A gift card to a store the relative might like==or a visa gift card. It is hard at this age to know what they like today--or even tomorrow.

Depending upon how close you are, I'd say $25-50.

I'll second Suzieque.

Wow. I've never heard of an 8th grade graduation party. I've heard of doing something special for them at the end of 8th grade but not a party and certainly not a time for others to give a gift. I think I'd skip it and not give anything but that's just me. Personally, I'm getting really tired of the constant parties and gift giving that we are expected to take part in.

If you feel a desire to give something, $20 seems reasonable to me.

This is kind of ridiculous. An 8th grade graduation party? I have a 16 year old and a 12 year old and I've never heard of anything like this.

I say a $15 iTunes gift card. That's the number one go to gift for teens around here.

Never have I given a gift to anyone for 8th grade graduation.

It really isn't considered a milestone, just the middle of junior high.

Seems like a card would be enough.

Me again. My GD in CA had a real nice 8th grade graduation and a nice family/friend party. Nothing fancy.
It was a good get together and meant alot to the kids in the class. There are many schools where the 8th grade is the middle of junior high, but also in many it is really special.
Kids this age need to recognized and encouraged.

I agree. The real milestone is graduation from high school. If you give $50 now, then what, you'll need to give $100 or more in four years? I'm all for the graduation party if the student wants to celebrate with his/her friends. Get some pizzas, chip & dips, coke, cake. Let 'em hang out for a couple of hours and discuss plans for the summer. But inviting adult relatives and friends who then feel obligated to give gifts? I dunno. IMO it's silly.

But ok, you are invited. If you go, maybe you feel bad showing up empty handed. So, in your place I'd probably give a $10 gift card to either iTunes or Starbucks. I wouldn't spend a whole lot more than that.

Hi, Carla

A nice card and a note used to be enough. It depends on your finances and your relationship. I give the children of my five cousins a check (the same amount to each) when they graduate from HS, but they have never sent an announcement of an 8th grade graduation. Seems over the top to me.

Hope you don't get an announcement for every relative graduating 8th grade, but I would give them all the same amount. Relatives do talk to each other.

Sometimes, as in my experience, 8th grade is the last year of Junior High. 9th grade is the beginning of High School. I agree that it's not really a milestone and I'd prefer to not make it a gift-giving occasion. However, since you've been invited, my response stands. I could, though, concur with any of the above.

I've heard of a 8th grade graduation before. Husband and I gave the young man we knew a card and a gift Certificate for $20.00. He is one of the boys that grew up in this neighborhood and is a pretty good kid. His Mother is a single Mom with no help from the father. He wants to become a vet and has been saving for college for years. He does graduate from high school next year and has saved enough to cover two years of school. We do plan a bigger gift for his HS Grad because he is close friend, a good kid with a brain he uses. He does many things with my Husband ( the father figure) including the occasional "man talk".

What I don't understand is one of my neighbors just gave a party for her little girl graduating from Kindergarten. Kindergarten for goodness sake, she learned finger paints, manners (some bad and some good)and social peer interaction (again some bad and some good), still sucks her thumb and wets her big girl panties and whines instead of talks. Between her parents, grandparents, family & parents friends she got several hundred dollars worth of toys (some were fun & learning toys) and a few hundred in cash and Gift certificates. She is 5 yrs old, an only child (and I'm really hoping there are never any siblings) She has already tortured the pet cat near unto death, bit 2 bloody marks the arm of her 2 month old cousin and nearly burned down the house. She is being rewarded for graduating Kindergarten. REALLY? for going to school half a day for 180 days.

I am also tired of the demanding of gifts for every achievement a child makes or event a person has.
I haven't seen or heard from (not even a Xmas letter) one cousin in 24+- years. His youngest son graduated HS a few weeks back. I got an announcement with a gift registry card in March. Registered for Grad Gifts?!? I didn't even know he had a 3rd kid. The last time I talked with him he had 2 Jr. and Sissy. I could have sworn his wife's name was Nicole but the announcement says Stephanie???????

LIL

For most kids with the exception of a very few, graduation is an expectation. Sorry but I feel this is an over the top money grab. It isn't like it is going to be going fund further education like university/college costs at this point in the child's life. It just adds to the entitlement that we have taught many of the younger generation to feel. I would have been happy to receive a card at that age (many years ago). If the parents want to reward the child with a gift - fine but they should not expect others to do the same. They have really just passed a grade level. Where does it stop?

Moving from one grade to another just doesn't seem a big deal to me. I give $50 for high school graduations-that's a big step. And $100 for college graduation and $100 for weddings. But that's just me.

Graduation should be an expectation and in my opinion shouldn't be rewarded unless it was a major milestone. Moving from grade to grade is not a major milestone. A card would be appropriate, but otherwise you are feeding into the gimme gimme, you owe me mentality of this generation.

For my kids eighth grade and even high school graduation parties were something held by the graduating classmates to celebrate their last time as classmates. Just a party,no gifts. Family might give a gift to graduates of any age but it was certainly never expected.

When DD got her college degree we hosted a gathering for her actual friends and people who had known her all her life at a restaurant. People brought gifts but it was certainly not expected.

I'm with Holly. If the parents want let their kid throw a party for his peers it is one thing. If a relative is close enough to maybe want to give a gift they will, party or no party.

The biggest question is how close is this kid and family? Since you don't say otherwise and say they're a relative, it doesn't sound like you're really close or this kid has special meaning to you so I'll go more with that as the higher probability.

I can't imagine graduating "middle school" as being celebratory to the point of gift expectations. What next, they get a gift for wiping their butt after using the bathroom?

Sometimes there's end of school parties and if coincidently it's something like finishing middle school, OK, so it be. But if it's an arm's length acquaintanceship I wouldn't be thinking about much, if any, of a gift nor do I consider this a milestone. Encouragement is one thing, spoiling kids is another. Will there be other kids there that you also know? Are you expected to give gifts to all of them too?

As far as a (greeting) card, that's a point of contention with me these days too. I think I'd rather spend $5 on a gift card with an included (free) gift card envelope than spend $5 on a greeting card that'll be tossed. Pretty big waste of money to me so I wouldn't be spending it on a greeting card, especially for something this trivial.

Another option is to offer to bring some sort of refreshments. But as I said, it depends on how close you are to them. I do know some I'd give a fairly nice gift, essentially because I'd probably give them a gift for no real reason. But I just can't help but snicker at the thought of what friends, relatives and neighbors would do had I sent them an invitation to a party when I graduated from junior high!

And normally what I would usually give for this milestone is the same I'd give for them not breaking into my house! But if I felt compelled to give a gift, $5-$10 would be tops for something this silly. Actually I think this would be an occasion for a convention "gift" rather than cash or gift card. School supplies are usually needed at this age. Perhaps a 12 pack of their favorite soft drink or something would be sufficient. I usually don't like feeding the ever-growing appetite of compulsory gift expectation that's so rampant these days.

Thanks everyone for your input and opinions.