The time has arrived. Your little baby is all grown up and about to head off to their senior year of high school. It’s a big year for them. A big year for us. They will be wrapping up their high school career and making big decisions about post high school life. It’s also a huge year for making memories with their friends, participating in senior sunrise and senior ditch day, and finally graduation day.
Where do we fit in as parents? What can we do as parents to help make the year extra special?
Ways to Make Senior Year Extra Special
- Continue the traditions that you’ve done every year, especially their Back to School photo. They may roll their eyes but deep down, they appreciate your involvement (though it may be a few years before they realize this)
related post: How to make Back to School special for teens
- Set up a calendar with all the fun and important dates. Mark down all the day including Back to School, HOCO, prom, Senior Sunrise, and Spirit Week so everyone in the family is ready and excited.
related post: Prom Checklist, Everything you need to do to prepare
- Countdown to graduation on the 24th of every month until graduation day. Spread the celebration out for the class of 2024 with a small gift on the 24th of each month. Start at the beginning of the year or at the start of 2024. Each month gift them something for graduation or their future post-grad life.
Alternatively, countdown to graduating with small surprises (small treats, letters from family and friends) for the 24 days leading up to graduation day.
- Gifts related to graduation 2024 – class of 2024 stickers, class of 2024 car decals, etc
- 24 for 2024 – 24 Hershey kisses, 24 Jolly Ranchers, etc
- If they’re going off to college and moving into dorms, start gifting them items for their room. This is also a great way to spread out the spending so you’re not buying everything the summer before school.
- If they’re going to college, once they’ve picked their school, gifts of school swag are perfect.
- If they’re going to trade school or the military, gift them things they will need during their training
- If they’re moving out to their own apartment, gift them things they will need to live on their own.
- Decorate their car windows. Surprise them or do it as a family project and paint their car’s rear window with chalk markers for senior year. The best time to do it is either the first week of school, the first week back in January, or graduation week.
- Surprise your teen with Class of 2024 swag. Tees, sweatshirts, keychains, car decals, and stickers – so fun! Some schools create a tee for the seniors to wear for graduation events.
Class of 2024 sweatshirt
Senior sweatshirt
Senior 2024 car decal
class of 2024 keychain
silver class of 2024 keychain with charm
class of 2024 sticker
2024 senior tee
senior 2024 long-sleeve tee
senior 2024 gold tee
class of 2024 senior tee
- Start a graduation countdown. Hand up a countdown sign, set up a countdown clock, or even install the countdown app on everyone’s phones to countdown the days as graduation gets closer.
- Finals week countdown. Make the final year of high school finals more fun with a countdown of fun little treats each day. Start a week ahead or at the beginning of the month.
- Lawn sign. Hang up a graduation sign on your lawn so everyone in the neighborhood can share in your excitement. Some schools have signs you can order with the school logo. On graduation day you can go all out with yard letter displays or decorate your door.
- Scrapbook senior year. Take lots of photos of your senior and their friends and create a scrapbook for them. Leave the book out so everyone in the family can contribute.
Breathe moms and dads. It’s an exciting year for them. Soak in all the moments and be there for support as they have some big life changes ahead. How about your own tee to support your 2024 Senior?
