Dance recital gift ideas

[lts862]

My DD8 gets to spend the day with family, have her hair done up, wear a little make-up and body/hair glitter. It's a ton of fun for her just doing that for now. She'll also get a bouquet of flowers after the recital.

this is exactly what we do!!

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Flowers and I sometimes buy her a charm for her charm bracelet.

 

[bellebuzzandpooh]

I would give a cute piece of jewelry. ;-) I'm a bit partial because I'm a jewelry designer, but I think that would be a nice little gift!

 

[my2heartbeats]

Great that works well for you - as for us the whole dance recital is a family affair - all the nieces (one nephew did but he recently stopped) take as well as three of the moms (myself included) in the mom's tap class and we dance with our daughters in a special number too. It's a blast for us and we enjoy celebrating it with dinner (Steak n Shake on the river is our tradition) and a gift for the kids (well heck the mom's sometimes give to one another as well). That said because we know we are doing it many years the gifts have been bought in sales (even years before lol) and are WAYYYY cheaper than flowers.

This year I had to drop out of the class because I have to pick up my daughter from the CP program at Disney the week before but we will be at the recital along with the rest of the family enjoying this great tradition we have had for 19 years now! WOW!

And yes I know I posted about last years pedicure but that was just plain fun for my daughter who had taken 18 years and taught 4. So even though that wasn't super cheap it was appreciated and fun.

COLOR="Purple"]These ppl talking about how recitals or events or passing your grade doesn't deserve something a little extra, must didn't get anything for doing a great job in ANYTHING in there childhood years!! But that is thier opinion and I have to respect that. I feel like an EXTRA show of how proud you are of the children, the more they feel like they have done exceptional job, and coming from their parents mean even more. Yes a card is great and you just showing up is good if that's all you want to give. But I LOVE to show my DD how super proud of her I am by giving her something EXTRA for ALL of her hard work and dedication for the past year. she will have whatever it is that you give her for years and years to come.... And btw my DD dont expect ANYTHING at all..... just my opinion[/COLOR]laugdance3:

 

[bas71873]

I agree with the pp's. Between the 6 classes, the shoes, tickets etc... I don't get anything

I agree with everyone -- we pay a small fortune for out 2 dd's to dance... thats enough! We do go out to dinner after the recital.

I didn't realize that dance studios don't always give trophies.

Every year that my daughter has danced (at two studios) she has always received one.

I've decided that I'm either a mean mommy or cheap. Perhaps both (I followe the tooth fairy thread on this board too and I'm REALLY cheap in that department). We don't do gifts after recital either and my DD has never questioned it. My mom always bring her a single rose and DD thinks that's neat, but she's more excited about going out to dinner with a few of her dance pals after the show than anything else.

Our studio does not do trophies either (thankfullly...just one more thing to put somewhere and that has to be dusted). They give out these large, fancy safety pin-like things that go on the girls' dance bags and each year they get a different color fancy bead charm to add to it and they get a pin & bead for each class they take.

 

[Tink-n-MrIncredible]

My DD has a charm braclet. I get her a "flower" charm, that way they will last forever.

 

[AntePrincess]

TBH, I never got any sort of gift for my dance recitals, plays, or concerts, though other girls got balloons or flowers. I don't think the boys ever got anything! The most that we did when I was growing up was go out to ice cream, because there was a tradition of going out for ice cream whenever we saw "theater," ie anything done on a stage.

I think I will give my daughters charms for the different things that they do such as scouts, 4H, and (if they follow in my footsteps) choir, theater, and dance. Right now they just want to be librarians. Some days librarian princess super heroes. I don't think they make a charm for that.

 

[Hannathy]

My DD took dance for 16 yrs, started at 2 till she graduated. so 16 recitals and she got a small bouquet of flowers on the last night. First yr she got a single carnation. She did like to give the other dancers in her class a flower so we did that but she never got a gift.

 

[Vickie46]

My daughter after about 5 recitals... chooses a gift card instead of the money we would spend on flowers.

 

[mjkacmom]

I didn't realize that dance studios don't always give trophies.

Every year that my daughter has danced (at two studios) she has always received one.

I'm not a fan of participation trophies. Ds14 ditched his, keeping just the ones where the team actually won. In our dance competitions (no recitals), the girls dance solos, and only a fraction get anything. In the more beginner competitions, only first, second, and third medals get handed out (girls have to wait for about an hour to see if they placed), and the more competitive comps give awards for the top half.

Some of my kids are involved in theater - they'll get flowers for one performance (usually last - there can be up to 5), and maybe some chocolate.

 

[drinkme]

My dd13 also does theater. We started only giving her flowers on opening nights, then we only gave flowers when she was the lead. We stopped with the flowers last year. She does so many recitals, performances, etc. that the house was looking like a flower shop! lol. She has a performance today. Between the classes, costumes, shoes, etc. and the $18 tickets that's just enough money spent.

