Teachers often give students gifts throughout the school year. There’s the back-to-school welcome gift, a holiday gift, a Valentine’s Day gift, an end-of-year gift, and something for each student’s birthday.
Wow! Writing all those out can make your budget cringe. Getting creative and figuring out what to get your students is fun! But you also don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for gifts or spend hours creating a detailed DIY.
We can get caught up in wanting to make Pinterest-worthy gifts—gifts with multiple items and/or elaborate gift tags. Students can also have high expectations based on what other teachers in the building do.
In my first years of teaching, I know I got caught up. One year, my kindergartners got a water bottle, Kool-Aid mix, a silly straw, and a fun notebook. Each gift had a cute label I designed and printed in color. I spent hours putting the gifts together. Do you know what the kids did with those gifts? They said “Thank You” and plopped them in their backpacks.
Updated 08/12/2024
Gifts for students from the teacher don’t need to take hours to create or break the bank.
Gifts for students can be a positive part of creating a welcoming classroom culture. At the beginning of the year, a gift welcomes each student. It shows that their teacher is excited to have them in her class. At Christmas, a gift from a teacher may be one of the few gifts some students receive. At the end of the year, gifts help celebrate all the memories and accomplishments.
Over the last ten years, I’ve also learned that the gift doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive. An intern teacher made sticky note acrostic name poems listing each student’s positive qualities. She attached the sticky note to a pencil, but the gift that students treasured was the sticky note. Many carefully taped it to their desk for the rest of the school year.
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Tips to Make the Most of Student Gifts from Teachers
- Set a budget. Many options are less than $1 per student. $2 per student is a good max budget.
- Keep it SIMPLE. Focus more on the experience, not on the gift. Students aren’t going to notice if you spend hours creating a cute and clever gift tag. They also don’t need multiple gifts.
- Be conscious of other teachers at your grade level and in the building. If one teacher gives students a huge gift compared to others, it can cause problems. Keep each other informed so as not to blindside anyone.
- Choose a useful gift. Students are often just excited by the fact they are getting a gift, so why not make it one they can use more than once? It’s a bonus if they can use it daily at school.
- Make the gift part of a bigger experience. Too often, gifts get thrown in a backpack and forgotten. Having a bubble-blowing or glow-in-the-dark party is more memorable.
If you’re a last-minute shopper, like me, Amazon is your best friend when shopping for student gifts. I use Amazon Prime, so I can get free shipping and have it delivered fast. Sometimes, I can even get it in one day. (If you’d like to try Amazon Prime out, you can get a (30-day trial) When searching on Amazon, add the words “bulk” or “for favors” to your query. It will help you find large quantities of the type of gift you’re looking for at a reasonable price.
Useful Gift Ideas for Students From Teachers
Pencils
Students go through pencils like it is their job. Plus, having a fun pencil as a gift for the first school day ensures every student has one. You can add a cute note that says, “You’re just WRITE for third grade!”
For younger students, I’ve done fun pencils like these. **Bonus: They’re the best pencil brand ever – Ticonderoga!** With third graders and older, I like to do mechanical pencils. They save me a TON of pencil sharpening. I label the pencils with each student’s name using my label maker.
Water Bottles
I allow students to bring a water bottle to limit trips to the drinking fountain. It’s important for kids to stay hydrated, but I like to avoid hallway behavior issues and time-wasters. Getting each student a water bottle solves this problem easily.
These water bottles come in bulk and are easy to customize. I like the pop-top style because they don’t tend to leak or spill as much as other styles.
Erasers
Elementary students are big fans of erasers. To make them more fun than the typical pink eraser, I found these rainbow-striped erasers. Tons of different-shaped erasers are a big hit with kids, but they’re not super effective and cause distractions.
Erasers can also be a great metaphor for your students. To make them even more meaningful, add a note to the eraser or have a class discussion. Note ideas include: “Remember you can start each day with a clean slate” (☺Day Made Fresh♥), “Erase your fears, you’re meant to be here!”, or “The impact you made can never be erased.”
