Students love getting a college care package from their parents, the people who care about and miss them the most. A care package can be incredibly thoughtful at the beginning of freshman year when your teen is getting settled in their new dorm room, but it can be sent at any time throughout your teen’s college life. Consider sending something when they are studying for midterms or final exams or their birthday. A reminder from home is always welcome, mainly if it includes treats they can share with roommates or hallmates.
While you might want to back cookies or assemble a personalized box of treats and small gifts, don’t let lack of time or meager baking skills hold you back. Sending a thoughtful gift is only a few keystrokes away.
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Where to order college care packages
1. CampusCube
CampusCube sends nutritious snacks plus high-quality and practical American-made gifts and everyday essentials. The founder tells us she gets excellent feedback from college kids who say “they love or would like to try” what CampusCube offers. In addition to monthly box plans, specialty options include gluten-free, nut-free, and vegan boxes.
NOW! Save $5 on any single care package order — Discount code: GF5
Save 10% on any order of 3 or more care packages — Discount code: GF10
Here’s what the March box includes:
- Kind Mango Apple Bar
- Kate’s Real Food Bar
- Microwave Cheddar Mac & Cheese
- Janis & Melanie Key Lime Shortbread Cookies
- Salted Caramel Popcorn
- Oreo Golden Mini Cookies
- Harvest Snaps
- Sour Power Mango Straws
- Siete Lime Jalapeno Tortilla Chips
- Mega Omega Fruit & Nut All Natural Trail Mix
- True Citrus All Natural Lemon, Lime & Grapefruit Drink Mixes
- Flower Lei and Sunshine Personalized Gift Card from you!
The upgraded package with “Snacks & Essentials” also has:
- Nectar unisex Sunglasses with Polarized Lenses with 100% UVA & UVB protection. The set includes a case and a microfiber cleaning cloth.
2. Hugabox
With a mission statement of “Send love and do good. Care packages with purpose,” Hugabox makes it easy for parents to send care packages to their college-age teens who need a bit of love from home. With each box purchased, Hugabox donates to a leading Sarcoma Cancer research institute.
Here’s where you can read about the courageous mom who lost her daughter to Sarcoma Cancer and started her Hugabox company to honor her daughter’s memory and raise funds for research.
3. Wicked Good Cupcakes
In 2010 mother-daughter team, Tracey Noonan and Danielle Vilagie, took cake-decorating classes to spend quality time together. They launched their first store in October 2011 in Cohasset, Massachusetts. Soon they came up with the idea of a cupcake in a jar.
In 2013, they successfully pitched their product on Shark Tank and made Wicked Good a household name. Choose between many yummy flavors and packs with 2, 4, or 6 jars. Your student will love this!
4. KIND Gifting Cubes
KIND will assemble a care package for you — we love these bars and the KIND company’s mission.
Nice means well, but it’s not enough. Kind is different. Nice is polite, but it stays out of it. Kind is honest — it speaks up and rises to the occasion. Nice doesn’t add to problems, but Kind rolls up its sleeves and solves them.”
5. Amazon — Hangry Kit Snack Sampler
While perusing the digital aisles on Amazon, check out these Hangry Kits that come in various themes, including this “giant hug” box.
6. The Popcorn Factory
A giant popcorn tin with three flavors, butter, caramel, and cheese, will be a crowd-pleaser with your student, their roommate, and hallmates.
7. Candy Club Subscription
Candy Club offers much to choose from for any sweet tooth student.
8. Cookies from David’s Cookies
David’s Cookies come in multiple flavors and arrive in this durable tin.
Gourmet gift baskets
9. Mouth Gift Boxes
Shop the Mouth “Back to School Collection” to find unique, small-batch yummy snacks made by artisans around the US.
10. Cheryl’s Cookies
For over 40 years, Cheryl’s Cookies has baked yummy cut-out cookies and iced them with legendary buttercream frosting. They also sell a wide variety of cookies in dozens of flavors, plus brownies, cakes, and a variety of seasonal items, too.
11. Murray’s Cheese Shop
Consider a gift basket from Murray’s Cheese Shop if your teen loves savory snacks. There is a wide variety, and we think the “Slam Dunk Snacks” would be a great care package.
Slam Dunk Snack Box:
- Irish Cheddar
- Gouda
- Mini Brie
- Genoa Salami
- Prosciutto
- Mitica Piedras de Chocolate
- Pitted Greek Olive Mix
- Crackers – Sea Salt and Olive Oil
College care package gifts
Sending a small gift that is NOT a snack is another way to show your student that you love them. Here are some of our favorite ideas:
12. Snappy
Choose a gift or gifts for your college student and they can either accept that or pick something else from a curated list of high-quality items. The Snappy approach to gift-giving is unique, and your student would be thrilled with having a chance to do a little shopping and pick what they want, all from you!
(Note: Snappy offers both snacks and gift selections.)
13. Bombas Socks
Replacing a lost or missing sock with a new pair can be a welcome gift for a college student, especially when it is so easy to lose track of a sock in a campus laundry room. Bombas offers socks for men and women in numerous styles and colors for working out, everyday wear, or dressing up. Plus, for every pair purchased, one pair will be donated to a person experiencing homelessness.
14. Bouqs Flowers
Want to send flowers to your college student but don’t know what the florists are in their college town? The Bouqs Company delivers farm-fresh flowers and plants with beautiful arrangements. Here are selections under $50.
15. Board Games
Board games are fun ways for students to unwind: these card and board games are some of the most popular.
You Might Also Want to Read:
College Care Packages From Home: 50 Great Ideas Here is a list of care package ideas you can order and organize into a highly-personalized box for your college student.