She has a recital next week. She just had a play (lead role) last month. And then she'll be starting a couple summer theater workshops in 2 weeks with her performances this summer. It's year round with us. Not just one performance a year.

 

[leebee]

DD18 doesn't even always get flowers. It's all just too much. Let's see... $2000 a year for tuition, pointe shoes are about $100 a pair and need to be replaced every 2 months (give or take... more like monthly during Nutcracker season), leotards, tights, dance underwear, 7 recital costumes, competition fees, 3 competition costumes, two pairs of soft ballet shoes, new character shoes (no LaDucas yet, but it's coming.... they are about $300). That's just this year... at least she didn't need new tap or jazz shoes. Since last June, DD's been in one SI production, three repertory productions, 10 shows of Nutcracker, one competition (two team pieces and a solo), three recitals (7 pieces in two of them, three in the third), and two full company productions. Even just a rose for each would break the bank! Daddy brought her a bouquet after the final performance of Nut, after one evening recital, and... I think that's it for this year! Oh... and she can't have pedicures, they want to file down her callouses, and that just won't do! She NEEDS those callouses!

 

[ceecee]

My DD is in her 13th year of dance....she gets flowers on opening nite from dad!!! As do most of the other girls. Occasionally, one of the moms gets momentos of the yr. (ornament, cookie, etc) for the friends that hang out together. It's her hobby and we pay $1200 a year plus costumes so imho it doesn't require further gifts!

 

[sk!mom]

It's year round with us. Not just one performance a year.

It's year round for us as well. My DD studies at a school that stages 4 ballets a year. Each ballet will have 3-5 performances. Her school does a very low key student showcase that includes those children training who are too young to audition for the ballets. No competition dance. We don't have to provide costumes but do need to buy tickets to each performance and provide her shoes and pay tuition all year. The cost is already high so we stick with the traditional opening night flowers. I normally pick them up at the grocery store for a few dollars and add my own bow. She really looks forward to going out with friends after. I can't imagine buying gifts for all those shows or even what I would buy. Her grandmother however brings a gift to every performance.

I am saving all of her dance tshirts- Nutcracker, studio shirts, summer intensive shirts- for a quilt as a graduation gift in just two more years.

 

[WDWFAN 1972]

At our studio, it has a competition team and then regular classes. One recital performance at the end of the year. They start the recital onstage in a church dress and receive trophies if 1st, 5th, 10th, etc or if on competition team. Other years they get a medal. Owner also gives perfect attendance medals. As each class receives their awards they are also allowed to receive flowers or gifts from parents in the audience. Most give a small bouquet they picked up at the grocery store florist. Others may give a balloon to the youngest group. I will go by the grocery store and pick up probably a $5-9 bouquet for each girl.

 

[clori]

My girls dance at a non competitive dance studio. They do a small winter Nutcracker recital and a end of the year recital (yesterday). My oldest has been dancing 9 years and my youngest 5 years. At the Nutcracker the dances all get a dance/ballerina themed medal. At the recital everyone get a trophy. They used to get certificates but that seems to have stopped.

I tend to get my girls a dance recital tshirt if they like them but it is before the recital. There is a picture of the dance theme on the front and the names of all the dancers on the back. I don't give them anything the day of the recital but depending on the time of the recital (there are 3 - the one they are in changes each year) we go out for dinner or ice cream.

Yesterday I helped out with the two shows my girls weren't in. There was a stand set up selling ballerina door hangers, dance teddy bears, balloons, jewelry, flowers, etc. Lots of people were buying gifts here.

 

[DSNY4ever]

How about a hug and an "I'm proud of you" that is what I always got. My real gift was the dance classes themselves, they were expensive.

 

[nikkistevej]

DH always gives her flowers, but we also get her a trophy and medal(ones that we pay for from the studio) All the kids pretty much "get" them though after the recital.

 

[hugabearjo]

Didn't read all the posts sorry if this is a duplicate. I had boys and they were in plays but the idea is the same. I made a candy bouquet for them with straws with candy taped to the end. Pixie sticks and other wrapped candies for color. The first time I did it I had everyone taking a second look to see if it were flowers. They turned out great and a the dollar tree for candy inexpensive. Used a piece of foil wrapping paper rolled into a cone to hold it. Hope this helps.

 

[piglet33]

I didn't realize that dance studios don't always give trophies.

Every year that my daughter has danced (at two studios) she has always received one.

Our studio doesn't give trophies either. So every year (for the past 7 years) instead of giving my DD flowers, we get a trophy made. They are inexpensive ($10) and last where flowers don't. Plus both she and my DH have allergies and they would be miserable with flowers.

We're making too many things into gift-giving occasions these days: Recitals, minor holidays, finishing 3rd grade -- it's too much. This is just one of the things that's leading us into excessive debt and kids whose expectations are set too high.

I think a small bouquet of flowers -- just a small remembrance -- is plenty. Or a nice dinner out at a place of the child's choice.

Well that's your opinion, but me buying my daughter a $10 trophy that makes her smile means so much. Flowers don't always work because of allergies.