Gift Guide For
2007 Grads
Great, easy
gift ideas to celebrate students during graduation
time.
by Laura Jeanne Hammond
TWEENS & TEENS News June 2007
Looking for the perfect graduation presents
for your friends and family members? Here
are ideas for all high school students walking
across the stage en route to a diploma this
spring.
Get Organized
Gift: laundry survival pack
Unless a college student lives less than a
half hour from home, the days of parents doing
a teen’s laundry will soon end. Pack
a gift basket with a laundry bag, along with
the essentials for clean clothes: hangers,
a lint brush and a hamper. Complete the basket
by adding detergent, fabric softener and stain
remover.
Gift: large and stackable drawers
Dorm rooms are small, so any kind of organizational
system helps a teen to keep his or her stuff
separate from a roommate’s belongings.
Get Comfortable
Gift: comfy beanbag chair
Whether a college student is doing homework,
watching TV, catching shuteye or just lounging
with friends, a comfy chair is a must. A nice
chair also lets visitors relax on something
other than the roommate’s bed.
Gift: body pillow
What college student doesn’t need a
good night’s sleep? A body pillow replaces
a teen’s teddy bear from home—
and makes studying on the floor much more
enjoyable.
Gift: dorm bedding
A bed-in-a-bag set with extra-long twin sheets
means the only other thing a students needs
for the dorm bed is a pillow or two. Throw
in an egg crate or twin-sized mattress pad,
and the new college student will have sweet
dreams of you.
Get Real
Gift: mini fridge
Get a student a fridge with a compact design
but enough room to hold snack food, soda and
ice cream— and the occasional fruits
and vegetables.
Gift: first-aid kit
Paper cuts and scratches cause students to
appreciate having a first-aid kit handy. Make
the kit yourself or buy a pre-made one. Teens
can keep the first-aid kit in a dorm room
or car.
Gift: cordless telephone
Even though most kids take cell phones to
college, having a cordless in the dorm room
is a good idea, especially for hallway phone
conversations.
Gift Ideas Under $20
•Cotton throw blanket
•Oversized towel
•Quilted mattress pad
•Pillows
•Picture frames
•Inflatable chair
Best Tech Gifts
•iPod or other music player
•Laptop
•Digital organizer
•Digital picture frames
•Adapters, if student
plans to study abroad
Gifts to Make Yourself
•Engrave a picture frame, key chain
or photo album.
•Make a collage for a friend to hang
in his or her dorm room.
•Design a pillowcase with fabric or
a motif representative of a friend’s
personality.
•Compile a personalized scrapbook.
•Create a lucky charm.
Get Decorating
Gift: dry-erase message board
Taking messages for roommates can be a pain,
but not if the message board is stuck to the
door. A message board also lets college friends
leave notes like “Do not enter unless
you want to study for the psych 101 final.”
Gift: rug
Who wants to climb out of bed for an 8am class
and step onto a freezing cold floor? A slip-free
rug gives a dorm room personality, color and
a warm floor in the morning.
Gift: bathroom supplies
Let a soon-to-be college student spend money
on tuition instead of toiletries. Put together
a bathroom set with flip-flops, washcloths,
shampoo, conditioner, body scrub, lotion and
a bathrobe.
Gift: folding bookcase
A folding bookcase helps teens store all of
those books new students surely have to buy.
The best part about this type of bookcase
is that when someone moves from a dorm to
a campus apartment, fraternity or sorority,
he or she can fold up the bookcase and easily
transport it.
Great Last-Minute Gift Ideas
•Care package filled with
candy and snacks
•Post-it notes
•Batteries
•Pen and pencil holder
•Day planner
•Printer paper and cartridges
•Desk light
•Full-length mirror
•Book bag
•Double-sided tape
•Rolls of quarters for the laundry machines
•Laptop bag
•Funky pens
•Envelopes, stamps, stationery
•Photo album
•Headphones
•Gas card
And perhaps the best gift is to commit to
keep in touch. You may have a hectic schedule,
but college students need their old support
system to stay in place as they make a new
friends in college.
Laura Jeanne Hammond is editor in chief
of The Next Step Magazine, a national college,
career and life-planning publication. Go to
www.nextSTEPmag.com for a college search tool,
contests and a college-planning community.
