What I'm Giving My Kids As “Summer Kick-Off” Gifts

Want a special way to end the school year and start summer vacation with a bang? Check out the “end of the school year/summer kick-off” gifts I put together for my kids!

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I’m doing something this year I’ve never done before – I’m giving my kids “end of the school year/summer kick-off” gifts!

It’s not something I plan to do every year (not on this scale, anyway), but I decided to do it this year for two reasons.

For one thing, it was Andrew’s first year of school, and I wanted to wrap it up in a special way. And he and Aidan both grew so much this year, I wanted to reward their hard work.

But also, I’ve been working on finding ways to delight my kids, while also making memories and nurturing their interests and passions. I realized a while back that I get so focused on getting stuff done and getting through our days, I don’t create enough space for fun. Since then, I’ve been intentionally looking for little things I can do to bring them joy.

Obviously, there are many ways to do that beyond buying them gifts, and I’m exploring as many as I can think of. But these summer kick-off gifts have been a blast to put together, and I can’t wait to give them to my kids this week!

What I’m Giving My Kids in Their “Summer Kick-Off” Gifts

Following are all the items I included in my kids’ “End of the School Year / Summer Kick-Off” gifts. I went kind of big this year, and like I said, I definitely won’t do it every year! But I think it’s worth the investment because they’re all things that will give them something to do, exercise their bodies and minds, and provide hours of fun this summer.

Book for Aidan — Maker Lab: Outdoors: 25 Super Cool Projects
Books for Andrew — Ultimate Reptile Rumble and Never Let a Dinosaur Scribble
Book for Annabel — Never Let a Unicorn Scribble

Frisbees for the boys (these are super inexpensive right now!)
Water guns for the boys (their old ones were getting worn out and needed replaced soon, anyway) and this adorable (and cheap!) unicorn squirt gun for Annabel
Pocket notebooks for Aidan (he uses them ALL THE TIME for jotting down all kinds of notes)
Stickers for Andrew & Annabel (from Dollar Tree)
Water bottle for Annabel
Bubble wands (a six-pack for $5!)

Are end of the school year gifts for your kids a necessity? Of course, not! There are lots of ways to celebrate the end of the school year. And you definitely don’t need to make them as big as I did – I probably won’t even do this again for a while!

But this is a super fun way to reward their hard work, do something special, and set them up for a summer of enriching fun!