I worry EVERY SINGLE YEAR about teacher gifts. I worry about it twice: once before December vacation, and once at the end of the school year. We’re heading for the end of the school year now, so I’m about a month into worrying about it already.
One of my favorite ideas is to give a gift card to a coffee chain. Even if the teacher doesn’t drink coffee, she might drink tea or hot chocolate or soda or fruit drinks. And if she drinks only pure natural water from a mountain spring in her back yard, perhaps she drinks it with a doughnut or a biscotti or something. Starbucks lets you design a custom card, or you can pick one of the existing designs. People who have a Starbucks card get various bonus freebies, too, like free drink add-ons, and free coffee if they buy beans.
I ignore the stuff I read about teachers getting “too much soap and candle crap,” because BEEZUS. People struggle and fail to find good gifts for the relatives they’ve known ALL THEIR LIVES; it’s kind of challenging to make someone’s dream come true when you’ve met them twice during the entire year. Soap and candles and chocolates are the perfect gifts for people you don’t know, and I’m not hearing another word about it.
BUT! When I do give soap or candles or chocolates, I get AT LEAST as good quality as I would buy as a gift for a relative, and in fact I usually knock it up a level (not to be telling my relatives pls kthanx). Expensive French-milled soaps. Illuminations candles. Lindt or Godiva or Scharffen Berger chocolates. Here’s a cute Illuminations gift set that’s half-off, so you can get a $30 gift for more like $15 (find it in the Gift section, in “Gifts under $30″):
I like stationery as a gift idea, but many people don’t snail-mail. Teachers, however, write about a million little notes to parents every day, so personalized note pads might be just the thing. Since everyone has different tastes, I try to avoid hobbyish patterns like cats, dogs, or Snoopy, but a place like Colorful Images has a great selection of other choices too. Here’s a nice plain set that comes in a basket; it’s on sale for $12.99 (catalog source code ENRPAGB gets you free shipping on orders over $34.99 before May 20):
Finally, if you like the teacher, write the teacher a note saying so. Better yet: write it to the principal and give a copy to the teacher. I’ve talked about teacher gifts occasionally on my main blog, and again and again the teachers weigh in to say that gifts are great, but that letters of appreciation get saved forever.
I just did that personalized Starbucks card thing! So cute. There’s plenty of room for a message from your child. Great idea and they can reload and use it again if they like.
Tessie | May 13th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
My husband is a teacher and Starbucks cards are his absolute favorite! He looks forward to it every year. He doesn’t go to Starbucks very often because it’s pretty expensive, but when he gets the cards, he goes EVERY DAY until they run out.
Kathi | May 13th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
When I taught, I also loved getting gift cards to bookstores. Most teachers are readers and new books are pricey!
Katie | May 13th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I was just tearing my hair out over teachers gifts last week… I wanted to do a coffee place gift card, and thought that it should be $10 to $20, and then I realized that all of the teachers switch in and out of all of the classrooms (small preschool/day care) every day, so my two kids spend time with all 10 teachers. I coudn’t just buy a gift for two teachers, then. And I couldn’t afford even $10 giftcards x 10.
I finally went with pretty metal bookmarks etched with inspirational quotes. Cheesy? Yeah. But within my budget…
Lylah | May 13th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I’m totally wishing I was your kid’s teacher so I could score some delicious Sharffen Berger chocolates.
Erica | May 13th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I’m with Erica!
And now that I’ve started thinking about wanting chocolate I can’t stop. I’m going to have to make chocolate chip cookies later today. I hope you’re happy.
fairydogmother | May 13th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Here’s what I’m giving out to teachers this year.
http://www.twofunnygirls.com/detail_lb_solidz.htm
I am totally excited about it. They came very quickly and are so cute. I’m filling them with homemade cookies, chocolate bars, water bottle and chocolate covered pretzels. My mom’s a teacher and she said that she would love to receive one of these.
Lettie | May 13th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
How many teachers does a kid have these days? Here’s my idea:
http://tinyurl.com/4f8oc9
Although they’re a bit spendy, if you had only one or two teachers to buy for I’m sure you’d get an A+ (Thank you! I’ll be here all week!)
We did these for my wedding favors and they were a huge hit!
Jennifer | May 13th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
I like things a little creative and personal so I googled and found this idea: Buy a hand oven mitt and put in a nice gift bag. Type out a note that says “Thanks for your warm hand of love in teaching my children”. And then put the kids name and age on it. Tape note to the oven mitt. I also typed it bigger, printed it out and put on the outside of the bag.
