The holiday season is a time for celebrating and expressing love. A great way to show your students how much you care about them is to give them a small gift before they leave for winter break. This is also a fun way to celebrate the holidays without losing instructional time. However, holiday gifts for your students do not have to be expensive or extravagant! Check out these 5 thoughtful holiday gifts for your students that will make them feel loved during this special time.
Holiday Gifts for Your Students
1. Snowman Mugs
If you like to be crafty, this is a great option. It takes a bit of time, but is relatively inexpensive.
To make these cute snowman mugs, follow these easy steps:
- On each mug, use a Sharpie to write a student’s name on one side and draw a snowman face on the other side.
- Bake the mugs in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. (This ensures that the sharpie will stay when the mugs get washed.)
- Fill the mugs with whatever you want! I like putting a candy cane, some marshmallows, and a packet of hot chocolate as a little winter treat for my kiddos.
2. Books
Books are always a great choice for holiday gifts for your students. Most kids enjoy getting a new book and it encourages your students to keep reading over the holiday break. If you have an account with Scholastic, and your kids regularly submit orders, you probably have a decent number of points to use. You may even be able to get books for your whole class without spending any money! Here are a few ideas for choosing books:
- Give your whole class the same book – choose one at their grade level and that you can get free with points.
- Choose a few books and have kids sign-up for which one they want. Once again, choose ones that you could get free with points.
- Pick different books for each kid or group of kids based on their reading level and interests. And yup, you guessed it, pick ones you can get with points.
- Do a holiday read aloud, then get your students their own copy of the book.
3. Mittens
Getting mittens for your kids is a practical gift, and this works especially well if you teach in a school where many kids do not have the winter clothing they need. You can usually find fairly cheap mittens at secondhand stores, or if you shop during sales.
4. Lunch Bunch Coupons
This is a totally free option! Plus, it helps build positive relationships with your students. In my experience, kids always LOVE eating lunch with the teacher, so they would LOVE this gift. Give each kid one coupon for lunch bunch with the teacher. To make them look festive, print on colorful card stock. However, make sure you set some rules for how and when your kids can use their coupons. Do they get to bring friends? How many students can use their coupon on a given day? Are there some days that are off-limits? Make the expectations clear so that it is fun and easy for students to use their lunch bunch coupons.
5. Holiday Mad Libs
Hopefully, you now have some ideas for awesome holiday gifts for your students. Enjoy the holiday season!
Do you have another great idea for holiday gifts for your students? Leave a comment below or send me an email!
