End of Year Student Gifts

Every year I struggle with what to give my students at the end of the year. I know they will survive if I don't give them anything, but a part of me tells me that I need to anyway! You don't want to spend money on something they're just going to throw away, or a bunch of candy (cuz they definitely don't need it!), and lots of kids always have people signing their shirts with Sharpie or Crayola markers that day and chances are their parents are going to be a tad upset when they get home.

My final decision: Personalized Drawstring Backpacks. This was SO easy (with the right tools :) ) I ordered blank canvas drawstring backpacks from Oriental Trading, bought some fabric markers, had some parents donate some as well, and cut out the students' names from Heat Transfer Vinyl with my Silhouette Cameo! They turned out great!! Tomorrow the students will go around and autograph each classmate's backpack and I can't wait to see the end result!

I will then collect the backpacks, iron them to heat set the marker, and pack them with water bottles and a few snacks and hand them out on field day (the day before the last day of school). I have told my class about this, and even showed them some samples, and they are stoked! I'm glad I'm giving them something they love and will be able to use!

Non-Candy Valentines

I hate how much candy kids seem to get ALL the time! I can proudly say, that I do not buy candy for the students. All of the candy that I hand out is donated by parents, and I"m sure most parents appreciate that about me! They prefer the cool little trinkets from Oriental Trading over something that will last 2 seconds and then I'll end up picking the trash up off the floor. SO Valentine's Day...the day of sugar, sugar, and more sugar. I decided to do something out of the norm. I have had a huge problem with pencils this year (weird how that changes from year to year) so I decided to do mechanical pencils. Who doesn't love mechanical pencils?? They LOVE them!! I attached a cute little Valentines-y word search and it was a hit.