Question for you today, homeschool parents! Do you do “end of the school year” gifts for your kids?

Before this year, I haven’t. At each holiday (besides Christmas and birthdays), I find myself thinking deep thoughts: hemming and hawing about the pull of consumerism. Each generation has shifted a bit when it comes to gifting culture, and within each family there is often great diversity of gifting etiquette and practice.

My kids are fortunate to have incredible grandparents on both sides of our family, so their gifts add to our repertoire: for birthdays, Christmas, and other holidays as well. For holidays like Valentine’s Day and Easter, I often find myself thinking, “how much is too much?” I think about the sugar consumption, gifting, and general culture of excess to which our society often falls prey, and I often take a step back and make things simpler.

Gift Lists For Kids: Yay or Nay?

It seems like every homeschool or mommy blogger has gift lists these days, too! These posts have an alternating effect on me. Sometimes I am irritated by them wanting to put one more thing on my mental to-do list, because their lists are both intriguing and sometimes, excessive. Other times, I am inspired by the ideas and find myself tempted to grab a few items for my kids (I’m sure that’s the point, right? :))

So, while I often go back and forth about gifting, there are definitely still times when I want to celebrate, embrace the moment, and show my love to my kids through a thoughtful gift. The end of this 2025-2026 school year was one of those times.

End of School Year Gifts

This year, I spent time brainstorming what type of thoughtful gift I could get each of my three school-aged kids. (My fourth just turned two, so while she thoroughly enjoys participating in the unwrapping process, she didn’t actually notice that she didn’t have a separate gift of her own, this time!)

For my preschooler, I got a simple blue scooter. (Just the old-school kind, not electric!) He learned to ride a two-wheeler when he was newly four, and isn’t quite coordinated enough to rollerblade yet! I thought a scooter would be a great addition to his outdoor play options, and sure enough, he was zooming around on that thing almost immediately.

For my eldest daughter, who is 8, I got this incredible Garden House Book Nook! I first saw this at a friend’s house over Christmas, and was completely in awe. It’s an intricate 3D puzzle-type project that you put together piece by piece. There are incredible details, including a working light fixture! I knew my creative, engineer-minded daughter would absolutely love it. Here are a few photos of the assembly process:

Is it not the most whimsical thing you’ve ever seen?! To say she loved it, is an understatement 🙂

Lastly, for my oldest son (who is 10), I got a new army tank for his army-guy-setup!

I have to admit, something I love about homeschooling is the unique ways it can preserve and prolong childhood. I know that the world has changed for kids, since the dawning of the internet but more specifically, social media and smart phones. (I blogged a bit about it here and made an engaging freebie to do with preteens, if you’re interested!).

We’ve started to teach our oldest two some skills regarding tech literacy, both academic (like typing, and internet research) as well as safety, privacy, and other concepts regarding internet use–but I am thankful that we can prolong smart phones and social media for many years, still. That said, I am thankful that homeschooling allows us to control that influence at our own pace, and that my son by extension still likes to play with things like “army guys.”

How Homeschooling Prolongs Childhood

I think often about how terms like “sheltered”, “innocent”, and “uneducated” overlap. Sometimes people use all three to mean the same thing, but they truly are different. While I wasn’t homeschooled myself, I did grew up knowing many homeschool families through our church, and I remember hearing various stereotypes thrown around! At their most banal, I remember private school kids being called “snobs,” public schoolers being considered “dumb,” and homeschooled kids being called “unsocialized,” among other things. As adults, we know that stereotypes paint broad, unnuanced views at best, but as kids, it’s hard not to internalize and wonder about those labels!

Teasing out the nuances between “sheltered,” “innocent,” and “uneducated” has been an important process for me. I have always known I wanted my children to be well-read, and well-educated, so that one is a no-brainer. Innocence is also something I value highly, both as related to faith and morality / character in general. As far as “sheltered” goes, it really depends on how you understand that label. There is a Bible verse in the gospel of John that talks about being “in the world, but not of the world.” I think people will always have a range of interpretation for this verse, and perhaps a range of how they personally will live out these principles.

When it comes to the wild west of the internet, social media, and smart phones, I am fine delaying that as long as possible. I suppose this is one way our family will be in the world, but not “of” the world–especially when I see other elementary and middle school kids toting their smart phones, at the park! I hope to usher my kids into that world slowly and intentionally, and to teach them to use it wisely and with caution. One day they won’t live here anymore, and as most parents do, I hope that they will use the skills and knowledge they gained within these walls, to apply to their life on their own.

Love Languages For Kids

Alright, so a few last thoughts on gifting! I also think being mindful of your child’s love language is important. If you’ve never read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, I would highly recommend it! If you’re unfamiliar, the basic premise is that there are five “love languages:” words of affirmation, gifts, physical touch, quality time, and acts of service. Everyone responds to these acts of love differently, and “receives” them from others, at different levels! For example, gifting is actually last on my list. The ways I feel most loved are through quality time, and words of affirmation.

My husband and I recently discovered that our love languages have actually shifted a bit, over the course of our marriage! I wonder if many couples feel that “acts of service” creeps its way to the top of lists, moreso once you have kids to take care of. 🙂

I recently saw they have a Five Love Languages For Kids, so I just requested it from our local library. I am curious if it’s different than the original, and how so!

With that in mind, I will say: I don’t always do end-of-school-year-gifts. I personally do not have “gifts” super high on my own list; I am a quality time person, and it seems that our kids are right now, too. Even so, it’s fun to get a gift every once in awhile, especially one that was thoughtfully purchased, just for you.

What do you think? Did you do “end of the school year” gifts this year? Something else instead? I’d love to hear.

Happy end-of-year!

Cait