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My kids love giving out goody bags at their parties and they also love receiving them. They are also fine when there are no goody bags.

I actually kinda hate favors and I appreciate when parents don't give my kid one. Not to be rude, but they tend to be not the best quality of toys and my daughter will inevitably get super attached to something that will immediately break. If you want to give them, maybe look into something that is disposable. We did pumpkin shaped cookies at my daughter's 2 year old birthday and the kids loved it.

I would not drop my kid off at a 4 year old birthday party unless I knew the parents very well.

I think it's a good way to say "thanks for coming and bringing a gift" but agree that it's important to find something that isn't plastic crap. My son just had his birthday and we gave out books - I found a box set of Paw Patrol books on Amazon that was $10 for 4 books and gave each kid one, gift wrapped. It was a Paw Patrol themed party and I think you can never have too many books.

We are skipping them this year, if anything we are going to just give each kid a balloon

I'm on team "party favors are crap"...but the kids really do love them. As a parent, I love things that eventually go away. Here are some awesome things we've gotten (rather than candy or plastic junk bought in bulk from Oriental Trading Company):

$1 store pom poms
$1 store puzzle
Book (we often buy box sets and break them up as favors)
Helium balloon
Sidewalk chalk
Bubbles
some kind of wearable related to the party theme - tiara, wings, cape, wand, etc.

Personally I don't need favors! You can't please everyone though!

I dread favors and think you'd be doing others a favor by not giving them out. Although, if you have a really amazing idea and actually want to do it, go for it. This doesn't happen often, but we've gotten (or given out) some favors that were a big hit. Usually it was things kids can actually use (beach toys, paint sets, small books...)

I haaaate the typical favors. We've gotten small coloring books or an activity book that I thought were great. I think nothing is totally fine too.

I hate the favors that are just cheap little toys. No one needs them and they are junk that the kids scream about not getting rid of. We gave out helium foil balloons at a recent party and they were a huge hit for the kids and only $1 each. Michael's has these little bags with a few markers and a mini coloring book with stickers and I think they are a good option too. They have them for all different characters...Mickey, Curious George, Daniel Tiger, etc and are also only $1 each.

We just had a small little party at our house so they were bopping around and the kids were running around, playing with them. For larger parties, I'd probably tie them to the chairs.

I say no favors unless they are edible. I don't like little bits and pieces.

As for dropping off, from what I've seen, parents will stay for 4/5 yos and under and leave for 5/6+ yos.

Especially in that setting I would say skip or do balloons.

I like favors, but ones that skew more towards art supplies or dramatic play rather than plasticy toys that break or candy that isn't age appropriate (someone gave us a jolly rancher when lo was less than 2-- umm choking hazard!) So like, cute crayons (for los last bday I found some on Etsy that were shaped like animals, or we got rainbow/multicolor ones) or stampers or stickers. We also gave out cheap sunglasses at los last bday that were a huge hit-- I bought a pack at party city for super cheap that were star shaped and the kids looovedthem-- I kept seeing them wear them at day care drop off for weeks. We still have some extra that lo wears

@ElbieKay: We got one of those train kits as a favor at a recent birthday party, it was so nice!

I think they are fine to skip. I couldn't care less if someone didn't give out a favor for any type of party (kids bday, shower, wedding, etc). The kids do like them, but id be shocked if it was actually noticed/missed.

@Mrs. Lion: I would not even consider dropping off my kid at that age so I would not get into that.

For favors, I find the cheap stuff annoying but my 5 yo wanted favors. So we bought those $1 big character cups from target (ours are near the party stuff/greeting cards, put in a small coloring book, a sheet of stickers, and fruit snacks. I bought those cheap see through favor bags that came with twist ties and we were done! It felt like a win/win--somewhat useful, mostly edible, disposable, and not super expensive.