I was wondering if anyone had any ideas for end of the year gifts that I could give the kids in my classroom? I teach 3's in the morning and 4's and 5's in the afternoon. Thanks for your help!!
i use my scholastic bonus points and get each child a book. free, but very meaningful!! i write each child a message on the inside cover. they love it!!
If you catch scholastic at the right time, they will have a bunch of books for a low price, or point value, like 30 books for $30 or 200 points. That is what I do. kcjo
I collect books all year long from Scholastic Last year my parents created a T-Shirt with all the kids name on it. I couldn't afford to buy one for each kid, but I thought it was a great idea that they paid for.
I've taken photos of the children in my class all year, for different projects and just for fun. I've also taken pics on field trips and some video from different activities. I'm making each child a dvd with all of the pics and videos on it - the last bit will be at graduation (all my kids will go to kindergarten in the fall). So, thats my gift to them.
Butterfly, I really like that idea!! I, too, am a giver of books with messages inside. I'm not sure what I'm going to do this year - I teach a regional special ed program (gr. 3 - 5) and half my class is "graduating" from the program. I'm on the lookout for something special for all of them this year. I was thinking of making them special T-shirts (using transfers). I'll let you know if I think of anything spectacular!!
One thing I have done is to have the kids make handprint t-shirts. We all printed our hands and signed our names. It works well with large t-shirts, though it is a messy project. Just mix fabric medium into acrylic paint and use on washed tees.
Butterfly4, I was wondering when you gave the children thier dvd's? Our graduation is on the night of our last day of school. I really liked your idea. I have been driving myself crazy trying to come up with an idea for a memorable gift to give my students. Thank you!
I am doing a dvd as well, with pictures from events that have occurred all year long! I will be adding music to the background as well....... Its something that i think the children will love as well as the parents!
I do preschool special ed, mostly Spectrum kids. I think we're going to make each kid a "book" of things they've done during the year (I've taken a ton and a half of pictures, and they're all on my computer!), and we're also going to burn a CD of our favorite songs from this past year. The parents will love seeing the books, and my kids love looking at pictures of themselves and their friends. And it's fun to have the songs they really like all in one place. We've also had the kids make picture frames every month (Sep. was apples, Oct. was pumpkins, then turkeys, presents, snowflakes, hearts, shamrocks, raindrops, and flowers)... they paint it using a different technique (ok, maybe not THAT different), and we take their picture. We idsplay them for the month, then we collect them into a book. At the end of the year, the parents get 9 pictures of their kid throughout the year. It's neat to see how they've grown!
This is my first year I'm doing the dvd's. Our graduation is May 23, but we are a year round center, and most of our kids will be here in the summer until school begins. So, I'll just give them their dvd gift a week or so after graduation. There are a couple that have moved recently, I plan to mail them a dvd.
Lus2Teach, what dvd software do you use? I have nero at home, but I'm not real happy with it. I'm starting to shop around for a different program...any suggestions?
I am a first year teacher as well butterfly, but I've been around kids as long as I can remember. I will be using an Apple Software thats specifically for making/editing Dvd's. My school is closed in the summer so I will be off thank god! Talk to you all later! By the way I like Nero ! lol
