OMG, you guys!!! I just survived Wyatt’s 10th birthday party and I HAVE to share! It was a full-blown Super Mario Bros. extravaganza, and honestly, I’m still buzzing (and recovering, thanks to way too much coffee, as usual! ☕️). Ten-year-olds are a whole different beast For party expectations, let me tell you! They want cool stuff, not just… well, stuff.

The main event, other than the DIY Piranha Plant beanbag toss (which was a hit, by the way!), was definitely the mario birthday treat bags. I swore this year I wouldn’t over-buy, but here we are, with a garage full of extra candy corn mushrooms and questionable plastic stars. 🤦‍♀️ My husband, Arjun, was giving me the look when I came home from Target with like, six different kinds of blue and red ribbons. "But they have to match, Arjun!" I told him! You know how it is. It's a sickness. I just can't help myself!

I found these super cute little red and green question-block boxes on Etsy for the actual bags, which saved me some serious DIY time. Each one was about $1.50, and I got 15 of them. For the filler, I tried to go for a mix of candy and little toys that weren't totally junk. Inside each one, we had:

• A small bag of Haribo gummy peaches (those look like power-up stars, right? Kinda!)
• Some chocolate coins (gold coins, obviously!)
• A mini Mario-themed notebook and pencil set (found these at Five Below, a steal at $3 for a pack of 10)
• A few stretchy Marios and Luigis (from Amazon, a pack of 20 for $12.99)
• And the BIG hit: a tiny pack of Mario Kart racing stickers. These were from Party City, probably the most expensive thing at about $0.75 each, but the kids went NUTS for them.

Total cost per bag was probably around $5.50-6.00, which feels a little steep but totally worth it for the happy faces! The kids were so excited tearing into them. Sofia (my 8-year-old) even helped me stuff them, though Stella (1) mostly just tried to eat the chocolate coins. Bless her heart! Nora (3) was just thrilled to be involved, putting one sticker in each bag instead of ten, ha!

I was thinking back to Owens 5Th Birthday Mario Mayhem Secret Weapon that someone posted here a while back, and that really inspired me to go all out with the theme. I even tried to make little "fire flower" sugar cookies, but they ended up looking more like sad, melted blobs. Oh well! You win some, you lose some, right?

What are your best treat bag ideas, especially for older kids?! I always feel like the younger ones are easy, but 10-year-olds? Phew! Any tips on not over-buying?! Send help and more coffee!

Scarlett, sounds like an awesome party! Ten-year-olds are definitely a challenge; Leo (my 13-year-old) would scrutinize every single item in those mario birthday treat bags. I hear you on the over-buying. My wife Victoria and I just finished Jude's (3) "Dia de los Muertos Fiesta" themed birthday – yeah, a bit unconventional for a three-year-old, but we love to mix traditions!

For us, the treat bags are always about a balance. I usually make a spreadsheet, honestly. One column for "must-haves," another for "nice-to-haves," and then "cultural touch." For Jude's party, we had little sugar skull keychains from a local artisan market here in Albuquerque, which were about $2 each. Then some mini packs of Mexican candies like Duvalín, and tiny maracas. I always try to include something handmade, even if it's just a personalized tag. For Ellie's (11) last birthday, which was a "Mythical Creatures" theme, we did little homemade spellbooks (just folded paper with some twine) and filled them with tiny quartz crystals we got wholesale online for like $0.50 each. Much better than plastic junk, and surprisingly, the kids loved them.

One thing I learned the hard way with treat bags: don't try to make every single bag perfectly unique. I did that once for a "Pirate Treasure" party for Leo when he was 8. I had a different map in each bag, and some had a slightly shinier "gem" than others. Chaos ensued when the kids compared notes. Never again! Now, it's identical contents or nothing. Live and learn, right? I nearly ended up with a mutiny over a plastic gold coin versus a shiny foil-wrapped chocolate coin. The little things, man. Total cost for Jude's bags was probably closer to $4.00 a piece, but it felt more authentic.

Your Piranha Plant toss sounds epic! I might steal that idea for a future party. I'm always looking for ways to make things unique without breaking the bank, or my sanity. Next time I'm doing a gaming theme, I'm definitely looking into those mario birthday treat bags ideas! I even saw the Sonic Party Treat Bags Set recently and thought, 'Hmm, could I make that work for a combined birthday?' Always thinking about the next theme!

