Class gifts for kids

[Benducci]

Our school has a tradition for the first grade that they have a picnic to celebrate the end of the year & the kids are each given a gift. I am in charge of thinking about what the gift should be & I am totally stumped. It has the be in the $5-6 range & we would like to give the kids something that is not junk. Last year they gave them beach towels but the mom in charge got them at a really good sale with coupons so I am not optomistic that we can pull that off again.
Can anyone sugest something? Thanks!

 

[rt2dz]

I'm sure your are going to get a lot great ideas, better than what I can think of right now (I'll come back if something better comes along), but I love it when my kids get books for that type of gift.

Another idea would be picture frames or photo albums. I see (nice) photo albums on sale for around $5 all the time. You could even ask parents who have volunteered if they have pictures of the class at various activities and use a photo printer to get some of the pictures from the year in there. Especially nice if your school doesn't do yearbooks.

Since you said beach towels, my son had a pool party not too long ago and his goody bags consisted of beach bags (on sale for $0.50, but normally for $1 at Garden Ridge) that I put in beach balls (Oriental Trading), a sports bottle with a freezer core (I got mine on sale for $0.75, but Wal-Mart has them for $1.67-$2.68, depending on the size). There was also a word search book from the dollar store, glow sticks that I picked up in packs at the dollar store--6 individual wrapped ones per package. I threw in sunglasses (Oriental Trading[always have great coupon codes you can search for online]). There was some other water/pool/beach toy too. I basically tried to make it seem like things they would need for a day at the beach/pool.

 

[wishtdream]

Do you have a Five Below near you? They have lots of options including beach towels.
http://www.5below.com/

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

How about water bottles with each child's name written on it and "Second Grader" ? We did this at the end of year party for second grade (with 3rd Grader written on it of course ) and the kids still use the bottles to have water in the classroom.

Edited to add: if you do this, it would probably be best to use a paint marker or ask at a crafts store for one that is really permanent. The mom who wrote the names used a colored Sharpie and we have had to touch it up several times since it gets washed a bit.

 

[NotUrsula]

If you're going to paint plastic cups/bottles, the best thing to use is acrylic paint. It will stay on through washings.

The best thing like this that I ever got was not the water bottle itself, but a neoprene bottle holder sleeve. These are GREAT for sending frozen bottles of water to day camp, and it doesn't matter if the kid loses or breaks the spout on the original bottle. (To personalize neoprene, use fabric paints.) This time of year I've seen them at Walgreens (of all places) for about the price that you are looking to spend.

 

[The Disney Bunch]

I love these ideas - thanks! I am going to share with my co-class parent.\

Anyone else?

 

[The Disney Bunch]

Anyone else have any ideas? Thanks!

 

[kahluacream]

What about t-shirts in school colors with the class list of names on the back? When buying in bulk, you can usually get these cheap... esp. if your school already has a source for spirit wear. Good luck!

 

[Mkrop]

One year they gave out pails and shovel with the kids name on them with sidewalk chalk and bubbles inside.

The following year they gave a book to read over the summer, with a message to keep reading ove the summer

 

[myprincessgirlisa]

One year they gave out pails and shovel with the kids name on them with sidewalk chalk and bubbles inside.

The following year they gave a book to read over the summer, with a message to keep reading ove the summer

I DID something similar to this

i did a brown bag with handles & filled it with;
summer cup ~ walgreens 4for$1
bubbles ~ 2pk for $1 (i think i got them at walgreens)
squirt gun from jewel ~ 2 for $1
summer pencil ~ walgreen 6 for $1
stickers ~ oriental trading
and i think i threw in some other "summer' themed stuff but i cant recall

 

[katie111]

I was at Walmart yesterday & they had great kids beach towels for $5.47. They're nice quality & they're really cute. Lots of themes like monkeys, mermaids, jungle, etc.

 

[The Disney Bunch]

I like the beach towel idea I wonder if they still have enough in stock.

Thanks for all the great ideas!! Keep them coming!!

 

[tweedlemom]

Not as exciting as all the other suggestions, but how about a gift card to a book store so that they can continue their love of reading over the summer? If you're going to spend $5 per kid anyway, let them go pick out their own book! Just my 2 cents...

 

[MichelleinMaine]

Snapfish has mini photo albums (printed), I think 3/$15 or something. You get a % off if you buy more that are identical. They have to be all the same, which you'd really want anyway. Sort of a mini-yearbook. If you have someone handy with photoshop, instead of just s.f.'s templates, they could do a little digital scrapbook page.

We used them last year for 8x12 albums for the teachers as a gift, then each family bought their own as well. I think they came down to something lik $12 each with the discount in there.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Not as exciting as all the other suggestions, but how about a gift gard to a book store so that they can continue their love of reading over the summer? If you're going to spend $5 per kid anyway, let them go pick out their own book! Just my 2 cents...

Yes, my ds7 loves Barnes and Noble. Hard to get him out of there.

 

[eeyore3847]

Not as exciting as all the other suggestions, but how about a gift gard to a book store so that they can continue their love of reading over the summer? If you're going to spend $5 per kid anyway, let them go pick out their own book! Just my 2 cents...

I think this is the best idea! This is a great way to keep the learning through the summer. I hate when parents at parties or end of the year give the kids candy and stickers. Give the gift of learning! My daughter loves to read and then with $5 she can get a new American girl booK!
JMO
Lori

 

[tweedlemom]

My 5 and 6 year olds are just starting to appreciate chapter books being read to them at night. Once we finish the "Captain Underpants" series, they want to start "The Magic Treehouse" series. A bookstore gift card would help them continue that passion!

 

[Benducci]

Unfortunately the book idea was shot down by all the other class parents- I thought it was good.

Bumping this to see if anyone else has any ideas! Thanks!!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Shame the book gift certificate idea was shot down. - I like that one myself. But the T's is a close second!

Not sure if you have one near you, but I just got plain T-shirts at AC Moore (a craft sore around here) on buy-one-get-one-free, at $3.77! You could get fabric markers, and they could sign each others, draw on them, etc. - maybe even come up with a "class flag" to draw on them.

I also like the water bottle idea, but I would check with the teacher first to make sure everyone is being promoted to 2nd grade.

 

[tweedlemom]

Is it possible to work with the teacher to burn a slideshow of pictures of the kids from the whole year onto CD's for them? Then they'd have kindergarten memories on a movie forever. A friend of mine does that with her class.