15 of the Best & Cheap Christmas Gifts for Classmates

It’s that time of year again isn’t it when your kids come home from school and tell you they want to hand out Christmas gifts for classmates.  It’s such a lovely thought that they want to do this but often for us parents it sends us into a spin just not due to the expense, but also trying to come up with good affordable class Christmas gifts.

But we have been there before and have had years of brainstorming cheap class Christmas gift ideas.  So in this guide we’re going to share with you some of these suggestions.

15 of the best & cheap Christmas gifts for classmates

Before we get into of our Christmas gift ideas for school friends, you’ll need to decide whether you’re getting school Christmas presents just for your child’s close circle of friends or whether you’re going to give all the kids school Christmas gifts that are in the class.  Once you have decided this, you can set yourself a budget.

With our below Christmas gift ideas for classmates, we’ve kept it pretty simple, cheap and just overall stress free for parents.  I know if you search Pinterest you can find some pretty elaborate and amazing Christmas gift ideas for school children – but our list of suggestions includes things you can quickly order online or at the local store and put together in one evening. 

The honest truth is that your child’s classmates will be super stoked with whatever it is your child gives them, and quite often the simple Christmas gifts for school friends are the most loved.

So here goes our Christmas gift ideas for school kids:

1. Bubbles

Now you can’t go wrong with a bottle of bubbles as gifts for friends at end of school year.  Little tiny tots in kindy to young school age kids just go nuts for them.  Plus they are super cheap so make great class Christmas presents if your child wants to hand them out to everyone in the class.

You can purchase little bottle of bubbles in bulk packs super cheap – or even these bubble wands are cheap too.

Kids can hand these out as school Xmas gifts to their friends as is, or for a little creativity you can print out little messages such as “Wishing you a Merry Christmas and hope your holiday bubbles over with fun”.

2. Scrunchies or hair clips

For quick and easy Christmas gifts for school kids, scrunchies or hair clips are a good one.  You can pick these up fairly cheaply at the local shopping centre or even buy a bulk pack on line reasonably cheap like this 48 pack of velvet scrunchies or this 50 pack of satin scrunchies.

You might even be able to pick up a cute pack of Christmas hair bows like these ones. 

3. Play-Doh

If you’re after Christmas gifts for kindergarten classmates – little pots of Play-Doh are perfect.  In fact they make great Christmas school gift ideas for young school aged children too.

You can buy bulk packs of little tubs of Play-Doh pretty cheap, or even the standard size is reasonably priced too.  These are great  as Christmas gifts for kids at school just as they are or if you want to get a little creative why not turn them into Christmas postcards.

You can download printable cards online or just make your own.  Ensure that the cards have a Christmas bauble on the front the same size as the top of the Play-Doh Lid (you can trace it yourself if making your own).  Then cut out the circle and pop the Play-Doh lid into the space.  You may need to put some tape on the back of the card to keep it in place.

Whether you decide to keep it simple or get creative with it, Play-Doh is the perfect Christmas presents for school kids from tiny tots to early school years.

4. Bouncy balls

Little bouncy balls are another one of the great no fuss gift ideas for school children.  All little children love a super bouncy ball and kids always need a supply of them as they often loose them.

If you’re child wants to do Christmas presents for school friends as well as everyone in the class I recommend you get in early and purchase a bulk pack online, which you can do very cheaply.  Here are a few different ones I quickly found that are all super cheap:

• 20 pack of different coloured bouncy balls
• Set of 6 coloured bee bouncy balls
• 24 Set of different coloured bouncy balls
• 25 set of Toyandona multi coloured bouncy balls
  

5. Homemade popsicles

When it comes to Australia and last day of school gifts for friends, you can’t beat an ice block.  Such a simple idea, but I can assure you the kids will love it AND its one of the super cheap gifts for school friends.

You can either go buy a pack of ice blocks at the supermarket or for something a little different buy a pack of ice block pouches like these ones and make up your own yummy flavour.  Plus then the kids having something to take home and can make their own ice blocks over the Christmas Holidays.

Homemade popsicles are one of the best gift ideas for school kids of all ages and given they are so cheap are perfect when your child wants to hand out to everyone in the class.  The only thing is you will need to bring them down to the classroom at the end of the day or perhaps there is somewhere the teacher can keep them frozen for you.

6. Nail polish

For school aged children, nail polish is always a hit if you’re after Christmas ideas for school kids.  Depending on the age of the child you can just buy age appropriate nail varnish.

Again for the best deal, I’d recommend ordering a bulk set online like this set of 18 BC Beauty Concepts Nail Polish.

This is actually one of the school friends Christmas gifts we did for my son’s friends one year.  We wrapped one nail polish with a chocolate inside a large square of cellophane which we then tied up with some ribbon.  He used this printable Christmas tag to write his own personal message which we then laminated.  We then put a hole punch in the corner and tied the message onto the gift with the ribbon. (See the full details below.)

7. Snowman popcorn

If you’re after some super cute, cheap and creative school Christmas gift ideas, then I suggest you consider these adorable Snowman Popcorn gifts.  They are easy to make and won’t cost you an arm and a leg, plus the kids will love making their own popcorn at home.(See the full details below.)

