Creating a Special Gift for Your High School Senior

Before you know it, graduation day will be here. Here are a few ideas on how to create a lasting gift for your high school senior. There are unlimited possibilities.

1. Create a PowerPoint presentation of his or her childhood photos and achievements.

I'm actually in the middle of helping someone with just such a project currently. PowerPoint can help the creator go far beyond just pictures. It is easy to incorporate interesting captions and headlines, pertinent music, special effects, specialized coloring and templates, as well as video clips. You can get as sophisticated as you'd like. There really is no limit to what you can do with PowerPoint. The best part, you can burn it to DVD and have it play continuously on the TV during an open house or graduation party.

2. Create a Scrapbook of his or her high school memories.

Scrapbooking is a great option for someone who'd rather not work with new technology. It is also great if you have a lot of smaller keepsakes to include. There is such a variety of scrapbooking supplies, you should easily be able to find exactly what you're looking for in books, backgrounds, lettering, and stickers. As with PowerPoint, it is easy to go overboard. The biggest key to successful scrapbooking is organizing pictures. In that way, the scrapbook can help to tell a story.

3. Frame his or her artwork in a new and creative way.

My Mom did this for me out of the blue, and now I cherish the finished piece of art. Did your high school senior ever create something interesting in an art class? If so, go through the trouble and expense of getting it professionally framed. You won't believe what it does for the work. For instance, prior to 7th grade, I participated in a summer school session that included an art course. During those two weeks, I created a painting out of Tempera paints. I didn't think it was particularly good. However, my Mom thought that it was good enough to frame. Now I love it! It hangs in a cherished place in my bedroom. Framing can make all of the difference.

4. Put together a composite video of his or her best childhood or high school memories.