SPONSORED CONTENT -- (StatePoint) Want to brighten the holiday season for the students in your life? Consider gifts that will ease the transition into the spring semester. Here are few to consider:

1. Support a musical journey: With 44 mini keys, the SA-81 from Casio is a great keyboard for both first-time players just embarking on their musical education and accomplished instrumentalists. A built-in metronome makes practice sessions a breeze, and features such as scale tuning, octave shift and transpose help introduce musical concepts. One-hundred high-quality built-in tones covering a range of instruments, including piano, wind, percussion and acoustic instruments, along with 50 rhythm patterns in a variety of genres like pop, ballad, dance, and more, offer budding musicians a chance to experiment and express themselves creatively right away. All housed in a compact frame, it’s a great choice for young students, students on-the-go, and dorm dwellers.

2. Lighten their load: If you remember lugging around heavy textbooks during your own student days, consider lightening the load of your gift recipient with a high-quality e-reader. Look for a model with note-taking features, adjustable lighting to protect eyes and portability. A color screen is also a good idea, as it will make diagrams and charts easier to examine if your student will be reading textbooks on the device.

3. Bring the world of STEM within reach: With the advanced features of a next-generation graphing calculator, the fx-CG50 PRIZM can support students through middle school, high school and into college. With Natural Textbook Display and an intuitive icon menu, students will find the calculator incredibly easy to use. Its 3D graphing and improved catalog functions allow for greater engagement and real-life application in the mathematics classroom, and a host of compatible resources available at casioeducation.com can set them up for success. Because the model is approved for the SAT, PSAT, ACT and AP tests, your gift will be helping them prepare for a bright future.

4. Help them keep time: Is your student an athlete? Whether they run track, do swim team or tackle contact sports head-on, a durable, water-resistant sports watch can help them track their speed and progress throughout the season.

5. Expand their world: While many people today get their news by rapidly scanning headlines on apps, a deeper dive can improve literacy, expand knowledge and foster an understanding of the world. Consider gifting your student a subscription to a high-quality newspaper or news magazine.

This holiday season, give students thoughtful gifts that will ease their life and make their schoolwork and extracurriculars more enjoyable.

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