School Counseling Gift Ideas for Interns, Grad Students, and New School Counselors


'Tis the season for December graduations, school counseling internships coming to an end, and holiday gift giving! I decided to make a series of gift idea guides to take the guesswork out of gift giving for school counselors.

The following gift ideas are suggestions for school counseling interns, graduate students, and new school counselors. The gifts ideas mentioned would make great gifts for anytime, not just the holidays! All of the items I mention have either received as a gift or I have purchased myself.

A Book that Keeps on Giving
The Giving Tree 40th Anniversary Edition Book with CDWhen I was an intern, one of my site supervisors gave me The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein as a gift. The Giving Tree is a powerful book about friendship. I greatly appreciated the book because it was not only a thoughtful gift I enjoyed reading, but it was something I could (and do!) share with students.  I have used The Giving Tree in individual sessions and classroom lessons about friendship, kindness, and respect. 

Only One YouAnother meaningful book for school counselors is Only One You by Linda Kranz. Only One You is about valuing and celebrating diversity while encouraging each person to make a difference. The superintendent of my school district read this book to 8th grade at their commencement ceremony. Although the book is geared younger elementary aged students, the themes of Only One You transcend age. Their is also an Only One You fish puppet which makes a great addition to the book.

Rubbermaid 3N83 Collapsible Cargo Crate
A Wheely Great Help
I wrote a previous blog post about my adoration for my collapsible cargo crate. This is a MUST HAVE for school counselors, especially school counseling interns.  A collapsible cargo crate makes lugging around counseling "supplies" such as books, games, toys, and paperwork a breeze.  When I was an intern I did not always have a consistent space to meet with students.  Using my collapsible cargo crate allowed me to wheel all of my supplies to a different room quickly and efficiently. It was also helpful to have everything all in one place.  You can purchase a collapsible cargo crate on the Amazon website or check out your local craft store. Michael's has a program and newsletter for educators called The Knack that contains discounts and coupons.

Put the FUN in FUNctional
In undergraduate college, many students wear lanyards to hold their keys. Working in a school, wearing your keys and identification around your neck is not just a trend, it is a necessity.  Since I do not particularly enjoy wearing a lanyard, I like my lanyard to be stylish. Once I discovered Vera Bradley made lanyards I was so excited! My current lanyard is a Vera Bradley lanyard in Hope Garden.

Lanyards make a great gift for graduate students, interns, and new counselors because if wearing a lanyard is required for safety, it might as well be fun! Lanyards can be purchased on Amazon's website, Vera Bradley, and also on Etsy, a really cool website to purchase handmade items.

Make Room for Lunch
I have received lunchbags as a gift twice from my mom, and they made a great gift! My mom bought me built ny lunch bag during graduate school and I absolutely loved it. It was great to have a reusable bag to transport lunch to my school site. I ended up using my lunch bag to take food to graduate school classes too!

For my birthday last year, my mom bought me a Vera Bradley "Let's Do Lunch" bag in Paprika. I get compliments on my lunch bag all the time! Amazon and Vera Bradley are great places to find stylish and roomy lunch bags.

Need more gift ideas? Visit the School Counselor Blog Store and check out these posts:


Do you have a gift idea or suggestion for school counseling graduate students, interns, or new school counselors?



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Danielle is a K-12 Certified School Counselor, Nationally Certified Counselor, and blogger at School Counselor Blog, a place where school counselors share innovative ideas, creative lesson plans, and quality resources. Connect with Danielle via email, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, and become a fan of the School Counselor Blog Facebook Page.


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