The invitation to the school enrollment ceremony is on the table, and with it the question that godparents and grandparents ask themselves anew every August: What do you give a child who is just starting school — and how much money is actually appropriate?
The short answer first: For godparents or grandparents, 50 to 100 euros is considered customary; for aunts, uncles, and close friends, it is more like 20 to 50 euros, and for more distant relatives and neighbors, 10 to 30 euros. These are benchmarks, not rules — and they only answer half the question. Because the second part is: Should it be money at all?
In this guide, you will find benchmarks based on the relationship, an honest comparison of monetary gifts versus physical gifts, and an answer to the question parents ask most often after the first school year: What is actually still left of all that?
How much money should you give for a school enrollment?
Unlike baptisms or confirmations, there is no established tradition for school enrollment to rely on. The ceremony is a relatively young celebration, and the amounts given vary accordingly. These values have become established as a guide:
Benchmarks according to relationship with the child
✦ Godparents and grandparents: €50–100
✦ Aunts, uncles, close family friends: €20–50
✦ Distant relatives, neighbors, colleagues: €10–30
✦ Parents: no benchmark — they provide the schoolbag and equipment anyway
Three things shift this range up or down: your own financial situation, the region — traditionally, people in the south are slightly more generous than in the north — and the question of whether several children in the family are being enrolled in school one after another. If you give 100 euros for the first grandchild, you implicitly set the bar for the next ones.
More important than the exact amount is consistency within the family. If the godmother gives 80 euros and the grandparents give 30, an imbalance is created that children will certainly notice. A brief agreement among the adults will save you that.
What do grandparents give for school enrollment?
Grandparents have a special position at school enrollment: They don't give the necessary items, but rather the lasting ones. Schoolbags, gym bags, pencil cases, and school supplies are the parents' responsibility and are long since purchased before the celebration takes place. What remains is the space for a gift that is not on a list.
In practice, grandparent gifts fall into three groups: money for the savings account, something for the journey to school or the desk — and the personal item that will later commemorate this day. The third group is the smallest and, at the same time, the one that children will remember decades later.
Anyone who has already given a silver gift for a baptism knows the consideration. Back then, it was about the first silver in the child's life. Now, it is about the first piece they take into their own hands.
What should you give as a godparent?
Godparents face the same freedom as grandparents, often with an added expectation of themselves: The godchild should notice that this relationship is a special one. An envelope with money rarely fulfills this — it ends up in the piggy bank the same evening and is forgotten thereafter.
The combination has proven effective: a smaller amount of money for the savings account, plus an item that lasts and bears the child's name. The money fulfills the expectation, while the item creates the memory.
The choice of item is important here. It should not have a children's motif. A teddy bear or a star pattern is just right for birth and baptism — for a child just starting school, it feels childish. Pieces without motifs do not have this disadvantage: They grow with the child and will look just as appropriate at sixteen as they do at six. Suitable pieces can be found in our godparent gifts.
Money or physical gift — an honest comparison
Both have their justification, and both have a weakness that is rarely talked about.
The case for the monetary gift is freedom: The parents decide how it is used, and no one gives something that isn't needed. It can be unobtrusively adapted to your own situation and never overlaps with other gifts. Its weakness: It leaves no trace. No child remembers the envelope from their school enrollment.
The case for the physical gift is exactly the opposite. An object is physically present on that day, gets unpacked, touched, and shown around. It can remain for decades. Its weakness: It can miss the mark. Anything the child doesn't like or already has disappears into the cupboard.
The resolution rarely lies in choosing one side, but in the question of who is giving the gift. Those who have a close relationship with the child — godparents, grandparents — can risk a misstep more easily and should risk it, because it is precisely from them that the lasting gift is expected. Those who hardly know the child are better off with an envelope.
Gifts that are still there after the first school year
The simplest test for a school enrollment gift is one question: Where will it be in three years? For most gifts, the honest answer is — gone, broken, or forgotten. However, there are categories where this is different.
Something for the desk. A tool that is used daily and does not break accompanies a child throughout their entire school years. For example, a ruler made of solid silver is, for a first-grader, first and foremost something special — and over the years, it becomes an object they use as a matter of course. Unlike plastic, it does not bend, and the etched scale remains legible.
A place of their own at the family table. More changes for a child during school enrollment than just their daily routine: From now on, they are one of the "big kids." A personal napkin ring makes this visible every evening — provided it does not have a children's motif.
The first school photo. It is taken in every family and hangs on the fridge for half a year in most of them. In a silver frame, it gets a place it can keep — and when the picture is no longer current after a few years, the next one is put in.
All three groups have one thing in common: They are not decorations, but functional objects. That is exactly what distinguishes them from the gifts that end up in the cupboard.
Why silver?
Silver has a long tradition in gifts for children, starting with the baptism spoon. The practical reason behind it is trivial yet decisive: It doesn't break. An object made of solid sterling silver survives every move, every change of school, and, as a rule, even the giver.
In addition, there is a second point that is often overlooked: Silver ages visibly. It acquires a fine patina of use, becoming lighter in the areas that are touched daily. You can see this on a ruler that has been used for ten years — and that is exactly what turns an object into a keepsake. How child silver is cared for is described in our care guide.
Personalization: Engraving and SilberVerse card
A gift with the child's name is no longer a gift that could be passed on — and that is the point. An engraving with the name, the date of the first day of school, or both transforms an object into a record.
We perform engravings upon request. Contact us before ordering, and we will clarify together what fits on the respective surface — for a ruler, the back is spacious; for a napkin ring, the smooth center.
Upon request, we can also include a personal SilberVerse card in photo format: individually designed, appropriate for the occasion, and currently free of charge, even orderable without an engraving. It answers the question that always resonates with a physical gift — what should I write on the card?
All pieces for starting school at a glance
Frequently asked questions about school enrollment gifts and money
How much money should a godparent give for school enrollment?
50 to 100 euros is considered a guideline. Many godparents split the amount: one part as money for the savings account, the other as an object that lasts. None of these values are binding — the decisive factors are your own situation and agreements within the family.
What do grandparents give for school enrollment?
Usually a combination of money and a personal item. Schoolbags and school supplies are covered by the parents; for grandparents, the room remains for the gift that is not on the list and is still there after school is finished.
Isn't silver too delicate for a school-aged child?
Sterling silver is soft and acquires fine signs of use over time — it does not break, however. A soft silver-polishing cloth restores the shine at any time. For a child, an object that shows signs of use is often more interesting than one that must remain new.
When should you give the gift — before or after the celebration?
Usually on the day of the school enrollment ceremony itself, often following the school church service or the school ceremony. Those who cannot attend should send the gift so that it arrives the day before.
What should you give if you hardly know the child?
An envelope with 10 to 30 euros or a book. Choosing a personal item without knowing the child goes wrong more often than it goes right.
When should you order?
Some of our pieces are made to order. If the gift needs to be there for a fixed date, please ask about the delivery time in advance — especially between August and September, when school enrollments take place in staggered fashion across the federal states.
What if the child is enrolled in school later than others?
School enrollment dates differ by several weeks depending on the federal state: School begins in mid-August in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, but not until mid-September in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. This doesn't matter for the gift — but it does for the order.