Sunglasses
Sunglasses are a fun gift for the end of the year. At one school I taught at, we had an end-of-the-year outdoor party, and these sunglasses came in handy. They helped me easily spot my students, protected their eyes, and made for an awesome class picture! It would also be great if you could take an end-of-the-year field trip.
Crayons
A pack of crayons is a perfect gift for younger students. Pair them with a fun craft or coloring page to keep students busy. This can be super helpful during a class party, and extra packs of crayons can be used as backup supplies.
Halfway through the year, everyone only has 3 crayons left, and no one has blue or red. Of course, all the worksheets ask them to do EVERYTHING in blue or red. One year, to solve this problem, I gave students crayons for Valentine’s Day. Valentine, you color my world☺.
Notebooks
Encourage writing, observing, or drawing with a notebook gift. There’s something about a mini notebook that can get kids to write. It’s also a gift for students from teachers that is easy to customize for a theme, holiday, or activity.
Have students journal about their holiday or summer break using the notebook. Like the water bottles, you can have your students decorate the notebook and make it their own.
Gifts for Students That Create Experiences
One way to enhance the gift and make it more memorable is to make it a part of a whole class experience. This is fun for students, and the shared experience helps build class camaraderie.
Puzzles
A fun “educational” gift is to give students a puzzle toy and then allow them time to try and solve it in class. This can help build students’ growth mindset as they work to solve the puzzle. It’s also a great STEM connection. Puzzle toy Ideas:
- Brain Teaser Metal Wire Puzzles
- Cube Puzzles (This is also an eraser.)
- Puzzle Balls
Giving students a puzzle to solve creates excitement and challenges them. As they compete with one another and cheer each other on, the excitement grows. Students can also take the puzzle home and share the experience with their families.
Building Blocks (Legos)
Another great experience is giving students something they need to build. The time it takes to build can keep students busy during a class party. Allowing you or class parents to set things up.
Normally, Legos would not be an inexpensive gift idea for an entire class of students. There are off-brand party favors that give students the same experience. You can connect to science or writing with this animal building block set. Students could create a habitat or write a story for their animals.
Wikki Stix OR Play-Dough
Give your students something like play dough or Wikki Stix and let them just create. There are so many high expectations put on elementary students, and sometimes, they just need time to create and be kids.
I did this last Christmas. I gave my third graders these Wikki Stix. I worried the gift would be too simple, but they loved it. They spent 20-30 minutes creating things. They proudly showed off their creations and had fun trying to create Christmas-related objects.
Glow Sticks
Have a fun glow-in-the-dark-themed day or activity, and give students glow stick favors. This experience is on my list of activities to try with students.
There are so many inexpensive glow-in-the-dark and glow stick products that could be memorable but budget-friendly.
Gifts for Students You Can Send In the Mail
If you’re a virtual teacher, giving typical students gifts is hard. One way to still give gifts to students is to send a gift in the mail. To save on postage, ensure the gift is sent in a regular envelope. A forever stamp is good for sending an envelope that weighs one ounce. (Stamps.com)
Vinyl Stickers
Vinyl stickers can be stuck to water bottles or other hard smooth surfaces. You can get a ton of stickers to send as gifts throughout the year. Since you will be sending them in the mail it won’t matter as much if students get different styles.
They also come in a variety of styles to meet the interests of many students, and they’re great for both older and younger students.
Bookmarks
Another great flat gift idea for students is bookmarks. This useful gift encourages reading. There is such a large variety of bookmarks that you can find a set that fits any theme. To save time and money, you can purchase this set of bookmarks from Teachers Pay Teachers that you can use year after year. The set includes a variety of styles to fit a variety of events.
Key Chains
Key chains are another great option. You’ll just have to be careful what kind of keychain you get, as some are more 3D than flat. Another thing to be careful about is the weight of the keychain. But if you find the right key chain, it would be a great gift for students.
There are multitudes of ideas out there when it comes to gifts for students from teachers. If you keep it simple and within your budget, it can be a lot less stressful. If you look for useful gifts or part of a bigger experience, the gift will be more impactful and memorable.
What are your favorite gifts for students? Check out some of the gifts above and find the perfect gift for your class!
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