Classroom Christmas Presents

The holiday season is one of my favorite times in my classroom.... But between parents gifts and student gifts, is also a very busy time for teachers.  It is also such a fun time for me and my students. I have found simple and fun parents gifts that I love making with and for my students.  

Parents Gifts: Every year, I do the same parents gift of snowmen ornaments.  I have found this ornament to be very simple for students to create and I think it is such a great keepsake for families.  I paint the students handprint and then one dried I let them add the detail.   This has made my life so much easier and they also do a great job!  This year, I made the students handprints on clear ornaments. We then added tinsel inside and they turned out so beautiful!

I was so lucky this year because I had a parents that had donated shake containers to be.  We reused these containers and were able to made Santa containers to put our ornaments in.   We simply covered them in construction paper and added cotton balls to the lid for his beard.  I love how they turned out!

Student  Gifts:
These are one of my absolute favorite gifts because they are low cost and the students love them!  I have been making them for years and always am pleased with how they turn out.  During the back to school sale, I always purchases spiral notebooks and 24 packs of crayons.  They end up costing only about $0.75 students per student during the back to school sale.  
I wrap the crayons in December and give the students their new school crayons which they are always excited for.  I collect their own crayons to create their present.
I begin by soaking the crayons in water.  I am then able to easily take the wrappers off.... This is a little trick that I only recently discovered but has been a time saver for me!  I then break up the crayons and have little bug muffin baking tins that I put them in. 

 I cook them in the over at 250 degrees until melted.  

I let them cool and they easily just pop out of the baking tin.  They turn out so colorful and beautiful. 
I wrap these, and add the spiral notebook and voila!  Students have a beautiful and inexpensive gift.  

I hope that you enjoy our little Christmas gifts and that everyone had a happy holiday seasons!