Editor’s Note: This article is updated annually and has been modified to include new celebration ideas and graduation giveaways for 2022.
Once again, it’s graduation season! And that means it’s time to applaud big milestones and upcoming adventures. With tens of millions graduating kindergarten through high school and about 4 million people graduating college each year, there is much reason to celebrate. To help your school’s students end the year with a bang, we offer unforgettable graduation party and giveaway ideas.
Kindergarten
Congratulate your youngest graduates and help families memorialize the day with a Diamond Kite given out at their ceremony. This gift lets them know the sky’s the limit, and it’s the perfect thing to celebrate with on a spring afternoon. If the school is hosting an outdoor ceremony, bring on the bubbles with an XL Bubble Wand. Young grads will love a game of “Pop the Bubble,” where kids must pop the bubbles hands-free, using their knees, elbows, feet or nose.
Parents of graduating kindergarteners will appreciate these engaging Building Block Stackable Lunch Containers as graduation gifts. Their young students will be excited to eat a healthy lunch when it’s packed inside a fun container that encourages creativity. Prepare these youngest graduates for “big school” with a 10-Piece Crayon Set, Super Kid Sticker Roll and a Color and Learn Numbers Book tucked into a Super Kid Super Star Sportpack.
Junior high school
Entering high school is a big deal for young students. Help families celebrate their junior high schooler’s graduation with a gift card to a local restaurant or movie theater. Whether your school is holding an in-person or virtual ceremony and/or celebration, a Too Cool for School Backpack stuffed with goodies, such as a school branded Blend Crew T-shirt, Pencil Stress Reliever and a natural Colored Pencil and Ruler Box, makes a perfect graduation gift.
Set up outdoor yearbook decorating stations for after the ceremony. Stock the stations with stickers, glitter, glue, paint and markers. Students can bond over their elementary and middle school memories and write their thoughts in classmates’ yearbooks. These graduation party and giveaway ideas are sure to be long remembered.
High school
As one of their biggest life moments, high school grads are getting ready to step into the real world. Honor students by hanging their senior photos on light poles or in local business windows downtown. Work with city officials to host a graduation parade. As a memorable senior project, have soon-to-be graduates form teams to build floats. Accompanied by the marching band, students can travel down Main Street in their cap and gown, throwing Flavor Burst Candies and Hershey’s® Kisses to their cheering family, friends and community members.
Pack a laptop backpack with helpful items for the next stage of their life. Pop-Out Silicone Measuring Cups, a Market Cooler Tote and a Shammy Household Towel—all imprinted with your school’s logo—are sure to come in handy whether graduates go to college, enroll in a trade school, or enter the workforce.
College
Show graduates and their families the impact their class can make around the world. Hang a few large maps on the walls right outside the ceremony venue. Ask each student to sign their name on the city they’ll be living in after graduation. At the end of the ceremony, this makes a great backdrop for photos. Give each grad a Cork Frame, imprinted with the year, as a keepsake to remember the day.
Include an item representative of their chosen field with their diploma or degree. For instance, an Apple Hot/Cold Pack for grads entering the teaching profession, a Stethoscope MopTopper Stylus Pen for people going into healthcare, or a Dumbbell Stress Reliever for graduates entering the field of health and wellness.
Bright futures lie ahead
Whether your graduates are receiving a Ph.D. or preparing to enter first grade, they’ve achieved a major milestone to be proud of. Help them celebrate their accomplishments with memorable graduation party and giveaway ideas.