• Silly String is a fun novelty gift for children.boy getting nailed with string image by sonya etchison from Fotolia.com
  
  Children's novelty gifts are the perfect presents when it is the day before payday or you just want to hand out silly parting gifts to your children's guests. Available at most dollar or department stores, they are inexpensive enough that you can afford to buy them by the cartful. Despite their low cost, children love them.
  
  

Silly Putty

• Silly Putty, invented in 1943 by James Wright, is well, just plain silly. Yet Binney & Smith in Easton, Pennsylvania, make 600 pounds of it, every day, and kids love the stuff. Pinkish in color, it bounces like a ball, picks up newspaper print and stretches, and it can be reused repeatedly. Children are always experimenting to find more uses for this seemingly silly stuff.
  
  

The Slinky

• The Slinky was mistakenly invented in 1943, when Richard James was trying to develop springs for marine use. His wife, Betty, named the toy "Slinky," which means sleek and graceful. With a $500 loan, Richard and Betty entered the toy market with little success until they thought to erect a slanted board in Gimbel's Department Store and show the slinky in action. They sold 400 of them in three hours and went on to sell millions, even up to now, in 2010. Included in the Toy Industry Association's Century of Toys List, a Slinky is just a silly spring that makes children smile and makes kids out of adults that remember using them as children.
  
  

Temporary Tattoos

• Temporary tattoos, especially now that the real thing is so in style today, are appealing novelty gifts to include in take-home party favors for children's parties. Cracker Jacks is rumored to be the first distributor of temporary tattoos, when, in 1912, they introduced their "A Prize in Every Box" advertising campaign. Comprised of temporary vegetables dyes on paper, children simply lay a temporary tattoo paper on top of their skin, then layer it with a wet paper towel until they can carefully peel the picture away from the paper and onto their skin. This type of tattoo only lasts for a short duration, making it an enjoyable and practical novelty gift.
  
  

Smelly Stickers

• Stickers are available in every shape, pattern and color and children love them. Inexpensive bits of paper with sticky backs, they depict every hobby, character and animal a child can imagine. Scratch-and-sniff stickers are an amusing twist to a traditional favorite that children enjoy. Originally developed for cologne and perfume samples in magazines, scratch-and-sniff stickers have expanded their way into the novelty gift market, making great party favor gifts for children.