Preschool Graduation Gifts

So I believe in the law of reciprocity big time, so when I have a chance to give my preschool parents preschool graduation gifts, I go ALL IN! I have always set out to over-deliver in everything I do, and I believe that it is that very action that has set my preschool apart from everyone else’s since the very beginning. My preschool parents know I over deliver, and, in return, they often go out of their way to show me they appreciate it.

All year long, I tell my preschool parents about our upcoming preschool graduation. It’s a huge event, and it’s free to every one of my preschool families… Their children will be up on stage, singing, dancing, and getting their diplomas… and their parents will be in the audience balling their eyes out, saying, “My baby’s growing up!”

I even let them invite any one they want to come watch it! It’s held in our high school’s auditorium that seats 800 people. Every year, we pack it to standing room only! To say that people are amazed would be an understatement. They are wholly and utterly shocked when they walk into that auditorium and see almost 1,000 people there for just a PRESCHOOL graduation! Can you even believe it!?!

It wasn’t always this way… we did our graduation in our home for several years, then at a local park, then at a local church… until finally we grew large enough we had to have a huge auditorium. In any case, it’s one of my favorite events of the year, and regardless if you hold a large graduation or not, there will still be costs for you to put on a graduation.

You might want to serve treats, or give out small gifts, or create portfolios, etc… Those costs add up, and you need a way to pay for them. End-of-Year Goodies is that way!

At the end of each school year, after my parents have been hearing about this amazing preschool graduation that they will get for FREE with my preschool, I offer my preschool parents the opportunity to help pay for the graduation by getting the things they’ve always wanted for their preschooler, but they just didn’t know they had a chance to get: a class photo, a video with all the year’s events and activities, and the professional pictures taken at their upcoming preschool graduation.

They can buy one for $20, or they can get all three for just $50… that way, they’ll save $10 plus get a bonus cap ‘n gown picture!

They’re not obligated to buy anything, and I don’t pressure them in any way; I simply put out an offer that parents already want, and by also saying it helps pay for the graduation, they feel even better about paying for it.

So, parents get the chance to preserve all the great year’s memories, and I get $20-$50 per order to go toward the cost of the preschool graduation. Each year, we make about $2,000 on these end-of-year goodies, and that is pretty close to how much our preschool graduation costs to put on.

Some people charge for dance recitals or even preschool graduations… I feel that lessens the “law of reciprocity” I build in my preschool… I have set fees (registration and tuition) and anything else is just optional… but our preschool graduation is always included for free (as are our field trips and events and a whole slew of other things!)

I would rather give out amazing value and an insane event for everyone to be blown away by… all the while saying to themselves, “I can’t believe this is free!!!”

To do the End-of-Year Goodies, add into your yearly preschool calendar a Class Picture day (or two, if you have 2-day or 3-day classes) in May. Then, simply tell your parents at the beginning of the school year they’ll have a chance to order them at the end of the year. Then, during the last week of April, send out the order form to every parent.

Ask that the order forms come back the next week, but do a drop-dead deadline of the week before school is out for the last day to order. Send out reminders via text or newsletter or Facebook as needed.

To create the actual “goodies,” follow this procedure:

Class Picture (8″x10″ picture)

• Use your smartphone’s camera and ensure there’s adequate lighting. (Most smartphones have a high-definition lens so you should be fine. If you want a better camera, you can get a Canon DSLR from Wal-Mart or Costco for under $300.)
• When it’s time to take the picture, if you’re the only teacher, ask one of the preschool parents to come in for the last 15 minutes of class to take the picture. If you have teachers, you can pop in during the last 15 minutes to take the picture.
• Arrange class picture area in the middle of the circle rug in each class with 4 chairs set next to each other with room behind the chairs for the teacher to kneel
• Ask the teacher to kneel in the back middle between chair 2-3
• Arrange the children according to height (tallest in back) and according to boy/girl numbers (it looks great if you have equal numbers of boys to girls on each row, such as boy/girl/girl/boy etc.
• For the front row, have the children sit crisscross applesauce (don’t put any girls with short dresses/shorts on the floor)
• Move all girls’ dresses to cover as much of their knees as possible
• Tell back row to stand tall with arms by side; seated and floor rows to sit tall with hands on knees
• Photographer (or you) should say to the kids, “look at me” and can get them to laugh by saying “Say monkey!” (and after they say monkey, photographer says, “Did you call me a monkey!?!”) Take picture when they laugh. Do a few times until you get a good one where everyone is looking at you. Repeat for all classes.
• Picture printing details explained at the end of this section.

Preschool Graduation Pictures (files only)

• Ask your preschool parents if any of them do photography as a hobby or business. (I bet you at least one of them does!) Simply set up a swap. Have that parent take pictures at the graduation with their professional camera and give you the files, and in exchange, that parent can get a free End-of-Year Goodies package (plus anything else you want to throw in).
• After your graduation is over, simply get the files from the parent and email those files to your preschool parents.

Preschool End-of-Year Video (link only)

• Send out an email or newsletter or Facebook message during the last week of April to ask for any pictures your parents have taken during the school year at events or activities.
• Combine those pictures with your pictures and any videos you’ve taken.
• Use any slideshow software that came for free on your computer or laptop or iPad and follow the instructions to create the slideshow video. You can even add fun background music to make it move along quicker. My favorite songs are from any Disney or Pixar movie.
• Once it’s completed, you can upload it to YouTube and email the parents who bought it a link to watch it.

Preschool Cap ‘n Gown Picture (8”x10” picture)

• Use your smartphone and ensure there’s adequate lighting.
• Order one cap ‘n gown for a child (with your school colors) from Amazon and create a “diploma” by rolling up a cardstock paper into a diploma shape and tying it with a ribbon.
• On the class picture day, if you have teachers, take the children whose parents ordered a cap ‘n gown to a separate area in your classroom (or outside if the weather is nice) to a great backdrop area (or even make your own backdrop area.)
• If you’re by yourself, you could do this during center time in your classroom, or at recess time with everyone.
• Take groups of 4-5 students at a time so they can see someone else take their picture and know what to do. Place the gown on, then the cap with tassel on the left, then the diploma with hands holding it at the bottom.
• Center the child in the middle of the backdrop, raise the diploma closer to the face.
• Get child to laugh with the “Say Monkey” phrases, say “Look at me” and take picture while child is still smiling. Repeat for all children who ordered a cap ‘n gown photo.
• Picture printing details explained at the end of this section.

To print your class photos and cap ‘n gown photos, go to Retail Me Not and find a coupon code for Walgreens photos (usually 40% off). Then, upload all class photos and cap ‘n gown photos to photo.walgreens.com and pick them up when they’re done.

Next, create “Class Picture Labels” that you can stick on the back of each class picture that names each child and teacher. (You can create those by using larger printer shipping labels and this format below.)

From left to right:
Top: Suzie, Jack, Miss Suzanne …
Middle: Bobby, Riley …
Front: Shawn, Rebecca …

Then hand out the pictures (in 9”x12” labeled envelopes) to the parents who ordered them before class is out (or, better yet, put the pictures in page protectors at the back of each child’s portfolio for a professional touch and hand them out at graduation).

TIP: If you want to get more fancy, you can create a DVD and CD of the grad pictures and the yearly video, but you don’t need to. Everything is moving to digital so you should be fine to send files only. If you do want to create CDs or DVDs, go to Kunaki and follow the process there. (There’s a bit of a learning curve to actually get your files uploaded to Kunaki, but once you do, it’s a breeze to get them printed and shipped to you. They’re cheap, too.)

I hope you use these preschool graduation gifts to wow your preschool parents and put a little more money back into your bank account at the same time.