Classroom Volunteer Thank You Gift

Classroom volunteers are near and dear to my heart. My volunteers have been my lifesavers this year especially, since I had my first ever combo! They spent their time listening to my students read, helped them practice their spelling words, reviewed incorrect answers on math tests, and did anything else that was needed. One of my volunteers didn't take a lunch break at word one day a week and helped in my classroom instead. Another spent part of her only day off in my classroom and her other child's classroom. Another volunteer has been with me for five years, since her daughter was first in my class! At the end of the year, I love to spoil and thank them for all of their help with a fun strawberry-themed gift. 

To make the scrapbook, I folded 7 large lunch sized paper bags in half and hole punched each one 6 times. I used one of them as a template so the holes lined up when I stacked all 7 bags. (I usually staple the paper bag albums, but I knew this one would be really thick, since I wanted each student to write a page thanking the volunteer.) After I hole punched them, I used small binder rings to bind the pages together, and I tied ribbon onto each binder ring. 

I gave each student a page and they wrote a letter of thanks to one of our parent volunteers. They drew a picture, then I adhered them to the paper bag scrapbook.

The great thing about these little books is you can put extra pages or memorabilia inside the pockets that are created from the openings of the paper bags. I could have used less paper bags and placed the extra pages in the pockets. 

I also made each volunteer a small gift basket. I usually find everything I need at Bath and Body Works on sale, but this year I didn't buy the lotion and lip gloss early enough, so it was EOS to the rescue! I adhered the printable tag to a paper straw with glue dots. 

I put the gift basket in a plain lunch sized paper bag and topped it with a card and a clothespin. I also made the parents some delicious Strawberry Cupcakes. The frosting tastes like strawberry fudge! You actually use frozen strawberries in the cake batter and frosting. You can find the recipe here. Even if you don't make it for your volunteers, you can make it for yourself!

Grab your FREEBIE copy of the Classroom Volunteer file HERE. 

And be sure to check out my fun end of the year pack that you can find here. It includes a fun end of the year scrapbook with many page choices, treat bag toppers, cards, and a few other goodies. It's on sale for the rest of this school year! My kiddos started it yesterday, andI was shocked at how quiet they were they were while working on the pages!

I'm still in denial that it's almost the end. I only have one and a half more days. :(