It’s that time of year again! If you’re rapidly approaching finals season, it’s nervous to start feeling that pre-exam anxiety. Or maybe you’re thinking about a friend or loved one who’s approaching their first exam season. No matter what’s got you worried during this time of year, this DIY finals survival kit will be a total lifesaver — or gradesaver!
I’ll admit that as an English major, I’ve been mostly immune to the horrors of finals week because for most of my classes all that’s due is a ridiculously long paper. And while papers suck, I usually have a lot of time to work on them and so my final consists of me dropping off my completed essay (damp with tears and lost dreams) at my professor’s office and continuing on my way.
However, my non-English major friends have to actually prepare to sit down for two hours taking a test designed specifically to test your ability to spit back the material you’ve been force fed since orientation. To combat this horror, I’ve come up with the perfect DIY finals survival kit!
What should you put in your finals survival kit?
- Office supplies
- Coffee gift card
- Self-care tools
- Books
- Cozy clothing
- Restaurant gift card
- Food
See how this could be a godsend during exam season? It’s true! Now let’s get started so you can send relief to your favorite student in no time.
Why Send an Exam Survival Kit?
My friends all live across the country from me, and instead of mailing them a gift card for Christmas, I figured this survival kit would be much more useful! Whether you put together this kit for yourself or the stressed out student in your life, I guarantee it will make finals week a little less awful!
Why send an exam survival kit? Basically, it’s just a nice way to ease the stress of exam season. Even better, it’s really affordable to put together. You can find most of these things on Amazon or your local big-box store.
What to Include in Your DIY Final Survial Kit
I’ve brainstormed a lot of fun things to add to your kit. There are two main categories to think about: functional and stress-relief. First, you want some functional things that make studying easier. This is where things like school supplies, notebooks, and healthy snacks come in.
Next, you’ve got your stress-relief items. These are designed to make the stress of finals season a little less awful. Things like favorite DVDs, a good book, or even just cozy socks for those long days in the dorms. Here are some ideas for things to include in your diy finals survival kit!
DIY Finals Kit: Office Supplies
First, you want to give some much-needed office supplies. These are must-haves in college, especially when exams come around. I like to splurge for some of the higher quality office supplies that I wouldn’t usually buy myself since it feels like a luxury to use it. It’s the little things in life!
Office supplies for your exam survival kit:
- Highlighters (These are the absolute best highlighter pens!)
- Pens
- Index cards (I love these neon colored ones!)
- Notebook
Exam Finals Kit: Food
I think we can all agree that food is appreciated all the time, but especially during exam season. Sure, we want brain food, but we also want special snacks. When you’re working hard, you deserve a bit of a reward! Plus, let’s not forget about the coffee breaks. So many coffee breaks!
Food and candy for your exam survival kit:
- Candy
- $5 Starbucks gift card
- UberEats gift card
- Healthy snacks like popcorn or crackers (ideas here!)
- Hot chocolate mix
- An easy recipe
- Pizza gift card
- Gum
DIY College Exam Kit: Beauty and Relaxation
Now for the good stuff. Exam season shouldn’t be all hard work and no play, right? Give your student a little bit of a break with these beauty and relaxation essentials. This is when it pays to really invest in self-care.
Beauty, relaxation, and self-care ideas for your exam survival kit:
- Lip balm
- Nail polish
- Face mask (I’ve been using this one for years!)
- Bath bomb (This lavender one is my favorite!)
- Favorite book
- Favorite movie/streaming service
- A study playlist
- Inspirational quotes
How to Make Your DIY Exam Kit
I like to choose at least one thing from each category, adjusting as needed depending on the recipient. Once you’ve gathered your kit items, it’s time to decorate the box.
Since I’ll be mailing mine, I’m simply going to decorate the box to make it the kit itself, but you could also include a separate box inside the box or use a basket if you don’t need to mail it. Since my handwriting is atrocious, I printed my labels on cardstock and included a list of all the stuff included in the box of goodies.
You can download a customizable pintable’s here for your own box (You might need to download these fonts for it to work properly: one and two)!
Prepare for Exam Season with this DIY Finals Kit
Hopefully, this survival kit is useful to you or a college student in your life! What are your survival tips for college finals week?
This post contains affiliate links. That means if you make a purchase for one of my recommendations, I might receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
