Long ago, when my kids were little (they are 17 and almost 20 now…sigh…), I used to be the “Class mom” at their elementary school. A class mom helped with holiday parties, field trips, special projects and more.
I used to love to give the kids in each class a little goodie bag. Finding stuff to put in the goodie bags was easier said than done. Due to allergies, food wasn’t really an option (such as cookies). I wanted to give them things like coloring books, crayons and small toys.
Back then I found the perfect resource – Oriental Trading Company. Since then they are my #1 place to go when I am looking for gifts for “bulk.”
Oriental Trading is much more than that. They also offer holiday and seasonal decorations, party supplies, gifts and more. When I say “decorations,” I’m not just talking about paper things you tape to the wall or ceiling – I’m talking real decorations and home decor.
Below are some examples of the lovely home decor items I have collected over the years from Oriental Trading.
I had been a stay at home mom for a long time. I returned tot he work place a few years ago. Since then I have worked with young children. Now I have the need to purchase small gifts in bulk. I truly enjoy gifting children goodies for the holidays. It makes my heart smile when I see how happy and exited they are when they get a goodie bag from me.
This year I stocked up on goodies from Oriental Trading. This is the first time all the kids in the class celebrates Christmas, so I was able to get a few Christmas items. Normally I tend to stick with a winter/snow theme instead so as not gift Christmas items to children who celebrate other winter holidays.
I love all the goodies I got from their Christmas Toys and Novelties section.
These adorable little polar bears, dressed up for playtime in the snow with their colorful hats and scarves, are actually finger puppets. They are made for little fingers, but I was able to put them on my fingers too.
The package came with enough to give each child at least two of them (we have 22 kids in our class).
These are super adorable. I might just keep the extras for myself.
These are fun! They are little elves (boys and girls) that bend. You can bend their arms and legs into different positions (I kept them flat for the photo). You can bend them to hang on to things too.
I love that they came in both genders. I should have enough of these to give each child a boy and a girl elve. They are going to have fun with these.
These are little bottles of bubbles all dressed for winter with little snowflakes adorning the bottles.
Each bottle comes with a tiny wand that is attached to the bottle.
These are itty bitty, but considering I work with 4-6 year olds, these should be fine for their little hands.
These rubber duckies are darling! I love them! How cute are these?
They are real rubber duckies, so kids can play with them in the bath tub.
I love how cute they are all dressed for the holiday. The Santa Duck is my favorite.
This was a great buy from Oriental Trading. They are finger puppets that came in a variety of designs. I believe there are 72 in total, which means I can give each child one of each of the designs.
They have holes on the bottom (where the legs would go). Simply slid you fingers through those holes and it looks like the puppets have legs. You can make them walk across the table. It’s actually very funny to see.
Most still had the holes in them that needed to be popped out, but it took no effort at all. They easily popped out.
I would to see the kids I work with put on a little puppet show with these adorable finger puppets.
The kids I work with are really into the Peanuts Gang. I found these adorable, festive Christmas stickers on Oriental Trading. These are not for the goodie bags, but rather for the stickers we give them every day when they behave (which is pretty much all the kids, every day). The get smaller stickers for their sticker charts and larger stickers (like ones shown above) to wear on their shirts.
There are 100 stickers on each roll and various designs. They are super cute and perfect for the holiday.
These stickers I am going to put in their goodie bags. They are “Build your own Snowman” stickers. Each one comes with a snowman (look how cute their faces are) and a variety of things to decorate them with (scarves, mittens, buttons, hats…). There are a variety of ones on each roll too. I thought these would be fun for the kids to put together on a book or something else. I even considered giving these out earlier and letting the kid use them to decorate cards for their moms and dads. I haven’t put the goodie bags together yet, so I am still on the fence as to what I am doing with these.
I also picked up some Christmas crafts where the kids could make their own ornaments from Oriental Trading. They have a large variety of options. Sadly, I didn’t read the quantity of each one that I purchased, so I didn’t order enough for each child to do one. I have two different ornaments the kid can make and only 12 of each (we have 22 kids).
I’m either going to put them in the prize bin (the kids get prizes when they reach certain points on the chart) or put on in each goodie bag.
It’s unfortunate that I didn’t pay attention to the quantity. They would have made a fun project to do together. Every day the kids do a project together and that is what my plan was for the ornaments.
I don’t have a photo of the completed ornaments, only because I have 12 of each and I want to give them to the kids I work with.
Here are images of the ornaments I have for the kid to make.
One set of ornaments are made from sturdy cardboard with an image a child can color. I like that you can add a name to the base to personalize them. My idea was to put each child’s name on it and the year so they can gift the ornament to their family.
The snowman ornaments are made with tiny pom poms that go inside a clear, round ornament. Then you can peel and stick on the facial features and the ear muffs which are pop poms connected with a tiny pipe cleaner/chenille stem. They are super cute!
It looks like Oriental Trading is sold out of the ornaments too, so I couldn’t order more. Oh well. Next year I’ll make sure to make sure of the quantity before ordering.
The best thing of all – all of the items are super affordable. That is the #1 one reason why I shop at Oriental Trading – because I can get items in bulk for an affordable price.
If you are in the market for holiday decorations, decor, gifts or party favors, be sure to check out what Oriental Trading has to offer.
Oriental Trading even has a crafting section to inspire you. I love their recipe for candy cane brownies and their Polar Express Party ideas are wonderful!
Visit OrientalTrading.com. You can also find Oriental Trading on all social media channels. Their links are found on the bottom right of their website.
Do you shop at Oriental Trading?
Have you ever visited their website or received one of their catalogs?
Feel free to share your thoughts. I always love to hear from readers.
Kimberly
*I received free products to review. I also purchase from Oriental Trading on my own from time to time. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Dana Rodriguez says
I enjoy browsing their. Site. They have so many cute things!
Holly Thomas says
A friend of mine told me about this site years ago, I have been shopping there ever since!