Holiday season is just around the corner. If you are like many teachers, you want to celebrate your students, but purchasing gifts for every student in your class can feel daunting (and get expensive). Here are free gifts for the students in your classroom this holiday season!
1. Classroom Holiday Countdown Activities: Students are so excited during this time of the year, they are going to count down to break anyway. Turn their excitement into a fun gift of experiences. You can count down the last 5 or 10 days until break or you could gift them “12 days of Holidays”. Each day students earn a new in class reward. The best part, is this can also be used to encourage positive behavior- can students earn their celebration today? Check out this free download to get you started today!
2. Classroom Experience Coupons: I love using classroom experience coupons. They give students a special or unique experience in the classroom that they can turn in on a day when they feel like they need it. Maybe a student is coming to school sad, using a “bring a stuffy” coupon might make their day better. For the holidays, I like to print my coupons on festive paper, secure them with a ribbon and gift each child 3-5 special experiences in the classroom. Oftentimes, students love the memories they can make with these special experiences.
3. Classroom Movie Experience: If you are at a school where you can show a movie right before break, this is a great (and free) way to take it to the next level. I love showing the Polar Express and creating it into an experience- complete with these free Tickets or these free tickets. This experience partners well with a PJ day or stuffed animal day.
4. Individual Student Notes or Word Clouds: One of the best parts about being a teacher is we get to know our students so well. One way to celebrate each student is to create a word cloud filled with 8-10 positive words or traits that describe them. They can be printed in their favorite color and then laminated for a beautiful keepsake that celebrates each student. Websites like Wordclouds.com are easy to use and allow you to customize your word cloud with various colors and shapes.
5. Scholastic Points for Books: This is an almost free idea, because it does require that you have Scholastic Book Club Points. If you do, there are many ways to
maximize your points and get enough books for an entire class. Scholastic currently offers 5 of the same books for about 660 points. They also have value packs that have about 6-10 books (some have up to 20 books) and start at about 400 points. Scholastic also has books as low as 70 points. Bonus tip- In the teacher’s bonus catalog you can also redeem points for treasure box items, mini journals, and other fun trinkets starting at 400 points.
I hope these ideas help you find simple and free ways to celebrate the students in your classroom this holiday season.
Bear and Bug