Today I’m sharing 10 affordable end of year gifts that I just know your students will love. More and more educators each year are looking to get end of year gifts for their students – something to remember them by, or to enjoy their summer with. But some of these gifts can get expensive very quickly, especially if you have a number of students to purchase for. So, I’ve put together a list of 10 affordable gifts you can use with your students, as well as some cute free tags for you to download and print out to give to your students.
1. Bubbles
Who doesn’t love bubbles? My kids absolutely love them and you can actually buy a lot of bubbles in bulk now. For me personally if I know that I have a lot of students to purchase for this year, then each month through the school year I’ll pick up a few bottles of bubbles or bubble wands. They’re really affordable and when I do it this way, it’s not a big hit at the end of the year either. Then I attach some fun tags to them and that’s it! I might also make some homemade cards to send home with students or buy a pack of generic gift cards that doesn’t cost much to go along with it. But honestly, end of year gifts do not need to be extravagant and over the top! Many students will be over the moon with receiving bubbles.
Plus, I’ve even put the tags over in my free resource library for you to download! (To access the free resource library you will need to sign up to the mailing list here to get the password. You won’t regret it – there’s hundreds of free resources in there for you to grab! If you already have the password, go and enter the free resource library here.)
2. Bucket and Spade
Buckets and spades can always be bought at great prices – especially if you are extra prepared when summer has ended and they all get reduced! They can be used for so many things and not just at the beach, so they’re one of my favorite things to gift to my students.
Plus, I’ve even put the tags over in my free resource library for you to download! (To access the free resource library you will need to sign up to the mailing list here to get the password. You won’t regret it – there’s hundreds of free resources in there for you to grab! If you already have the password, go and enter the free resource library here.)
3. Photo Frames
If you’re anything like us, you’ll take lots of photos through the year of your students. And a lovely – and affordable – end of year gift is to either make a photo frame (or purchase one) and print out photos of your student (or a class photo) from that year and send it home with them to remember. You can even write a little note on it and sign it as well as a keepsake for your student. I love using old pencils or crayons on wooden popsicle sticks around the edges of the DIY frame just to make it look more ‘schooly.’
4. Chalk
Chalk is another safe gift to send home. Safe in the sense that if your students use it on the floor or walls = it’s super easy to get off! My students love getting creative outside with chalk. But it’s also great for us to get outside and design some fun games or activities using chalk too. Just check out this Pinterest board for a bunch of great ideas!
Plus, I’ve even put the tags over in my free resource library for you to download! (To access the free resource library you will need to sign up to the mailing list here to get the password. You won’t regret it – there’s hundreds of free resources in there for you to grab! If you already have the password, go and enter the free resource library here.)
5. Picture Book
if you know me, you’ll know how much I love a picture book. In the past I’ve put money aside each month – or purchased a couple of copies of the picture book I want to send home at the end of the year each month – so that they’re ready. And it makes it more affordable for me. You can also use scholastic points if your school use this!
Then on the inside cover of the book, I always write a note to the student with the date, class, my name and signature. It’s such a lovely keepsake for students to look back on in the future. And let’s face it – a picture book is perfect to get lost in at home. And we don’t know all our students families situations – this might be the only book they receive!
6. Ice Cream Kit
Who doesn’t love ice cream? Especially over the summer! I love putting together ice cream kits because not only do they always look like such a great gift – but they’re also super affordable to put together – even if you have a big class.
How do I make them? I hear you ask.
Well first I buy the following in bulk/big bags;
- Paper cartons
- Plastic sandwich bags
- Sprinkles
- Chocolate flakes
- Wafers
- Marshmallows
- Small plastic pots – these will be used to store the sauce in, so they don’t need to be very big at all.
- Tub of ice cream sauce – chocolate is usually my go-to or strawberry
- Small box to store in.
And how do I make the kits?
Each student has a small box – or a bag – for the items to be stored in. Then I start to divide up all the ingredients for individual students. So a typical kit has;
- 1 paper carton – for the ice cream to go in.
- Plastic sandwich bags – these are used for storing the individual ingredients in. So a bag for sprinkles, another bag for a chocolate flake. Another bag for a wafer. Another bag for marshmallows. I usually do a spoonful of each treat for students.
- Pour a small amount of ice cream sauce into a small plastic pot.
And that’s it! Your student has everything need to decorate their ice-cream at home.
7. Word Cloud Collage
Word cloud collages are also another popular gift. What I like to do with this is have the students name in the middle as the main word and then I have all my staff think of words that they would use to describe that student to go around their name. You don’t have to sit on PowerPoint or anything for ages making this either – there’s lots of free online sites that you can make these word cloud images super fast and they always look great at the end!
If you want to extend it, you could also have your students think of words to describe their peers as well and include these on the word collages. Again, this is another great keepsake gift for students to look back on in years to come. You can either just print them out and send them home as they are or purchase some cheap photo frames to put them in – or get creative and make your own photo frames together as a class!
8. Inflatable Beach Ball
Who doesn’t love a beach ball? Plus, if you purchase them just after summer ends ready for the next year in advance, they’re usually even cheaper! Students will have so much fun with the inflatable ball, and they don’t have to just be used down the beach. I’ve even seen some teachers and assistants write messages on each section of the ball for students to read when they’re playing with it. Just another way to make a really affordable gift more personal.
9. Water Bottle
Water bottles can be life savers over the summer – for real. It’s so handy to have a reusable water bottle for children that families – or they – can fill up and take out and about with them. If you’re feeling creative or you own a Cricut/Silhouette machine then you can even cut out students names on vinyl and attach them to the water bottles to make them personal – or purchase through Etsy if not!
Buying water bottles with names already on them can sometimes work out pretty pricey. So it’s much more affordable to do it yourself if you can. I know many teachers – and schools – have actually fundraised or used DonorsChoose to have their own Cricut or Silhouette at school! So definitely consider this as an option too.
10. Move Night Kit
And finally, a move night kit. This has actually been a gift that always gets the most compliments from not only students but their families too. Let’s face it, the summer can be a very long time for our students to be occupied without school. So providing options for families to use at home with students is perfect to help them out and keep them occupied – and avoiding getting bored.
My movie night kit is pretty similar to my ice cream kit in the sense that I provide everything except the movie. Families have access to so many options for movies now – or even if they actually go to the movies – so the kit is just perfect to pair along with that.
In my movie kits, I again buy in bulk like the ice cream kit and then separate them all up into mini sandwich bags and put together in a recyclable cardboard popcorn bucket.
So, what do I buy?
- Cardboard popcorn buckets.
- Popcorn.
- Chocolate bar.
- M&Ms/Smarties.
- Candy.
- Mini juice cartons.
- Plastic sandwich bags.
I buy all of those in bulk/large packets and then I split them up into the mini sandwich bags and store them inside the popcorn bucket. Again, these are things you could pick up once a month and store away until the end of the year to save spending out all at once too. The cardboard popcorn buckets can sometimes be found in packs of 50 too – so they’ll last me a few years for doing these gifts!
So those are my top 10 affordable end of year gifts that I have used with my students. Do you have other ideas? Leave a comment below to share with other educators.
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