How to Prepare a Care Package for a College Student

College students love care packages. They love to receive them and they love to share goodies included in those of their friends. Your son, daughter or friend who is away at college will love you all the more if you send him one, especially during finals week. Here are some tips on what to include in a care package fit for a college student, assuming they live in the dorms.

Things You'll Need

• Large cardboard box
• Duct tape
• Bottles of hair and body products
• Bottles of toothpaste
• Several razors
• Economy-sized packs of pads or tampons
• Economy-sized packs of ramen noodle soup
• Cans of soup or canned pasta
• Boxes of microwave popcorn
• Boxes of tea or hot chocolate
• Rolls of quarters
• Boxes of crackers
• Packages of candy that doesn't melt easily
• Bottle of multi-vitamins
• Bottle of Ibuprofin
• Bottle of Pepto-Bismol
• Bottle of NyQuil
• Gift card for a coffee chain located on or near the college campus (Starbucks or Coffee Bean)

Instructions

1. Prepare a large box. The larger it is, the more goodies you'll be able to cram into it and the happier your college student will be. You can buy one from a shipping outlet or persuade your local mini-mart to give you one. Make sure it is easy to seal with duct tape.

2. Stuff the box with several bottles of essential hair and body products made by a brand you know your college student uses. This includes anything from your basic shampoos and conditioners to styling gel, styling mousse and body wash. Do not include bubble bath, as college students do not tend to take baths, given that they are most likely to either live in dorms that do not have bathtubs.

3. Throw inside the box a generous number of boxes of dry food products. College students are usually limited to what cafeterias or fast food places on or around campus have to offer. When they don't have time to go to these places, they usually rustle some grub around their dorm rooms. Students in the dorms are usually not allowed to keep large refrigerators, therefore they do not have much room to store cold food, but they often do have access to a microwave. Sending mass quantities of dry goods that are easy to prepare, such as microwave popcorn, crackers, ramen noodles or various canned soups or pastas will earn you brownie points in the eyes of your favorite college student. Candy that doesn't melt, such as M&Ms, is always a favorite. Also, your college student is probably not eating as healthily as they could, so include a bottle of multi-vitamins, just for good measure.

4. Include in the care package some emergency supplies for when the college student is sick. Pepto-Bismol is always a welcome staple at any college room, as is Ibuprofin or Advil. Many also welcome the NyQuil, which millions of college students across America take to quell the symptoms of the common cold and grant them much-needed rest.

5. If your college student is a girl, she's going to love you for including some feminine hygiene products and disposable razors.

6. Do your part to energize that college student--give the gift of coffee. Coffee is what gets many students through tough all-nighters, where they're going to be writing those final papers and studying for those exams. Granted, you should ask them or their friends before you send your care package whether they drink the stuff. Assuming they do, include a gift card to a coffee chain store located on or near their campus. Also make sure such stores accept gift cards.

7. Give the college student some laundry money. A few rolls of quarters is all it takes to put a great big smile on their face, knowing that they won't have to go door-to-door around their floor that week to collect donations from their friends.