Preschool Graduation Gift Ideas

They grow up so fast. Preschool zoomed past, and kindergarten is right around the corner. Celebrate the littlest grad with a special preschool gift that sends the message that they’re on the road to becoming a big kid. These unique preschool graduation gifts help you applaud their good work and mark this step in their young journey.

Help the mini-grad in your life transition from pre-K to kindergarten by unlocking their wishes and dreams with new experiences that will fuel their creative fire. Take them on an outing that’s enjoyable as well as educational that might come up in discussion the following year. Do they love animals? Take them to an animal sanctuary where they can pet and feed lots of different animals. They’ll learn how different animals live, what they eat, and who knows, a future veterinarian might be born! Do they love rocks and digging? Lots of children’s museums have a dinosaur exhibit where kids can dig for bones and fossils. Got a mermaid or merman on your hands? A trip the aquarium is always a day full of deep sea adventures. Print all your pics from the day and work on a scrapbook together that they can take for show & tell. Not only will you and your little have made a wonderful memory, but you’ll be setting the stage for the possible roads their lives could take.

Upgrade your grad’s mini-backpack and snack bag to a larger backpack and lunch box to show they’ve hit the big time. Fill the new backpack with school supplies and the lunch box with a new water bottle. Consider monogramming the backpack for a grown-up touch. (Psst! If you want to plan ahead with a fun idea, give this a try: grab a bunch of blank note cards or colorful post-its to leave in your child’s lunchbox for a fun pick-me-up during the day. A simple, ‘I ♥ you!’ or ‘You can do it!’ make for a fun find along with their PB&J.)

Wrap a deluxe, kid-friendly art easel for the child who is bursting with creativity. Let your post-preschooler know it’s time to move beyond glitter and to work with real paints, canvas, and paper. Some easels have two sides, one for painting and one with a chalkboard or white board. Either way, tap your creative juices, and spell or draw a congratulatory message to the grad before wrapping it all up.

Perhaps your grad is already familiar with the “H” word — homework. If not, he will be. Provide him with a go-to homework spot complete with desk, chair, and supplies. If he already has a kid-friendly desk, then freshen up the space with new crayons, rulers, books, pencils, and maybe even a new, colorful desk lamp.

What better way to celebrate a graduation than to make the moment as special as possible? Give them a new pair of shoes before the event or a brand new outfit. To cap it off, give your grad a card with a little spending cash, just like the big kids get. You can find printable preschool graduation Creatacards™ to delight your pint-sized scholar

What better gift for pre-kindergarten graduation than a summertime toy? Spring for a water toy, new beach towel, or fun floating tube to let them know they’ve successfully completed the school year and are now taking a summer break. It’s a great way to reward them for their hard work and signal the end of one season and the start of another.

Kindergartners are expected to know their letters, making it an ideal time to give this type of gift for a pre-kindergarten graduation. Make learning the alphabet a joy by filling a bucket full of alphabet cookies, alphabet soup noodles, alphabet books, alphabet games, and maybe a pillow or wall hanging with their initials.

One of the skills kids need for kindergarten is a sense of numbers, so prep them the fun way. Make math cool with hands-on activities like puzzles — which are good for fine motor skills, too — cooking and baking kits, and money games. Give a cool coin sorter and a jar filled with pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters for an educational preschool graduation gift.

Starting a new grade can be scary and exciting at the same time, and while no one wants to rush summertime, counting down to the first day of school can help ease anxiety and create fun anticipation. Celebrate their graduation with a construction paper chain like the kind you make at Christmas, but give it a schooldays spin using fun bright colors, and hang it on the wall with a picture of their school or a school bus at the top. Or work together and create a big smiling summer sun and glue sunrays, like petals, all around it. Write an activity on each ray or link that you can do each day (go swimming, read a new book, explore nature, etc.). Have your child remove a link or sunray each day to fill summer with fun activities, boost confidence, and minimize first-day jitters.

Use these ideas to spark your creativity and create a meaningful gift with an educational message for a child’s pre-kindergarten graduation. We have your back for cute gift bags, fun tissue paper, and everything else you need to celebrate your excited grad.