End of the Year Gifts Updated!

We still have 7 weeks of school left, but I know there are many schools that are in their last few weeks so I wanted to post about my end-of-the-year student gift for those of you who are almost done! For many years now I have given my students this special end-of-the-year Survival Kit for Life! Recently it got a little face lift as well as options without food and a shopping list! This gift is always such a special way to end the year and let my students know how much I care for them and leave them some reminders as they go on from our classroom!

I've always done this in the past using small sand pails from Michaels, but this year I saw a cute idea using these colorful water bottles from Michaels and decided to give it a try! (Thanks to The Bubbly Blond Teacher for the idea! The survival kit printable and items all fit nicely into the water bottles! Also, I tried out Alisha's idea of  writing my students' names on the bottles using a Sharpie Paint Pen. I practiced on paper first and then just wrote their names with a few swirls and accents at the end of the letters! I don't know if they names held up after a wash in the dishwasher, but they looked cute when I gave them to my students and they were beyond excited about their customized gifts!

One thing that I especially love about the Survival Kit for Life gift is that it is meaningful and fairly inexpensive. Some of the items you may need to buy, both others you may already have at home or in your classroom!

After opening up and laying out all the materials, I load the water bottles (or sand buckets, or whatever I decide to use as the "container" that year) assembly-style! It is pretty easy and quick!

When I use sand buckets, I sometimes punch a hole in the tag and tie it to the handle with a cute ribbon. I did this for the water bottles and it worked, but I later decided that it would probably be easier to just include the label inside the water bottle. That way I wouldn't have to worry about them falling off!

If you are looking for a fun and easy end-of-the-year gift for your students, you can download the tags for free here! There are three different versions to choose from (one sans PopRocks and one without any food)!

I don't know about you all but I am always sad to see my students leave on the last day of school after the whole year we spent learning and getting to know each other! I always read this tag to my students when I give them their gift and there are always tears... from both me and them! Just a word of warning if you get emotional on the last day too! 

To see the Survival Kits with sand buckets and another great end-of-the-year freebie gift you can see my post here!