If you’re looking for an easy and inexpensive gift for your favorite college student, you’ll love this College Gift in a Mug idea! It’s full of practical items every college student needs, but packaged in adorable fashion.
You know how when you have a baby everyone tells you that they’re going to grow up fast? Well, they weren’t lying!
Honestly, I felt like I kissed my kindergartener goodnight and he woke up a grown man. So, although I believe wholeheartedly that parents should encourage their kids to become capable, independent adults, now that the time is here, I’m doing what I can to stay connected in (hopefully) healthy ways. Independent doesn’t have to mean isolated.
I’ve shared before about all of the different ways I stay connected with my son in college. One of the most fun ways for me is to send him occasional gifts to help brighten his day and provide him with things he can use without making him feel like I’m providing him with charity.
Finals are an especially stressful time for college students so this College Gift in a Mug is the perfect pick-me-up during exams.
College Gift in a Mug Contents
For this gift idea, I had two criteria. First, all the contents had to fit inside a coffee mug since that was going to double as my gift basket. Second, all the included items had to be things I knew my son would use.
There are some things that every college student needs and appreciates. Some of those things are:
- Instant coffee packets
- Gum
- Hand sanitizer
- Hershey Kisses
- Chocolate
- Sticky note tabs
- Chapstick
- Sharpies
- Coffee mug
And, because all of the items are so small, they fit easily inside the mug.
You can also squeeze in some inspirational quotes for college students printed or written on small scraps of paper, as an extra pick-me-up.
Occasions for Giving a College Gift in a Mug
When I made this gift, I was thinking of a surprise for finals week. However, this college gift in a mug is a great gift for a college student at other times too.
Here are a few ideas:
- As a housewarming gift to your child’s roommate(s) at the start of the year
- As a good luck gift before a career fair
- As a congratulations gift for good scores or grades on a project, test or semester grade report
- As a thinking of you gift to remind them that they still matter to you even when you’re apart
More Gift Ideas for College Students
If you liked this College Gift in a Mug idea, you might like some of these other gift ideas too.
For finals week during my son’s freshman year, I put together these Finals Survival Kits for him and his friends.
The next year, I wanted to do something different, so I came up with an entirely new College Finals Survival Kit.
My son’s favorite gift so far though was a cookbook I created for him filled with easy recipes for college students.
