A fabric cover for a 3-ring binder. It could have clear vinyl pockets added so that the students could insert pictures of their friends.

Boxer shorts (withOUT the crotch opening!!!) for both genders.

Assuming that you have your students for a semester or the whole year, what about holiday or seasonal gifts for family members/friends (Christmas or whatever, Birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and so on)?

What about a blanket/throw for their bedroom?

Do the students in your school have to cover their text books? What about stretchy book covers?

When I taught middle school (I’m not a home ec teacher), I had each of my students complete a quilt square with a particular theme. When the final quilt was completed, it was auctioned off at the school fund raiser. Prior to starting the quilt project, I brought in some samples and we learned a little about the history of quilt-making. For the boys who initially thought it was “girl stuff” – I made a point of relating it to math/geometry and how you must have exact measurements and so on. By the way, the final piece fetched over $400!!!

When I taught elementary school, I had each of my students sew a fabric book (memories/scrapbook). We used a color printer to print on fabric (photos, poems, and so on). They used thread, beads, ribbon, sequins, buttons, and so on to embellish the pages. Some students even stitched in ribbons they had won, pockets for notes, theater tickets, and so on. I was amazed at the creativity.

What about doing a community service project for troops, low income mothers, a senior citizens center, homeless people?

…disregard the individual who said that girls would like to sew clothes for Barbies…research has shown that girls stop playing with Barbies around age 6 or younger (that would be about 1st grade at the most)!

Now that I will be teaching high school this year, I too am trying to think of a way to sneak in some creativity between English and math!!!

Good luck with the new school year!