Need something cheap but meaningful to give your students this Christmas season? Here are some inexpensive but special gift ideas.

They bring you poinsettias, coffee mugs and so much joy. It’s a challenge to come up with a Christmas gift idea for your religious education students that comes from the heart but that’s still affordable.

If you have more than a dozen or so students in your class, you’ll be looking for ways to keep the cost of your gifts down to a couple dollars per gift.

Consider making a homemade gift for each of your students this Christmas. It doesn’t have to be elaborate; if it’s made by you, they’ll think it’s special.

The Legend of the Candy Cane

Wrap a pretty red ribbon around a candy cane and attach a printed-out Legend of the Candy Cane with colorful graphics.

“According to legend, there was a candy maker who wanted to make a candy that was a witness to Christ.

He made a hard candy, because Christ is the rock of ages. He made the candy shaped like a “J” for Jesus, or, turned upside down, a shepherd’s staff, because Jesus is our shepherd and we are his flock.

He made it white to represent the purity of Christ. Red stripes were added to represent the blood that Jesus shed for our sins.

The flavor of the candy cane is peppermint, which is similar to hyssop, used in the Old Testament times for purification and sacrifice.

So every time you see a candy cane, remember the message of the candy maker: Jesus is the Christ!

A poem form of the legend can be found at A Lighthouse.com.

To make the tag durable and attractive, print out the legend, and mount it to white contact paper, smooth out the wrinkles and cut out the print section with zig-zag scissors. Punch a hole in the top and attach the ribbon.

Personalized Stocking

Buy small, inexpensive stockings from a dollar store or other discount store. Using a fabric paint pen, put the students' names on the stockings and fill them with candy.

Hot Chocolate Mug

Buy hot chocolate mix in a large container and scoop two or three servings into the center of a red or green piece of plastic wrap. Add some mini marshmallows. Pull the ends up and tie with a ribbon, so you have a small bag of hot chocolate fixings. Put each small packet into a Christmas mug and add a candy cane and some Hershey kisses around the edges.

Easy Personalized Ornaments

Paint your students' names on plain Christmas tree bulb ornaments, along with the year, and attach a pretty ribbon for hanging.

Another idea is to buy the clear, see-through ornaments, remove the top and fill them with tinsel or pieces of sparkly garlands, replace the top and then paint on the names and year.

Advent Calendars

If you’re taking an early Christmas break from classes, a nice Christmas gift idea is an Advent calendar in which the kids can open a little door each day leading up to Christmas. Some have a chocolate candy behind each door, some have trinkets or a Bible passage.

Check Out the Religious Store

If you have a St. Jude Shop or other religious store in your area, you can almost always find something for a few dollars. Consider a glow-in-the-dark rosary, a prayer card, a small religious statue, or a small Christmas symbol pin (the type that can be worn as a tie tack for boys).

Plan Ahead and Order from Catalogs

If you’ve left yourself enough time, shopping from catalogs or online can be cost effective and successful.

Oriental Trading Co. has a wide variety of religious gift items that are sold in bulk quantities, many for less than $1 each.

Autom has religious gifts for kids, including a mass coloring book for $1.49, which, if wrapped up with a small box of crayons, makes a great gift for a youngster.

For year-round gift ideas for your students, see Gift Ideas for Students.