End of the Year Kindergarten Gifts from Room Mom

My son's preschool teacher made each child a mini scrapbook. I'm sure the little photo albums were bought at a dollar store or something-- they weren't very sturdy (which I am not saying to complain but to point out that you can find them cheap). The first page you can put a photo of the child with the teacher and the rest can be random pictures of kids that you can take of them playing on the playground or in the classroom. Have friends gather together for a mini group shot and fill the albums with photos like that.

Kinda off topic, but is this a new thing? I've never heard of it here. Honestly, I throw away a large amount of the junk my children bring home from pre k, vbs and sunday school. Even with pictures. It's just so much clutter. I am also the mom who will say, "no thanks!" to a gift bag. It's just stuff into a landfill.
Anyway- What about a little pot and a couple of seeds in a bag? Something along the lines of "Keep Growing!" or something. Just a thought.

$5 gift card (coffee or restaurant) with a nice note and picture of your son is a wonderful gift.

How about a Book that the children make the parts and you put together..
Print out a cover that says
My Kindergarten
Name of school
Name of teacher and the year.

Then allow each child to draw a picture for the cover.. Make sure they sign it with their name.

First page Place the name of the teacher on the top of the page.. Have each child draw a picture of their teacher.

Second page" My favorite book"
Have the children write the name of their favorite book and a picture about the book.

Third Page "My Classmates".. Include the names of all of the children.. Maybe all the way around the page. Have this child draw a picture about friendship.

Fourth page "My favorite part of Kindergarten" Have them write what this is and draw a picture of it.. Going to the library, playing on the playground, etc..

Fifth page "Lunch" Have them draw a picture of their favorite lunch and label the items..

You get the idea. Make as many pages as you think the kids can handle.
I would suggest you see if you can send out a packet, with instructions so that the children can do this as homework over a long period of time. . Make sure every page is signed (autographed)by the student.
Give a due date. collect them and have them bound.. At our school they have book binding clips and a little machine, I bet your school does too.

Also laminate the cover and the Back cover to give it some strength.

Maybe you can make color copies of all of the drawings of the teacher and present it to her as one of her end of the school year gifts..

I know this sounds involved ask other parents to help you with this project. One of our homeroom moms did this with our daughters first grade class and we all have LOVED it.. we keep it on our regular book shelves and still love looking through it..

Do a name collage
For example: Ann
Amazing
Neat
Nice

Sorry, I don't have a gift idea for you, but I agree with Christina. We are always throwing away goodie bag toys, art projects, Happy Meal toys, and junk the kids get from the dentist and doctor. While a gift for a child is a nice gesture, it is not necessary. The kids will be so excited for summer vacation that they might not even notice their gift. It could get lost in the pile of other stuff they have to bring home. Seems like a lot of work for you, and as a room mom, you've already put a lot of work into helping your son's class. They should be giving YOU a gift :-)

I agree with others. I would probably throw away most things that I can envision fitting into this category.

So my suggestion would be an edible treat.