Spring is in the air and caps and gowns are appearing all over. That could only mean one thing,….graduation season. Are you looking for great graduation gifts for a daughter? Here is a selection of the best high school graduation gifts for her!
Caps and gowns and pomp and circumstance!
Tis the season….for graduations!
Spring brings such milestones each year, and graduation is definitely one of them. Whether it’s high school graduation, college graduation, or kids moving out on their own, this time is so exciting and so scary.
You are so proud of them, but also so sentimental. It truly seems like we were just dropping our high school seniors off at pre-school. Now we’re thinking about moving them into the dorms, sending them off to trade school, a gap year, or community college. This special occasion is definitely a major milestone in parenting.
Graduation Gifts Your Daughter Actually Wants
I have been bombarded with questions about graduation gifts. What does a new graduate want or need? It’s hard to imagine Spring without graduation, and it’s hard to imagine graduation without buying gifts for those who walk across the stage!

With two high school graduations and two college graduations under my belt, I know a thing or two about choosing the best graduation gifts for high school girls!
Of course, cold, hard cash and gift cards are always welcomed by grads, but there are times that you really want to give a memorable, useful or sentimental graduation gift for a daughter. Here are some tried and true ideas for the perfect high school graduation gift for her.
If you’re looking for the perfect graduation for a boy high school graduate in your life, check out this list of perfect graduation gifts for guys.
- 1. A Sentimental Gift for Your Daughter
- 2. Portable Photo Printer to Decorate Their Dorm Room
- 3. Sleek Minimalist Backpack for the Hip Grad
- 4. An Apple Watch
- 5. A Classic Leather Wallet
- 6. Roku Streaming Stick for Binge Watching Shows with New Friends
- 7. Clear Messenger Bag for Games and Concerts
- 8. Instant Pot for Cooking Nearly Anything
- 9. North Face Backpack
- 10. Cozy Slippers for the Dorm
- 11. Quality Carry On Luggage
- 12. Noise Cancelling Headphones
- 13. Nice Toiletry Bag
- 14. Sweet Little Backpack Sized Wallet
- 15. Tile Mate Item Finder
- 16. A Pretty Weekend Bag
- 17. Portable Charger
- 18. Icebreaker Game for their New Dorm Crew
- 19. Smart Speaker
- 20. Transportation Around Campus
- 21. Wireless Speaker for Indoors or Out
- 22. A Book of Wisdom
- 23. Lanyard with Detachable Keyring
- 24. Portable Clothes Steamer
- 25. Spikeball
- 26. Kindle Paperwhite
- 27. Apple AirPods Pro
- 28. Hydro Flask Water Bottle
- 29. Apple MacBook Pro
- 30. Wireless Charger for Apple Products
Top Graduation 2022 Gifts for Her
1. A Sentimental Gift for Your Daughter
Dogeared makes the cutest dainty sentimental necklaces I’ve seen at a great price. If you’re looking for a sentimental gift for your daughter, you’ve found it. They have a ton of designs so one is bound to be perfect for your graduate.
A sweet sentimental necklace can also be a great gift for a best friend who’s graduation. And they’re well priced too!
Dogeared also has great customer service – they replaced a necklace my daughter accidentally yanked off and broke. Favorite necklace replaced = happy girl!
2. Portable Photo Printer to Decorate Their Dorm Room
This graduation gift idea is perfect for printing out all those selfies and social media pics to hang up in their dorm room. Your recent grad will want to decorate their new space, whether that’s a college dorm room, a new apartment, or just their own room at home with these cool photos.
This is one of the best gifts you can give to help your daughter display a bit of their photo history with them in this new phase of life.
3. Sleek Minimalist Backpack for the Hip Grad
This bargain priced backpack has all the cool features your graduate needs without the trendy name or price tag. It has a laptop sleeve, and multiple compartments and even comes with its own combination lock. The sleek minimalist design comes in several great, neutral colors that look modern for the no-fuss teen.
4. An Apple Watch
All the tech your daughter needs, right on her wrist. Calling, texting, GPS,
alarms, music, fitness tracking and more. I think it’s pretty on its own, but you can also buy replacement bands to change up the style.
Definitely a graduation gift for her that she’ll use every day throughout the school year.
5. A Classic Leather Wallet
This leather wallet is my daughter’s favorite. It comes in a ton of pretty vibrant colors and is well designed with an ID window, multiple card and cash pockets and even has a zippered coin purse. It’s sleek and sophisticated looking to boot.
