I need a really cheap idea for Christmas gifts for my kindergarten class.?

Question

I have over 30 kids so am trying to be frugal here. Any ideas?

Answer 1

cartoon character keychains...

Answer 2

99p store! joking.

Um well...i. dont. know.

Answer 3

Bookmarks.

Pencils/Erasures

Inexpensive books you've picked up

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ is an awesome resource!

Hope this helps

Answer 4

candy canes! Get some cheap paper cups and put candy in them.

Answer 5

Try Oriental Trading. The website is a teacher's best friend for cheap arts and crafts supplies, crafts, pencils, erasers, stickers, gifts, etc. It's been around forever, and they are extremely reliable.

Answer 6

Camille,

I HAVE IT!!

Try these! Probably best as stocking stuffers or secret santa. They are cheap and don't look it. I used these last year for my class and they were a big hit. Using again this year.

herculittles.com

They have a great holiday special going on and their shipping is quick. I just bought a bunch.

Answer 7

If you like the baggie and poem ideas here are a few sweet...and a few sassy! :-)

CANDY CANE SEEDS

(Use round, red and white peppermint candies)

Put in pretty container or small bag and tie with poem attached...

I once knew a gardener who knew how to grow

Bright tasty candies, right out of the snow...

I asked him to share his secret with me

And this is what he replied quite readily...

To garden in winter is difficult you see

It takes lots of care and a very special seed...

I'll give you a couple to grow your own treats

And you'll soon reap a harvest of candy cane treats.

SNOWMAN KISSES (mini-marshmallows or other white candy)

Package prettily with attached poem...

Snowflakes from Heaven as white as can be!

Can build a Snowman for all to see!

He's cute and cuddly ---and full of good wishes...

And wants to give you a whole bunch of his kisses!

SANTA KISSES

(package prettily and attach one of the following)

#1

Santa's been busy

Granting our wishes...

So he dropped off this bag

of Santa Kisses.

#2

A bag of Hugs & Kisses (candy)

to wish you Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays!)

These are from the forum page of gift ideas that are child related...

http://www.after-school-care.com/Replies...

These have been around awhile—and you either like them or you don’t… I personally prefer the sweeter version that let children know how good they are!!!…

REINDEER p**p

Santa's been here. How do I know?

Look what I found outside in the snow!

(Use this to top a cello bag of raisins or raisinette)

From forum page of December Holdiday activites...

GINGERBREAD MEN p**p

Heard you've been naughty!

So here's the scoop

all YOU get is

Gingerbread p**p!

(Use gum drops)

Snowman p**p #1

Heard you've been naughty

So here's the scoop,

All you get is...

Snowman p**p!

(Use marshmallows)

Snowman p**p #2

Santa looked at his list…

even checked it twice.

And he found out that

you haven't been too nice.

With coal being so expensive,

here is a very sad scoop,

Santa’s filling your stocking with

some SNOWMAN p**p!!!!

From Forum on December Celebration Days...

http://www.after-school-care.com/Replies...

I also like the coupon idea...consider having children take turns choosing the read "out-loud" story at circle time? It would be nice rolled up and tucked in with a treat baggie and poem. :-)

Reindeer Food

For each small baby food jar, you'll need:

1/4 cup dry oatmeal

1/8 cup granulated sugar

1-2 tablespoons colored sugar

(Traditional recipes call for glitter, but unless you purchase the pricey edible glitter from specialty shops, it WON'T BE SAFE FOR BIRDS AND SQUIRELLS. Substituting colored sugar will still give a sparkly appearance, without being harmful to the actual animals who will end up eating it.

For a baby food jar...

Layer half of the oatmeal, followed by half of the colored sugar, the white granulated sugar, the rest of the colored sugar, and topped with the rest of the oatmeal.

In a baggie...

OR...

Alternatively, combine ingredients in a mixing bowl and scoop into ZIPPED BAGGIES....

With the sugar instead of the glitter...It's OK for the kids to munch on.

Sprinkle it on the lawn, driveway, or apartment patio to entice the reindeer and give them something to munch on while Santa delivers his goodies.

Answer 8

I usually give my students puzzles from the Dollar Store.  They have both girl and boy puzzles... Cheap, somewhat educational, and enjoyed by the students!

Answer 9

My child's kinder class love just about anything. Especially food items! You could always do cookies for the class - prepackaged bake at home style or homemade. Goodie bags with candy are always a winner.

For a tangible larger gift, how about buying a new board game or two for the class? Our kids love Chutes & Ladders and Candyland. Memory and Bingo are other games they love to play.

Kids are happy to get anything and like that you even gave them something at all. Don't stress. Go for the food item and everyone leaves happy.

All the best and happy holidays!

Answer 10

What about holiday pencils, erasers, etc. - they should be reasonable.

Answer 11

little boxes of crayons and a coloring book from Dollar Tree...

next year, order the catalog "Oriental Trading" they have lots of really inexpensive things that you can order for gifts. My dad was a teacher for 35 years and swears by it....

Answer 12

Look in your phone book to see if you have any stores that sell carnival prizes or games.  I found a store in the yellow pages in my city.  I went there and bought packages of toys for my daughter's kindergarten class.  Each package was no more than 1.80 per dozen, some were 60 cents per dozen.  They had mini pinball games, etc.  They have a lot of things that Oriental Trading Company has, but I didn't have to pay for shipping or wait for it arrive.

Answer 13

You don't say HOW frugal you want to be. My son got somethign really funny from a teacher that cost almost nothing. It was a ziploc bag with mini-marshmallows and chocolate chips in it with a cute poem attached. The punchline on the poem was that the marshmallows were snowman p**p. The kids loved it.

Here's one my daughter got last year from her teacher. She recieved a baggy tied with a ribbon that held some sparkly sugar and those silver cake decorating ball mixed with oatmeal. A card was attached that read

Make a wish and close your eyes tight,

Then sprinkle on your lawn at night.

As Santa's reindeer fly & roam

This food will guide them to your home.

For your gift to the reindeer and Rudolph too

Your wish may be real, your dreams may come true

She got a huge kick out of it...and we're Jewish!

One last note: I've had bad experience with Oriental Trading. The stuff is just junk that breaks or never works to begin with, leaving unhappy kiddies. Cheap junky toys are never a great gift. Pencils, little notepads, magnets and cool erasers are cheap and the kids always like them.

Answer 14

How about a coupon for something at school, like " this is good for 10 minutes of extra recess " or " No homework pass" -

Another idea- this takes some work-

I made a huge batch of homemade playdough, and bought inexpensive cookie cutters- and gave each child a ball of playdough with the cookie cutter.