Student gift ideas

Student gift ideas

You’ve been dreading it since they were born; it just feels like yesterday that you were changing their nappy, but there comes the time when parents must let their children loose on the big bad world. When kids move out of the family home to move to university it’s can be difficult for a parent to let them go. Parents need to support and prepare them for their life journey and the best way to support a student (as most will tell you) is to buy them something that will be extremely useful. I have come up with a list of gifts that I either received or wished I had received when I was at university. I hope that this will give you ideas and inspiration when you’re thinking of what to get when shopping for the little darlings.

The first gift idea I want to mention was extremely loyal to me through my years at university and in fact is still going strong today, is the George Foreman lean mean grilling machine. Not only are these grills terrific for preparing fast, low-fat meals, you can also buy them in a range of sizes starting with single grills right up to grills that cater for up to a party of ten. The double-sided grilling plates heat in just five minutes which make the grill convenient to a student’s busy lifestyle. The grill’s high grooves allow the fat to drip off as the meat cooks and collect it in a plastic tray. A grooved spatula allows you to scrape off items of fat that get stuck on the surface of the grill. These grills are perfect for everyone as the can prepare anything from meat, vegetables to even deserts (try the grilled bananas filled with chocolate and honey). You can always make sure your children are well feed with the lean mean fat grilling machine. Even the most useless of cooks can whip themselves up something nutritious and just under a matter of minutes. The grill can also help save a fortune by saving on all those unhealthy takeouts that students tend to feed on.

Next on my list and one of the most important is the humble corkscrew. Many a night has been destroyed by the lack of this device in many student homes across the country. Shoes, screwdrivers, wooden spoons, pens, knives and anything that was long and skinny have all been used in a frantic effort to reach the goodness inside the bottle, leaving horrible bits of cork and worst case scenario glass floating around in your glass. There is a wide range of corkscrews out there, from the ridiculously cheap to the absolute absurdly over priced, traditional to the modern, comical to the sophisticated there’s a corkscrew out there for everyone.

I have never had one but was always jealous of my friends who did. Mini fridges can be one of the coolest gifts to give. Not only are these little machines extremely useful for storing food they also extremely important for chilling those all important beers, wines and spirits that are very much needed for those all important student parties. Mini fridges are one of the students must have luxury items. Another reason mini fridges are great is because let’s face it, at university food goes missing from the shared fridge all the time so mini fridges are great for keeping all the food and drink you want to keep for yourself safely and freshly locked in your bedroom.

Another little cool contraption that I always wanted but never actually managed to buy myself was a fondue set. They are amazing and extremely handy when trying to impress new flatmates, friends or potential partners. I was very impressed when a friend of mine had prepared it. The recipes are really cheap, easy to make and go down a treat. There’s nothing better than an intimate party and dipping tasty chunks into a communal pot of melted cheese or chocolate.

A gift idea which is also extremely thoughtful to buy a loved one is a digital photo frame. These are an excellent gift idea for students especially those who have had to move away from home. If you would like to make it a little bit extra special, I would suggest that you fill the frame with lots of photos of family and friends. That means then that the student can always see their family whenever they are feeling really homesick and lonely. Something tells me that your loved one will really appreciate this lovely little gesture.




There are hundreds of gift ideas out there that can make it difficult to choose something your kids will appreciate, but the best advice I can give you is try not to make it boring, buy them something unique, something that will maybe aid them to have a little more fun and allow then to share with others and help them over that first hurdle or moving out of the family home.

Darren is a freelance writer currently living in London and working with the great people at George Foreman lean mean grilling machine to help and promote health grills.