It’s a sad day, you are a parent of a college student and you’re little guy is all grown up and off to college, but it’s been kind of tough for him. What better way make his freaking day than to send him a college care package that he’ll love?
We’ll try to help break down the various ‘college care package ideas for guys’ that we feel will be enjoyed the most in this simple and easy to follow list.
DIY and Creative College Care Packages
Goodies from home
Everyone has their local favorites that they just can’t seem to find near their new college digs. From that candy they could never go without, to coffee from the local roaster, or even beer from their fav brewery (if they are old enough). If you really want to impress, send some of their favorite ice cream on dry ice.
Just make sure to insulate it and ship it overnight to insure it does not melt. Of course some things are just going to be hard to get to them while not show up looking and tasting sub par.
Pizza, tacos and other fresh food may be hard to send, but you do not want them getting too comfortable at college and never visit, do you?
A Home Cooked Meal
Even though they can’t be there to have your good ol’ home cooking, you can easily make them their favorite meal, or a few of them! Just make it, freeze it, put some instructions on reheating it (and maybe even a recipe to make it themselves), then ship it to them.
It is not as hard as you think; just use this handy guide for tips on getting it there in good shape.
Bonus tip – Buy some cheap Tupperware and portion it out with little notes on each one instructing them to only eat once a week.That way they won’t forget of home and also they’ll at least have one good meal every week. It’s not too expensive and will really make them feel great.
Toiletries
This may be filed under the “no duh” section, but we’ll assume they weren’t the best at shopping for essentials when they lived with you and a magic fairy was responsible for keeping soap in the shower and deodorant at the ready stock. Now they are on their own and almost to the point where they have to Google “How to buy things”, so let’s save them from themselves.
The following are always tried and true must haves for their bathroom kit; toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, q-tips, hand & hair soap (may I suggest Trader Joe’s 3 and 1?), razors, shaving cream, toilet paper, body spray, deodorant, loofah, towels (do they do laundry?!), and even condoms (Don’t kid yourself. This is college… they’ll need it).
Bonus tip – Did you know you can ship just about anything from Target for free as long as you spend over $35? Just ship it directly to them and save yourself the trouble of boxing it all up.
Extra Clothes and laundry essentials
Something as simple as a laundry basket full of fresh shirts, shorts, pants, underwear, socks and tide pods to wash it all with can really go a long way. They might have not done any laundry since they got there and when they are on their last pair of underwear they are really going to thank the heavens when they open this bad boy up saving the day.
Now let’s just hope they actually do their laundry and aren’t waiting on another care package.
Too busy for DIY? Send him a college care package that’s ready to please
Send him a BroBasket
The BroBasket already makes some pretty awesome college care packages that are loaded with their favorite treats, beverages, snacks (and if they are old enough) booze. When they see their package arrive chalk full of all of their favorite goodies, it’s a simple and affordable way to make his day, week, or even year go by a little bit easier.
Although maybe you don’t want to send him his favorite booze (does he have one?!) stick to things to keep him looking good.
High end grooming kit
He was looking pretty shabby when he lived with you, there is no telling how well he is keeping himself up now. Make sure he looks his best for class with a grooming kit from BeardBrand.
They have all the goodies he will need to come home looking better than he left… not looking like he has been lost in the forest for a year.
Clothes Clubs
Places like the The Menlo Club offer some pretty awesome clothes at a very affordable prices ($60 a month!) to make sure they never run out of stuff to wear. Let’s face it, they didn’t do laundry when they lived with you and you cracked the whip on them, are they doing it now?
This way they can at least have one thing fresh to wear every month and still look stylish.
Decorations that remind them of home
These days the internet is full of wonderful things, one of those things are custom made wood maps. There are a lot of maps that may remind them of their hometown, but may we recommend getting them something more interesting?
Something that reminds them of the fun places you have visited, like the Great Lakes, Lake Tahoe, or even Hawaii. This one may cut through their tough facade and even draw a tear once they think of home, family, and the good times they had there.
Shave Clubs
I don’t want to sound like a broken record over here, but let’s face it, college guys do a terrible job keeping up their appearances, so they need all the help they can get. Places like Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s are great choices to pick up his spirits and style at the same time.
This can also be a less expensive option to keep them well groomed on a regular basis.
Easy Peasy One, Two, Threesy
Gift cards
These days places like Amazon make it easy to just add money to their Amazon account or to email them a gift card so they can buy what they need, when they need it. That doesn’t sound as personal though, and they might just buy video games and gadgets they don’t need.
You may be better off getting them gift cards to local restaurants, so they can go treat themselves to a nice meal. Lots of grocery stores also offer gift cards, that way they will be forced to actually buy (and possibly make) food instead of hitting up the cafeteria and fast food places.
Bonus tip – sign them up for free Amazon prime student and save them on all the purchases they keep making with your money.
Money
Last but not least, good old fashioned “cold hard cash”! This seems like an easy choice, but I would say to think twice before you just transfer money to their account or send them some greenbacks.
I would advise against it for a few reason; they can spend it how they please on crap they don’t need (Video games, booze, music festivals, etc…) cash can get stolen in the mail (duh), and you are already sending them money, most likely, so does it really feel like a gift?
If you want to get more ideas on what your role as a parent is now that your kid is off to college College Basics has a great guide here (Hint: sending care packages is one of them!). We would love your feedback on any ideas that you might have for college care packages that your kids really loved or thoughts on our choices here.
For more awesome college tips, check out the other blogs from College Basics.