6. Roku Streaming Stick for Binge Watching Shows with New Friends
Gather round the TV for some bonding time with their new dorm friends. The Roku streaming stick turns any television into an entertainment center. With the dorm room wireless, your student has access to tons of shows and movies on Netflix, hulu, Amazon prime and more.
7. Clear Messenger Bag for Games and Concerts
Be prepared with a clear bag. If your daughter is off to a school where sports are a big deal, she’ll need one of these bags that meet all bag restriction guidelines. NCAA games, concerts and music festivals are all starting to require these for safety reasons.
If your daughter loves concerts and sports, it’s a great gift idea that she’ll use all throughout her college years.
8. Instant Pot for Cooking Nearly Anything
It sounds crazy, but my daughter uses hers ALL the time! She lives in on-campus housing that is like an apartment, with a lite-kitchen. Meaning there are a refrigerator and sink, but no stovetop and no oven. She uses her instant pot to make ramen, scramble eggs, cook oatmeal, make soup, bake potatoes…..this little workhorse does about a bajillion things. It’s something they will use now and for years to come.
9. North Face Backpack
This backpack is super popular on campus and is sized just right for women. It has a padded laptop sleeve and plenty of pockets for keys, glasses, and water bottle. It also comes in about a zillion different colors so it’s easy to find just the perfect backpack for your daughter.
It looks pricy but when you think your girl will be using this day in and day out for at least 4 years of schooling, a new backpack great investment.
10. Cozy Slippers for the Dorm
These fleece lined slippers will keep her feet toasty and keep her bare feet off the gross dorm hallway and bathroom floors. They come in lots of cute colors too!
11. Quality Carry On Luggage
Make sure to get one with spinner wheels. It makes navigating an airport laden down by backpacks and carry-ons so much easier. Pick a color that’s easy to spot on the carousel for when they decide to check their luggage. This one only weighs 7 pounds, has a TSA approved lock, meets the required TSA dimensions and has a 10-year warranty.
12. Noise Cancelling Headphones
At first glance, you may wonder why these are on the list when most kids have a set of earbuds in their pocket all the time. But these are more than just headphones. Great for studying, the noise cancellation blocks out all the external noise and distractions. And there are tons of distractions in the dorm room and even quiet places like the library. They are the perfect graduation gift from parents.
13. Nice Toiletry Bag
Isn’t it about time for a nicer toiletry bag? This is a perfect gift for a new graduate and will serve them well through years of travel. It’s waterproof so if something leaks, it won’t ruin anything else in her suitcase. It has a hook so she can hang it up and lots of great storage compartments.
14. Sweet Little Backpack Sized Wallet
This sweet little wallet is the perfect size to toss in a backpack or grab on the way out the door. It comes in pretty colors, is leather and comes with a sweet little heart charm and tassel. Just the right size for a student ID, driver’s license and ATM card.
15. Tile Mate Item Finder
If your kids are anything like mine, they are always losing their stuff. This Tile Mate is a cool little gadget you can put on anything you want to be able to easily find like car keys, charging cable, or anything you want to keep track of. Using the phone app, you can quickly find your item. Can’t find your phone? You can use one of the tiles to find it too.
16. A Pretty Weekend Bag
This genius little bag has a sleeve on the side that slides right over her wheeled luggage handle, making it easier to tote all her stuff to the airport or train. Just the right size for a quick overnight trip or she can use it as a carry-on duffle bag.
This good quality bag looks a bit more sophisticated than their old tote bags and is the perfect gift idea for your traveling graduate.
17. Portable Charger
I never wanted my kids to be stranded with a dead phone so they both have one of these. This portable charger is small enough to carry anywhere and strong enough to charge nearly any device multiple times. It’s definitely a must-have!ortable ch
18. Icebreaker Game for their New Dorm Crew
This super fun, creative game is a great one to play with new dorm friends as an ice breaker. Soon your student will be bonding, laughing and getting to know all their new friends.
19. Smart Speaker
A device like this Amazon Echo can stream music, answer research questions, find out the weather, read the news, play podcasts, set an alarm, act as a speakerphone and more.
20. Transportation Around Campus
This small skateboard transported my daughter from her dorm to the music building on the other side of campus every day. It’s small enough to slip under their desk or under their feet in a lecture hall so it won’t get in the way of schoolwork. This graduation gift idea comes in lots of cool colors too.
21. Wireless Speaker for Indoors or Out
Music is SO important to our kids. My daughter loves this speaker because it’s portable, waterproof and has a long battery life. This one was her choice because it has 360 degree sound AND it has a cool looking light show effect that changes with the music.
