Back to School Teacher Emergency Kit 2015

 

It is finished. This year’s version of the Back to School Teacher Emergency Kit. It is my favorite first day of school gift to a teacher. This year’s emergency kit pouch is smaller than my past choices, so I will not be able to add a bottle of wine, which is probably what my children’s teachers really want after the first day of school. But, it is a handy little back to school teacher gift to store in a desk or teacher bag for daily emergencies.

 

The Teacher Emergency Kit Cloth Pouch

  • If you sew, you can download the Loyalty Card Holder Pattern for free from Craftsy. You will need to register on the site before downloading the pattern. I followed the directions on the Lemon Squeezy Home site. Lemon Squeezy’s sewing skills are clearly superior to mine. After much cursing and ripping out of stitches, I did make all of the bags I needed. I am trying to ignore some of the wrinkly parts in the corners.

teacher emergency kit

  • Lemon Squeezy used a magnetic snap, but I opted for an old fashioned button because I thought it would be a good decorative detail. After messing up multiple button holes, I was rethinking the magnetic snap decision. I think both options would have provided equal frustrations for my sewing abilities. The buttons do look prettier, so the buttons were probably a better choice for me in the end.

teacher emergency kit with contents

The Teacher Emergency Kit Contents

  • Starbucks giftcard (The little bag is credit card size, so I figured it needed a coffee gift card. It’s what I would want.)
  • travel sized sewing kit
  • Band-aids
  • individually wrapped mints
  • Aquaphor (or any kind of chapstick)
  • travel sized Advil (In the past, I included individual Tylenol, Advil, and Tums in mini baggies with printed labels. I had “people” who clearly did not appreciate the cuteness of my packaging get all up in arms about my redistribution of the pills. I really don’t think the Advil police will come after me, but I went ahead and used untampered Advil to avoid any future problems.)

teacher emergency kit interior

Other Content Ideas

  • 4 quarters for soda money
  • safety pins
  • Tide to go stain remover stick
  • cough drops
  • Sharpie pen
  • travel sized hand lotion
  • travel sized Windex Wipes for Electronics (found these one time at Target)
  • travel sized toothbrush and toothpaste
  • dental floss
  • hair clip, hair tie, or rubberband
  • smartphone charger
  • ear buds

teacher emergency kit 2015

Other Packaging Ideas

  • Use a bead box from a store like Michael’s Crafts. Sew a potholder clutch or foldover cloth bag. Pick up a small cosmetics bag; I saw some in the bins near the door at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Fill a simple paper gift bag. Click on the images below to read about other versions of the Back to School Teacher Emergency Kits!

Back to School Teacher Emergency Kit

teacher emergency kit filled and gift tags

teacher emergency kit contents view

Click HERE to read about the GIVEAWAY to win two of these kits. Giveaway ends 7/31/15.

Giveaway Winners

teacher emergency kit

Congratulations to Jennifer S. and Kaylynn S. for winning the Back to School Teacher Emergency Kits. I will get them in the mail to you this week. Not only will you be receiving one emergency kit each, you will also receive 2 oven mitts each since I had to buy potholder/oven mitt SETS to get the square potholders I wanted for the kit. I am very picky about my project materials and purchasing excessive items was not going to stop me from getting the exact potholder I needed. Plus, Kmart was having a huge sale.

Don’t forget, you can make one of these beauties yourself by visiting this post or this post.

Thanks again to all who participated!

Back to School Teacher Emergency Kits

I cannot believe I am already preparing to go back to school, but I know it is right around the corner. I have been thinking about this little gift for awhile. It is something I would like a parent of one of my students to give me on the first day of school. Once teachers arrive at school, it is almost impossible to leave the building until after the students leave. There are days when you need a little something from CVS and there is no way to get there. I thought my children’s teachers might appreciate this little Teacher Emergency Kit; I know I would.

The Box: I purchased a few bead storage boxes from Michael’s. It has ten slots with removable dividers. I removed a few of the dividers to make one section of the box bigger.

The Contents: I chose the contents based on things I need when I am teaching. Below is the suggested list, but I also considered adding things like Band-aids, a good red pen, hair bands or a clippy, Tums, and even a feminine product or two since my children have female teachers this year (but the box was clear, and I thought that might have the potential for an embarrassing situation– although not having that item can create an embarrassing situation too, so you decide).

  • cough drops
  • Advil
  • chocolate
  • Tylenol
  • peppermints
  • soda money (quarters)
  • travel toothbrush and toothpaste
  • Aquaphor (or ChapStick of some kind)
  • emery board
  • travel lotion
  • Sharpie pen (I always need one of these at odd times and never have one in my classroom)

The Labels: I printed a 2″x 4″ label for the lid of the box using the Red Cross logo to make it look like an emergency kit. I created a table for the inside of the box and printed it on cardstock. Using a paper cutter, I cut it down to fit the inside lid and attached it with clear tape. I wanted the “map” on the inside to look like one of those lists they have in the big chocolate candy boxes, so you know what kind of chocolate you are eating. Here is a copy of the teacher emergency kit map.

Footnote: I did a little Pinterest research, and (big gasp) I am not the only one with the Teacher Emergency Kit idea. After analyzing my competition, I noticed a few flaws with the other kits’ contents. They often contain colorful paper clips or Starburst candies or things that make the packaging look better, but these items are not that useful. A Starburst is not going to make my breath better after I eat garlic-y hummus for lunch. I don’t need colorful paper clips; I can get a whole box of paper clips in the supply cabinet next to my school’s copy machine. When you fill your emergency kit, think about items that a teacher would not be able to access in a school building and might desperately need.