]

Smarties and dum-dums are good pinata candy. We don't do candy here at all, but my daughter made a pinata at Chik-fil-a recently. That's what they filled it with and I was pretty happy with it. I could let her eat 1...and it would keep her occupied for awhile.

I also think you could do some good cheap toys...like bouncy balls, jacks, stickers, mini-erasers.

[4evermom]

The first time we did a pinata, I filled goody bags and wrote each kids name on them so they had to find their name. The contents were a little different since there was a wide age range and both boys and girls. And I knew what color preferences some of the kids had. I particularly liked knowing each kid would get one of everything. Otherwise, I would have felt I had to get extras to make sure everyone had a good chance of getting a particular item. I was really pleased with putting the goody bags in the pinata because the young kids don't really understand pinatas and there are always seems to be confusion and tears. We did the pull string kind since I really wasn't confident in the kids swinging sticks around in the house, lol.

Last time, when ds turned 8, we did it the classic way and everything was fine. The youngest kid was 6. I filled it with loose legos, candy, stickers, and a couple other things.

[eepster]

Trader Joe's organic lollypops and Annie's Bunny fruit snacks. Yummy treats that are low guilt.

[MrsMike]

Thanks for more ideas. Making a Trader Joes visit today.

I will do a classic pinata when he is older. This party will be staffed by kids ages 1 to 6. I fear a swinging stick with that crowd.

[AndVeeGeeMakes3]

I just did one last week - a dinosaur - and, since dd doesn't eat candy at all, I filled it with little dollar craft kits from Hobby Lobby (dino themed) and a bunch of little pull-toy dinos and frogs and whatnot. I also went to the dollar store and got a bunch of rubber balls, pencils, and some hard candy, and pixie sticks. I've had more than one mom tell me that their kiddos are still playing with all the dinos and frogs.

Have fun!!!

[mattemma04]

When dd was 4 or 5 I did a dino theme party.

I made dino eggs using ballons and the paper/flour paste.Popped ballons,painted them,and then I filled them with....a beanie dino,dino stickers,dino puzzle,and maybe some candy.Been so long I can't remember all that I put in them. I had all the dino eggs in a nest, and at the end of the party each kid got to pick and crack open a dino egg.If you are doing a harry potter party it could be dragon eggs,lol.Anyway it was fun to do.

[greenemami]

Originally Posted by mattemma04

When dd was 4 or 5 I did a dino theme party.

I made dino eggs using ballons and the paper/flour paste.Popped ballons,painted them,and then I filled them with....a beanie dino,dino stickers,dino puzzle,and maybe some candy.Been so long I can't remember all that I put in them. I had all the dino eggs in a nest, and at the end of the party each kid got to pick and crack open a dino egg.If you are doing a harry potter party it could be dragon eggs,lol.Anyway it was fun to do.

I LOVE this idea and might have to convince one of the kids to do a dino/harry potter themed party just to do it

[PatchChild]

tiny balloons can help fill one up and look like a lot of stuff.

Some things I've seen are
-pencils
-microwave popcorn
-tattoos
-squishy balls, like the ones that soak up water
-the little washcloths that start out all small until you put them in water
-hawaiian leis
-bags of pirates booty or other snacks

Things I'd like to add
-flip flops from the craft store,Michael's has then for $1 right now
-silly hats
-scarfs
-mardi gras necklaces