End-Of-School-Year Gift Ideas for Students From Teachers
You made it to the end of the school year and have one last thing to finish. That task is to look for a small gift to give your departing students. Gifts do not have to be expensive or elaborate. You can create end-of-the-school-year gifts for your students in many ways.
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Books
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Books encourage children to continue reading throughout the summer. Teachers have several ways to obtain inexpensive books. Many schools participate in Scholastic's book fairs and monthly ordering programs. With each order, Scholastic provides free books for the classroom that can be saved and given to students at the end of the year.
Barnes and Noble offers educator discounts several times a year, allowing teachers to pick up books at a discount. Barnes and Noble also has book fairs for schools, which allow them to earn free books. Borders has a teacher donation program where teachers can create a list of books they want for their classroom and give it to their local Borders store. Patrons can donate books toward the program at checkout, if they wish.
Puzzles and Games
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Puzzles and games are other ideas for student gifts. Puzzles could include several varieties: jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, word seek puzzles and slider puzzles. All of these encourage children to see the bigger picture and strive toward completing a project.
Games encourage students to think and manipulate pieces or ideas as they play. Some card games require students to create a pattern or match cards to win. Trivia games test a student's knowledge on various topics. Strategy games like checkers require students to use strategic thinking skills and see at least one step ahead of where they are playing. Games do not need to be expensive. You can pick up card games and travel-sized games at local dollar stores or through Scholastic ordering.
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Goody Bags
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Children love goody bags and enjoy sorting through the contents. Create a small bag containing pens, pencils, a small box of crayons, small notepad, stickers and a piece of candy. Encourage students to keep a journal of their summer activities in the notepad. They can use the stickers and crayons to decorate their pages.
You can get personalized pens and pencils by ordering through an online company. Consider having the school name or your name and grade level added to each pencil or pen.
Class Photos
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Create a small flip book of photos taken throughout the year. Photo ops might include holiday parties, special days like the 100th day of school, family reading nights, education fairs and special class projects. Print the photos and purchase small photo albums. Add the photos to the album, and if you want, add some printed text at the beginning and the end to explain what the pictures are and why they are significant to the class.
Another idea is to give the students the photos and supplies to create their own flip books, and then do it together in class. Give the students the photos, small pieces of construction paper to write on, and an album. Encourage students to create the album any way they would like, using the paper to write special notes about the photos. On a few extra pieces of paper, have the students sign each others' paper to insert at the end. This concept is like high school students signing yearbooks.
Pizza Party
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Gifts from teachers to students can be things other than what the student takes home. Celebrate the end of the year by having a pizza party during the last week of school. This can be done over lunch and then use an extra hour after the party to discuss the year's highlights. The students could use this as a short writing assignment. They can indicate what they felt was special or explain an idea they learned that was important to them.
Field Day
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Some schools have Field Day. This is a day of fun, outdoor activity usually sponsored by the parent-teacher organization and school volunteers. If your school does not have a day like this, teachers can create one for their students. Plan outdoor games such as relay races, balloon tosses, jump rope games or basketball games. Encourage each student to participate, and at the end of the day, give the students ribbons for participating. Have students bring their lunch for a picnic. Include free time for the students to play and talk with one another as they enjoy the end of school.
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