In my opinion the best part about going away to school was the care packages. For my first two years I did not have a car on campus so I went home very rarely. It was sooo nice to get care packages from family and friends to have a bit of home in my dorm. Care packages aren’t just for college kids from parents, though! So many other people will appreciate a little box just as much:
- Someone who just moved to a new city
- A friend you haven’t seen in a while
- Those loving parents you just left
- A student studying abroad
- Someone who moved away for an internship in Florida ;)
The best thing about care packages is that they don’t have to be big or expensive to be wonderful. They can be extravagant, of course, but at the very least they should contain one thing from three different categories: cute, consumable, cozy. Read on for ideas to fit each category and for a nifty wish list printable to either hand to the loved one you’d like to make them a box or to fill out on your own and leave in really obvious places for your family to find. Cute items should be anything that will make the recipient smile! For me, colorful office or craft supplies do the job. Oh man I love a brand new set of pens. Other things that fit the bill are:
- handful of recent pictures from home, I suggest walgreens.com for printing!
- key chain or lanyard from their hometown or favorite place
- DVD of a favorite movie that they didn’t take with them
- new book in their favorite genre or just something to hit their funny bone
Items for the ‘consume’ category can definitely be food but gift cards can be consumed just as easily ;) But make sure you’re buying them a card to somewhere they use! Most of the movie theaters in my hometown are Marcus while the two near school are Wildwood and AMC! Other ideas:
- cookies of some sort. If you can’t bake, don’t sweat it; nobody was ever sad about Oreos!
- favorite brand of fruit snacks
- gift card to a grocery store or gas station
- cold hard cash, a roll of quarters if the laundry facilities need them
The cozy bit is the most important part in my opinion. These items are the hug from home, long distance cuddle part of the show and are the source of the warm fuzzy feelings that come from getting a care package. My suggestions are:
- stuffed animals, as small as a beanie baby or you can go all out at build a bear
- t-shirt from that place that they like or for that thing that they love
- new blanket
- gift card to their campus apparel shop
So there are my general guidelines and suggestions for where to start when building a care package. I tried to balance my lists to have a few big and a few small options in terms of putting a dent in your wallet. If you to put in more than three items in, I highly suggest more consumables. While the cute and cuddly items will be highly appreciated an entire box of new new stuff will honestly just take up more space. Dorm room real estate is precious and things that disappear (like more cookies or gift cards) are more practical. And now that printable!
There’s one of each kind in the preview but the actual downloads are two of the same on the page. I couldn’t help myself with the Disney version! These might be handy to have around at farewell parties for a recent grad about to leave the nest. Or turn it into a game and see who can come up with the most ridiculous items!
What are your favorite things to receive in a care package? Are there any important elements that you think I missed?
Have a great day!
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