To make these snowman popcorn Christmas gifts for kids classmates, first of all, you will need to grab yourself some individual packets of microwave popcorn, some plain white paper, red paint, small round sponge, orange paper, black card or paper and coloured twine.

Cut the paper to size, fold and glue around the individual popcorn packet.  With a black pen draw on a smile and dots for eyes.  With the sponge and red paint stamp on some faint red cheeks and cut out a small triangle from the orange paper for the nose and glue it on.  Lastly cut out a square and rectangle shape for the hat and glue these on.

If you want to add a scarf to your snowman, get some coloured string and tie it around the packet.  You could also add two black dots (made by using a hole punch) to make your snowman even cuter.

Your child can add their message on the back of these Christmas gifts for friends at school.

8. Personalised Santa hats

If you’re after super cute Christmas ideas for school friends and your child is a little bit crafty, how about personalised Santa hats.  Purchase a bunch of Santa hats and some 3D fabric paint and write each of the children’s name on the hats.  The kids will love wearing them around at school and having something to wear on Christmas day too.

9. Reindeer noses

These super cute packs of Reindeer Noses are a great simple idea, if you’re after some Christmas treats for classmates.

Just buy a bucket of Maltesers, bag of Jaffa’s and get yourself some clear cellophane or some cellophane bags like these ones.   You can then search online for a free downloadable or make your own little labels that say, “Reindeer Noses”.

Pop a few Maltesers and one Jaffa in each pack and attach the “Reindeer Noses” label with some ribbon.  Your child can write a message on the back of the label if they like – if so get them to do this prior to attaching to the pack.

The great thing about these Christmas gifts to give classmates, is there is usually a few chocolates left over for you to eat!

10. Christmas pencils

Around Christmas time you can get some super cute little Christmas themed pencils which make great Christmas presents for school kids.  If you search online you can usually find a good bulk pack of pencils at a great price, quite often they even come with super cute little novelty erasers too like these ones.

If you wanted to give a little more, you could make a little bundle of a pencil and candy cane and tie it together with some ribbon.  You go with some coloured pencils, you could even print off a Christmas colouring page to include in the bundle too.

11. Bake some Christmas cookies

If you and/or your child (depending on how old they are) love to bake, then one of the best Christmas gifts ideas for school friends is to bake them some Christmas themed cookies.

Grab yourself a Christmas cookie cutter set and whip up your best cookie dough and cut out some super cute Christmas cookies.  When it comes to decorating the cookies, you can make it as simple or elaborate as you’re comfortable with.

Once you’re done, wrap a cookie or two in some cellophane, add a cute little personal message and tie it on with some ribbon.

12. Lip balm

With Christmas holidays usually seeing kids spending days in the hot the summer sun, some lip balm with sun protection makes a great choice when it comes to Christmas gifts for school children.

Lip balm doesn’t cost more than a few dollars and to make it a little more Christmassy and special you can take our tips from the nail polish above and wrap it with a chocolate or candy cane and tie a personalised note to the package too.

13. Squishy toys

Another cool idea for Christmas gifts for toddler classmates or even young school age kids are squishy toys.  All little kids love squishy toys so they will no doubt be a hit with the kids.

If you like the idea of squishy toys as school Christmas gifts for students, I recommend jumping online as you can get some great deals on bulk packs of squishy toys, like this pack of mini Mochi toys.

14. Christmas activity books

Activity books make great Christmas gift ideas for school buddies, particularly for young school aged children.  There’s are huge variety available from simple colouring books, to sticker books and puzzle books.  Depending upon the age of the child you can choose something that’s age appropriate.

15. Christmas stamps and stickers

Another suggestion in our school friends Christmas gift ideas guide is Christmas stamps and stickers.  Put together some little packages for the kids which include a Christmas stamp as well as a few stickers.  You can wrap it all up in some cellophane and tie a candy cane and personalised message to it.

More school friend Xmas gift ideas

Here is how I did it with my son a few years ago:

I showed him some of the great Christmas craft ideas and luckily there were two ideas that he thought ‘worked’ as school friend Christmas gifts this year, so we set out to grab a few bits from our local shops and got our Christmas craft on.

You will need:

• scissors
• nail varnish
• printable christmas tag – download by clicking here
• clear cellophane
• ribbon
• hole puncher (optional but preferred)
• laminator & laminating sheets (optional but preferred)

How to create Christmas gifts for classmates

Print out the tag and cut out

Get your child to hand write their message to their classmate on the reverse side

Place carefully in the laminating sheets and then through the laminating machine

Trim around the laminated Christmas tags

Holepunch where the white dot is at the top

Place the nail varnish (we added a chocolate too!) inside a large square of cellophane and wrap

Wrap carefully and pull the top tight and twist. Tie the top carefully once with the ribbon

Thread the ribbon through the Christmas tag and tie a double knot. Re-curl the ribbon if necessary by running the scissors blade along the ribbon. And you are done!

Bonus school friends Christmas gifts idea

We also made a small gift for some of this other friends who may not have enjoyed the nail varnish gift.

My son then wrote his message on the back and he carefully laminated the card.

He hole punched the card and then hole punched the popcorn packet and threaded the ribbon through and tied a double knot.

Super simple Christmas gifts for classmates ideas!

Merry Christmas everyone!