Oh, Scarlett, I feel you on the party hangover! It's always a sprint, isn't it? As a military spouse, we move around so much – Chicago this year, who knows where next! – so I’ve gotten really good at DIY and using what I have. Caleb (my 8-year-old) is my little assistant, and honestly, letting him help with everything saves me so much stress, even if it takes twice as long. He’s currently obsessed with space, so we did a "Galaxy Explorer" party last month. Think glitter, glow sticks, and a whole lot of aluminum foil planets.

For our treat bags, I skipped the pre-made stuff entirely. We took brown paper lunch bags – like, 100 for $7 at Jewel-Osco – and Caleb decorated them with silver paint pens and star stickers. We called them "Stardust Collection Bags." For the fillings, I really tried to think outside the candy box. I got these little astronaut ice cream packets online (a bit pricey at $2 each, but a huge wow factor!), a small bag of glow-in-the-dark stars from Dollar Tree ($1 for a pack of 50!), and then we made "alien slime" using Elmer's glue and borax. I know, I know, messy, but the kids loved it! Each treat bag probably cost about $4.50. I actually read about some of the issues people have with treat bag fillers in articles like Ezras Rodeo Rex Treat Bags Dilemmas, and it really made me think about quality over quantity.

I totally get the struggle with the older kids. The key for Caleb's friends seems to be interactive stuff. Like, a tiny craft kit they can take home, or a cool science experiment. My biggest "oops" moment was for Caleb's 6th birthday. We had a superhero theme, and I thought it would be brilliant to put homemade chocolate chip cookies (decorated with frosting, mind you!) in the treat bags. It was a hot day, and by the time the party ended and parents were picking up, the cookies had basically melted into a sticky, gooey mess inside the bags. Learn from my mistakes, folks: no melty treats in warm weather! I wish I'd thought of something non-food like tiny puzzle books or those little snap bracelets. It was a disaster, definitely something I'd do differently next time. But the kids were still happy to just run around and play!

Your mario birthday treat bags sound amazing! Especially those sticker packs. I find that something consumable or something they can do often goes over better than another tiny plastic toy that ends up under the couch.

Scarlett, a Mario party for a 10-year-old? You’re brave, and it sounds like you nailed it! As an event coordinator here in Spokane, I'm all about efficiency and making things work, especially with five kids myself (Willow 5, Meera 7, Diego 8, Leo 10, Owen 11 – it’s a full house!). I track everything on a spreadsheet, from RSVPs to vendor contacts to, yes, even treat bag contents. My main goal is always to minimize waste and maximize impact, without getting glitter everywhere, which is my personal nemesis.

For Owen's 11th birthday recently, we did a "Retro Arcade" theme. Instead of individual treat bags, which can get chaotic and pricey, I did a "Prize Booth" concept. I bought a bunch of small, gender-neutral items in bulk from Oriental Trading – things like mini Rubik's cubes, fancy erasers, cool pens, and even small packs of card games. I created a simple points system based on how well they did in the arcade games we set up (mostly old Wii games and some online emulators on a projector). Each item had a "point value," and kids could pick and choose. It cost me about $75 for 20 kids, so roughly $3.75 per kid, and they loved the agency of picking their own "prizes." No extra stuff I didn't want ending up in my garage!

I remember trying to do proper Mario-themed treat bags for Diego’s 8th birthday a couple years ago. I thought I was so smart getting all these little Mario-themed candies online. But the shipping was insane, and half of them arrived melted or crushed because it was July. Plus, finding specific themed items that weren't cheap plastic trinkets was a nightmare. I ended up just throwing a bunch of bulk lollipops and stickers into red bags from the dollar store. Totally not the vision I had. It was a classic example of overthinking and then under-delivering. Now, I try to stick to a general theme for the party and then functional, reusable items for the take-homes.

I'm also a big fan of reusing decorations. My "Happy Birthday" banner has seen at least 15 parties at this point! And those cute question-block boxes sound adorable. For the little ones, I often include these Kids Birthday Party Hats 11-Pack as part of the take-home, especially if they're not too worn from the party itself. It’s a fun, visible item that parents appreciate.

Keep the coffee flowing, ladies! It's the only way to survive these party planning marathons.