Class gift exchange - sigh.

[PaulaSue]

My girls have gone to 2 different school districts and I have never heard of a gift exchane in school. Only gifts to teachers. Now they did do a used book exchange but not for christmas.

 

[luvsJack]

In 3rd, 4th & 5th grade (still elementary in our district) my kids did what I thought was a great idea for the holidays - Party in a Box. Everyone brought in a gift-wrapped shoe box that had inside a drink, a snack and a gift (around $3 - $5) for either a boy or girl and then the boxes got distributed around the class. The kids loved them! I remember putting in a juice box, a gingerbread man/woman cookie we bought from the supermarket, and then the fun thing for the kids was finding something their friends would like - yoyo's were a big hit one year I remember. We have a store called The Learning Express nearby and they have great items for that price range - used to buy a lot of stocking stuffers there.

Now that the kids are in 6th & 10th grade (High School & Middle school) they don't do things like that any more and that's too bad as the kids really enjoyed them.

Jill

That's a really cute idea!!

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

OP- I can see the point of the entire trade. I however am not a fan of giving up something I own to someone else just because I'm not currently using it and to force a kid to do that seems harsh. Also how do you know the gifts weren't in the budget? Have you seen some of the awesome sales going on right now. You add a coupon to that and you can very well be getting a toy that might be valued at $45 but you only paid $25.

 

[surfergirl602]

Wow. Just wow. I find this type of exchange -especially for first graders - appauling!!!! My kids would be crying if I made them pick one of their toys to give away!! I would probably pick my child up from school before this exchange so that they wouldn't be a part of it. How about doing a toy drive for a charity instead?

 

[Anjelica]

I've been very happy with the gift exchange at my daughter's school. Each child brings in a book (not worth more than $2.00-$3.00) for a girl or a boy (if they are a girl they bring in a girl book and if they are a boy they bring in a book for a boy). This is EXTREMELY reasonable and they have been doing this since she was in Kindergarten (she is in 2nd Grade now).

 

[Ember]

If this is entirely decided by the parents, then they should probably run it too. Kind of like, if I'm class Mom, I along with any volunteers, run the class party. So if there were any problems, the parents could come to me, not the teacher. The teacher is there for the party, but the parents run it.

Now this I would totally agree with! It's not how it works, but it's a fantastic idea!