Parent holiday gifts

[Mrs M]

Hi,
I am looking for some new ideas for holiday gifts for the parents. I can't do anything related to Christmas (trees, santa, etc.) as I have a student who doesn't celebrate. Any ideas for winter type gifts would be great. Last year I did the shredded wheat wreath ornaments which were cute. Thanks in advance!

 

[cardsan]

2006 Calendar

I did this last year for parents and am positive that I will be doing it again this year. Our school has a digital camera that we all share, and I photographed each child. I then printed out a 2006 calendar using a word processing application on the computer. (Our computers are routed to the printer in the workroom, so this would probably work better if you DID NOT have only a personal printer in your classroom) I then laminated each child's picture on some colored tagboard, and placed that on top, and put together the calendar. You will probably have to play around with it, but this is a starter.

 

[vateacher]

snowman

I'm doing the cutest craft this year with my class. You ask a hardware store to donate the paint stir sticks for the cause. You take the sticks and have your children paint the handle part black and the rest of it white (tempera paint works well) then you paint a popsicle stick black and hot glue it across where the white and black paint meet. When the paint is dry, use permanent markers to make the eyes, carrot nose and mouth. Tie a piece of 1/2 inch thick ribbon under the mouth for a scarf. Take three buttons and glue them under the scarf and at the very bottom or the back you can write the child's name and year (or grade). I also chose to glue a loop of ribbon at the back so that the parents could use it as a winter decoration on their wall or door. Enjoy!

 

[vateacher]

placemats

I forgot that I also incorporated fine motor skills and patterning in an activity last year that would work well for a gift. We weave placemats out of manila paper and construction paper cut into one inch strips. Then we laminated them and sent them home with the child's name and the year. This one wasn't as exciting as the one I am planning to do this year (that i've already posted about). I made my sample and it's SO CUTE. ) Not to brag.

 

[gemma]

gift idea

On a budget? I am. Here is an inexpensive gift idea. Take all those CD's you receive in the mail (AOL, etc.), glue a circle piece of felt to the "printed" side. Let the kids decorated the "Shiny" side with glitter, stickers, etc. Then place a picture of them int he middle of the shiny side to cover the hole. Don't forget to put a loop of ribbon inbetween the felt and CD when you glue it. It makes a cute ornament.

 

[NJ]

Parent Gifts for the holidays!

Every year my first graders make "home-made" soap balls for their family
Christmas present. I purchase a box of mild laundry detergent (powder)
such as Dreft or another one suggested for use in washing baby's clothing (I used to use Ivory Snow detergent but am not sure if they still make it. I haven't seen it in a while.). Mix with water until a good consistency to form into a ball. Spoon out a large spoonful or two onto waxed paper. Have students add a drop or two of their favorite color of food coloring and work it into the detergent mixture. With wet hands have each student roll their detergent into a ball. Let it set out for a couple of days to dry out. Allow students to wrap their family's soap ball (You can cut pieces of wrapping paper and have them gather it at the top of the soap ball & tie with lots of curling ribbon and add a card saying "To My Family A Soap Ball Made With My Own Two Hands!".
My students always enjoy this. Hope yours do too!