Inside: A cute classroom gift idea for Christmas, this Snowman Hot Chocolate Gift Set is one kids can make, and it’s thrifty too!

Coming up with a classroom gift idea that is affordable yet special can be a real challenge – especially with larger classroom sizes! This Snowman Hot Chocolate gift idea was a fun craft and gift rolled into one – and comes in at under 50 cents a present!

Snowman Hot Chocolate Gift Set for Kids

I love putting together little treats for my daughter’s class at the holidays – give me a theme and I will run with it!

However, in a class of 27 kids, I need to come up with simple ideas that are budget-friendly. Making 27 gifts can easily lose it’s appeal, and can easily add up if you’re not careful!

For 27 kids, we bought a giant pack of hot chocolate, 3 boxes of candy canes (with plenty left over), 1 bag of cups (with extras for crafts or entertaining), a bag of mini marshmallows and a package of cute snowflake baggies. We already had foam and googley eyes on hand but even if you needed to purchase them these snowmen hot chocolate sets are still super cheap to make.

My daughter loved making these for her friends – we just put on some Christmas carols and created an assembly line on our dining table. We assembled the cups first, with me cutting out the scarves and noses and her gluing them and the eyes on then searching our giant pile of foam letters to spell out her friend’s names. (You could print out the class list for this or encourage your child to sound out the names.)

While the glue was drying on all of the cups, we divided up the marshmallows and filled the cups. We decided to not wrap ours in cellophane but it would be quick and easy to wrap them up – and I show an example of what that can look like below.

These Snowman Hot Chocolate gift sets were so much fun to make and I can’t wait to hear how much the kids loved them!

Snowman Hot Cocoa Cups Supply List

• Candy canes (for stirring – 1 per cup)
• 3 cups mini marshmallows
• Small plastic sandwich baggies (1 per gift set)
• Hot chocolate packets (1 per cup)
• Glue
• Googly eyes (2 per cup)
• Craft foam (blue & orange)
• Foam letters, optional
• Black or brown marker
• Styrofoam or white plastic cups (1 per gift set)
• Cellophane gift wrap sheets or gift bags (1 per gift set)
• Pipe cleaner (1 piece per gift set)

How to Make Thrifty Snowman Hot Chocolate Gift Sets

Start by decorating the snowman cups:

1. Cut out scarfs and noses from the foam. Glue the googley eyes, scarves and carrot noses on the cups.
2. Draw the mouths on with the marker – plus any additional details you desire.
3. Optional step: add names using the marker or foam letters to ensure that all friends receive a snowman.

Now fill them with cocoa making ingredients:

1. Measure out the marshmallows into the little baggies. (1/4 cup each)
2. Place a hot chocolate packet, candy cane and marshmallow bag in each cup.
3. Optional step: you can wrap the cup with a bit of gift paper and secure with a pipe cleaner.

Be sure to save this Snowman Hot Chocolate Gift Set idea on Pinterest:

Grab your free printable for our Easy Snowman Classroom Gift Idea:

For more fun winter recipes, check out our Nutter Butter Penguin Cookies or our Easy Polar Bear Cookies.