Are you wondering what to get for your child’s teacher this Christmas? Teacher’s don’t expect gifts, and some states (like the one I teach in) put limits on how much you can accept as a gift. But if you are looking for ideas for teacher gifts, I’ll put a few out there for you.
Something Homemade
Two weeks ago, I was putting up my Christmas tree with my family, and I found an assortment of Christmas ornaments from different students over the years. Angel wings from paper plates, colored balls made with old crayons, race cars from miniature candy bars. Some of these ornaments are 15 years old, but they still make me smile when I think of those kids who took the time to make something for me.
If you are giving your caretaker a tasty treat, be sure to have the kids help. Cooking is such a great life skill for girls and boys. You can teach them about different states of matter making candy molds. You can teach them about mixing the dry and wet ingredients in your favorite cookie recipe. Families can teach kids decorating skills sprinkling miniature candy canes and snowflakes on a batch of brownies. We are teachers. Oddly enough, we will prefer the sweet treat that shows the learning process over the perfect, decadent treat you put together yourself or bought from your local baker.
Coffee, Coffee, Coffee
Every year, I see hundreds of memes about the long hours that teachers work and how much work they bring home. Do you ever wonder how they do it? Coffee!
Trust me, unless your child’s teacher is expecting, they will greatly appreciate a gift card to a coffee shop, or a cute mug. Again, I still have all those old mugs from kids over the years, and I still remember exactly which kid they came from.
Here are a few cute examples:
The traditional coffee mug:
The travel mug for a teacher with a long commute:
Something trendy:
Supplies for the Classroom
Another thing you hear about all the time is how much money teacher’s spend on their classrooms. Personally, I probably spend $40 a year just on tissues alone. Do families spend lots of money on school supplies too? Yes, they do. But there is always a gap. Kids test how short they can sharpen a pencil. Kids forget to put the caps on glue sticks. Kids make cartoon flip books out of the pack of post-its that are supposed to be used for morning meetings. And let’s be honest – a lot of this happens in December when the kids have Santa on the brain. Even more of it happens in January when the kids have indoor recess.
Here are a few ideas:
If your child is a sneezer:
If your child likes all the pretty colors:
And if your child likes to test the limits of a pencil’s usability:
Also, if your child likes to test the limits of a pencil’s usability:
If your child loses the marker caps at home, they probably do at school too.
Whatever present you decide to give your child’s teacher, more than anything, make it personal. A sweet note or something that truly reflects your child will never be forgotten.
Photo by andeecollard 
