Survival Kit For Life

As the school year ends, I decided that I wanted to make a goodie bag for each of my graduating Pre-K students. I looked up on Pinterest different end-of-the-year presents, and instantly LOVED the idea for a “survival kit for life”.

“Survival Kit For Life” | COST: $15-$25

I looked up different variations that other teachers have used, and tailored it to what I liked. Most of my inspirations came from Lessons With Laughter. It’s a very unique way to show my students how much I care for and love them, and I wanted to remind them to always look on the bright side of things in life. A lot of the items were either really cheap to buy, or are already things I had at home/work!

I bought different colored water bottles from the Dollar Tree for $1 per bottle. I didn’t have time to use a sharpie paint pen to label the bottles, so I used a regular black sharpie to write their names on the lid handles. (Side note: I love practicing my calligraphy, so it was fun to write their names on their bottles haha).

My “Survival Kit For Life” included the following items:

1. Bandaid
2. Chocolate Kisses
3. Eraser
4. Marker
5. Pencil Sharpener
6. Penny
7. Rubber band
8. Yarn

I created my own tags by creating a 2 x 2 table on Word; I did 7 different color variations for each student, printed it, cut each tag, pasted them on construction paper, cut it again, and inserted them into the water bottles. I was going to make a hole punch on the corners and tie them to the water bottles, but it was easier for me to just insert them into the bottles instead.

For reference, here is how much I spent for the items in my Survival Kit!

1. I had bought a pack of Inside Out bandaids from Target for $2.82, but I used a Cartwheel coupon which made them 1/2 off! ($1.41).
2. I bought a bag of Hershey chocolate almond kisses from Target for $5.69, but I also had another Cartwheel coupon for $1 off. ($4.69).
3. I bought 2 packs of Pentel Hi-Polymer Erasers, 4 ct for $1.99 each at Target. I personally love these erasers and use them at school because they work so well. You could probably get a pack of seasonal erasers in the $1 section, but I wanted to get my students a larger, quality eraser. ($3.98).
4. I bought a pack of Crayola Pip-Squeak Markers, 16ct for $3.88 from Walmart, such a good deal! I ended up giving my students 2 markers each (first with their favorite color, and a random second color). ($3.88).
5. I bought a pack of simple pencil sharpeners, 12ct from the Dollar Tree. ($1.00).
6. I had pennies in my wallet, so this was simple haha ($0.07).
7. I got the rubber bands from work, so this was free 🙂
8. I crochet as a side hobby, so I used random yarn colors for my students. I usually buy my yarn from Joanns for about $4.50. They also provide daily discounts, and if you subscribe on their mailing list, you get even more coupons emailed!

Overall, I spent about $22 in total to make my Survival Kits, which was not bad at all. I know that some of the parents expressed how much they loved the gift idea, and it definitely made me emotional. It’s very rewarding to have spent a year learning and getting to know each child, and I only wish them the best in all of their future endeavors.