22. A Book of Wisdom
This little book is full of wisdom (“A person’s a person no matter how small…”) and will remind you of all the hours you spent reading together – a perfect nostalgic gift. If you’re looking for thoughtful graduation gifts that remind your new high school grad to look on the bright side of life, this is a special gift.
23. Lanyard with Detachable Keyring
This go-to gift idea is a fun way to help them show off their college pride or their favorite sports teams. This key lanyard is perfect because it can be worn around their neck, but it also has a detachable key ring your new college student can stash in her pocket or backpack.
Keep their dorm keys and key cards safe and easy to find – believe me, you don’t want to have to pay for a replacement when they lose their dorm keys!
24. Portable Clothes Steamer
If you have a favorite graduate who does her laundry, but never folds it, this portable steamer is a practical gift she’ll definitely use as a new college student! This steamer is small and heats up fast. You can use plain tap water in it and it works on all kinds of fabrics.
So much easier than an iron and ironing board, it’s compact and powerful.
So even if your daughter just rolled out of bed, she doesn’t have to look like it. It works equally well for sprucing up for special occasions.
25. Spikeball
Games are always great graduation presents because they help break the ice in a new situation. This game is a blast to play on the quad on a nice day. Go to any campus and you’ll see college students gathered around playing Spikeball. This is a cool kit that folds up into its own bag.
Perfect for campus, park, camping, the beach, or even larger indoor spaces. It’s easy to tote here and there and tons of fun – what better way to blow off some steam between classes after all that hard work?
26. Kindle Paperwhite
Kindles are a great graduation gift idea for young women who love to read for fun. It’s easy to download all kinds of books (fiction, non-fiction, magazines, even textbooks for some classes). What I like about this is if you have a library card, you can use the Libby app to download books for free.
One of the best parts of reading is that it allows you to calm your mind, escape, and chill out when things get stressful. This version doesn’t require an extra book light so reading at night won’t disturb any roommates.
27. Apple AirPods Pro
If your daughter doesn’t already have a pair of these high quality wireless headphones, they are make great high school graduation gifts. They are a bit pricy, but your new grad will use them all the time, whether at the gym, walking to class, or just hanging around.
These comfortable padded ear phones have noise cancellation and a batteries last a long time.
28. Hydro Flask Water Bottle
This high quality water bottle keeps drinks cold all day. It’s a must when you’re away from the dorm all day long at class and studying. They come in lots of bright colors, have different lids and straw combos, and come in lots of different sizes.
If your graduate doesn’t already have a Hydro Flask, it would make a great practical graduation gift that she’ll use every day.
29. Apple MacBook Pro
If you’re a family member willing to spend a little bit more money on this momentous occasion, you can’t go wrong with an Apple MacBook. If you’ve ever had a Mac you know just how great they are, how long they last and what an important tool a new computer will be as your high school graduate takes the next step toward their future.
These laptops are for more than just computing. Your grad can Facetime, message, and stream movies and TV shows. A good laptop really is one of the most important college essentials.
30. Wireless Charger for Apple Products
It’s amazing how many electronics kids have these days. This wireless charging station eliminates the clutter on desks and nightstands. There’s a place for an iPhone, Apple Watch, and a set of headphones.
No more searching for the right charging cable if you make this your grad gift.
Save Money All Year with a Student Amazon Prime Account
With an Amazon Prime Student Account, your student can get textbooks, class supplies, laundry detergent, and pretty much anything else you can think of – all with FREE two-day shipping. This practical present makes smart financial sense since you’ll be stocking up on dorm room essentials come fall.
College students can also stream movies and video for that much-needed downtime after a long week studying. My kids got nearly all of their textbooks on Amazon – gone are the days of waiting in line laden down with stacks of textbooks at the college book store.
I’ve Found a Great Graduation Gift for Her, but I’m Not ready!!
Take a deep breath and be a proud mama! All those years of math homework and carpool drives have been worth it. Your graduate may be an almost full-fledged adult now with four years of high school behind her, but she will always need her family, and for that, I am truly grateful!
More Great Info If You Have A Future College Student
- Ultimate College Packing List
- 10 Simple Items to Make Dorm Move In Day Easier
- Grad Gifts Guys Actually Want
- How to Make the Best Finals Care Package
- What to Put in a Sick Care Package
- Ultimate Christmas Gift Guide for College Girls
- 10 Gifts to Delight Your College Student
