Cheap Christmas Presents for Students

It's that time of year when our budgets are stretched thin, but we're "expected" to give our students presents - at least, that's what I get at my school. -Not required, mind you, but EVERYONE else does... Don't get me wrong - I love my students, but I have a family of my own to purchase gifts for and buying for all 40 of my kids can get expensive!

I'm team-teaching with one other person - the reading teacher. She's got it easy - order books for the kids with Scholastic points. LOL. The math teacher...hmmm.... So, I came up with these two little things that don't cost much.

Hot Cocoa In a Bag - bought it all at Dollar Tree, except the marshmallows. Had to go to the grocery store for those. Toss everything in a bag & tie them up. The great thing about this is that the kids all wanted hot cocoa during our movie. I passed out cups, they poured their cocoa packet into the bottom of the cup, added hot/warm water, and stirred with a candy cane. Easiest drink I've ever served my students. EVER.

• Snowman Gift Bags
• Straws (optional - they're cute, but the paper sometimes makes a mess)
• Hot Cocoa with Marshmallows
• Candy Canes (more fun than a spoon to stir the cocoa)
• Extra Marshmallows (b/c you can never have too many)
• Styrofoam Cups - not put in the bags

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments (without Glue) - This recipe was given to me by a mom/former teacher and I think she "borrowed" it from here. (http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Other/Cinnamon-Ornaments) Mix everything together, add more apple sauce until a nice dough forms. If it's cracking or crumbling, add a little more apple sauce. That was a major complaint on the website & something I ran into. But the extra apple sauce (or water when I ran low) did fix it. The website says to bake the ornaments, but last year the parent set them out to dry for a week or so which resulted in them turning out gorgeous - no crispy edges or curling from the oven. I'm going to try that this year and pop them in the oven if they need a little help. I got everything at Big Lots. For the Mickey Mouse ear ornaments (Disney field trip), I made 6 batches for a class of 22 (with some extras). See the picture to gauge the size of each. Don't forget to leave time for these to dry out! -I'm making mine in November next year.

• 3/4 cup apple sauce
• 2 bottles (2.37 oz. each) Ground Cinnamon - get the cheap stuff
• Straws - McDonald's work well - you only need 1 or 2
• Ribbons

Classroom Elf

Does anyone else have an elf visiting from the North Pole at this time of year? My class was thrilled when they came back from Thanksgiving break & found an elf in our room. Snowflake has been a pretty good little elf, but she has managed to play with some of our math games & manipulatives.

Yesterday, Snowflake climbed into a side pocket of my backpack & went to Disney's Animal Kingdom with us. I hesitated with the idea because I was afraid she'd fall out, but I knew the kids would get a kick out of it. They were excited, all right! But, they were also very concerned about her falling out, so I safety-pinned her to the backpack pocket. (Not an easy feat without touching her!)

While there, I managed to "escape" from my students long enough to purchase a Mouse Ears hat for her. Disney's key chain version of the traditional mouse ears fit an elf perfectly!

Now, I need help. We're coming up on the last five days that Snowflake will be in the classroom and I need some more ideas of mischief she can get into in a fourth grade room. Nothing involving too much prep...time is a luxury I don't have right now. But, I'd like to do something cute for my kiddos.