Sunday, December 9, 2012

Christmas Gift Ideas for Parents from Students

I have been absent again for a few days.  I have still been sick.  From Friday night to Saturday, I slept 17 hours.  I am feeling better today though.  We finished the Christmas lights on the outside of the house this afternoon.  Yay!

I still need to finish planning for the week.  I always seem to spend too much time researching and not enough time finalizing. Anyway, I always struggle with what gift to have my students make for their parents.  I have always taught older elementary students.  They are too old for the "babyish" crafts, but young enough I feel we should do something.  Here are some ideas I found via Pinterest and blogs:

1) A 2013 Calendar (I have always wanted to make a calendar.  I think I will have them draw a picture or write something for each month.  We can glue it to larger contruction paper and laminate it. Then just fold it in half and staple it.)


Here is a link to a calendar on TpT.

2) Cookie mix (This is a fun way to incorporate measurement. I knew a Math teacher who made these last year and it came out super cute.  The kids all got to bring their holiday aprons for the day of the measuring.  They loved it!)


3) Coasters - (These look fun.  Might consider this for next year.)


4) Dinner Conversation Starters - I read about this on the Clutter Free Classroom, which is the absolute best blog resource for ideas on anything.  This seems like such a fun idea to encourage kids to spend time with their family.

5) Christmas Word Cloud - I was thinking about having the kids make a word cloud with Tagxedo about Christmas.  They could write words about the holiday, a poem, family names, etc. We could print it out and frame it. I guess you could even make multiple ones and print them out and laminate them as placemats?  Not sure...just brainstorming.

6)  In the past, I have bought plain glass ball ornaments.  The kids decorated them with Sharpies and glitter. 

What do you do as Christmas gifts for parents?

6 comments:

  1. Hi, this is Emily! I saw this post on Facebook!

    I've always taught preschool or pre-K, and this year we made two ornaments for the parents. For one, we made cinnamon and apple sauce dough (with the kids helping me count out scoops) and cut out a heart shape with cookie cutters. Then we baked them in the oven and the kids painted and glittered one side of them. For the other ornament, the kids made hand and footprints in the shape of an angel and drew the face and glued on hair themselves. Definitely more "baby" projects that your kids would use, but it was fun! Except for all the glitter and paint mess...

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    1. Those sound like fun projects! There are so many cute crafts I would love to do that just aren't quite the right fit for my students.

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  2. We make ornaments and notepads with their original artwork. Fun stuff.
    ❀ Tammy
    Forever in First

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  3. I use Publisher to make a calendar with the kids photos on them, decorate, laminate and then I recycle old fridge magnets to glue on to the back. They usually turn out pretty cute!

    Tania
    Mrs Poultney's Ponderings

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  4. I like the calendar idea! I remember making those when I was in elementary school. My mom might still have them!

    Sara :)
    Smiling In Second Grade

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