Busy mom | May 14th, 2008 at 1:56 am
Last week was teacher appreciation week, so I just went through this! My son also goes to a daycare/preschool and has several teachers throughout the day. I asked at Christmas time who the teachers were so I could get them gifts, and the center director made a big deal about working as a team, and suggested we give something they could all enjoy (she mentioned they order lunch frequently). So we gave a gift certificate to a local restaurant. I felt bad about not singling out the few teachers I know well, but this way I also felt like I didnt leave anyone out, which i had been worried about. So last week we did a gift certificate to dunkin donuts for the group.
sdbab | May 14th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Teachers don’t often get to pamper themselves…so a manicure or pedicure is also appreciated. Male teachers like Best Buy or Home Depot cards too.
As a teacher, the candles and chocolates do get old…sorry, but that’s the reality. We’re not looking for a dream come true…just something we’ll use.
KW | May 14th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
KW- I’m sure it does, but there’s not much available in the “$10 gift for someone we don’t know” category.
swistle | May 14th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
For individuality, ask your children. One of my students gave me an owl bookmark for Christmas because he knew I loved Harry Potter. I will always treasure the bookmark because of the thought that went into it.
Daisy | May 15th, 2008 at 12:56 am
I am a teacher…please no more coffee cups, stuffed animals, or dangle earrings. Chocolate is also getting very old. Thanks
tracey | May 15th, 2008 at 11:53 am
I teach preschool, and around Christmas this past year one parent brought us all lunch - a big pan of pasta and salad - and we still talk about that! I know it’s not do-able for everyone but it’s a good way to say thanks without individual gifts. You could do breakfast, too!
Sam | May 15th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
I am giving my standard end of the year gift- charm bracelets and charms (alot of inside jokes - like in early childhood when the teachers all got a toilet charm that really opened because potty training was finally over or like this year all the teachers are getting cute bat charms because my autistic son is origami crazy and has made countless origami bats this year).
Not all the bracelets are top quality silver - I found some at a thriftstore and others are made from a nice necklace from the thriftstore and extra clasps from the craft store.
Ebay rocks for charms. I try and get each teacher a last name initial charm and at least one other charm. Some that I bought for this year are a vintage Alamo, maps of Africa and of Australia, puzzle pieces, pizza, taco, etc. Prices range from 4$ and up. Even Walmart has some cute charms.
The teachers seem to like them (plus other kids can get in on it by bringing in charms to add to it) — or maybe they are just grateful it is not soap and candles.
Deanna
ps: forgot to add- alot of teachers are not comfortable with pliers- so Ioffer to attach the other charms they get or resize the bracelet as needed.
deanna | May 15th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Thank you for this blog - perfect timing!
What about music, art & gym teachers? Should we get gifts for them as well?
Claire | May 15th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Claire- I struggle with that every year. Because they are full-time teachers, too! And yet they are my child’s teacher only 1 hour a week, whereas the classroom teacher is my child’s teacher 30 hours a week or whatevs. So….what’s proportionate here? A gumball? I can’t figure out how to manage the “specials” teachers, but I wish there was a good way for people to pool together on it: like, every kid in the school pitch in a buck, and pool that to buy a gift card each for the gym teacher, music teacher, art teacher.
swistle | May 15th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
One year I gave my kids’ teachers a movie night basket. I included a gift cert. for a free rental from Blockbuster ($5), a couple of 20 oz. sodas, a bag of microwave popcorn, and some movie theater style candy (whoppers, raisenettes, etc…). It was fairly economical — the most expensive thing was the certificate — and the teachers all said they loved it.
I have also done “summer” baskets with sunscreen, water guns (the cheapo party favor kind), cute plastic cups, lemonade, etc… But I like the movie basket better.
Julie | May 15th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
As a former teacher I have to say I’d rather have a gift card over a note of appreciation any day, haha.
ADRIENNE | May 18th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Tracey and Adrienne- When I hear teachers say things like this, it makes me feel so discouraged I think we should all just forget the whole thing and not do gifts at all. Suddenly it seems like a really silly tradition.
swistle | May 18th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Ignore those grumps! It is all lovely. Being appreciated - in any way, shape, or form - is the best part behind ANY gift. I’ve taught for 10 years and while some gifts are preferred over others (just like for everyone), it’s really the sentiment of appreciation that matters the most. For the record, I love notes the best, or for something tangible, when my room mother coordinates a group donation for a nice restaurant gift card.
Suzannah | May 22nd, 2008 at 12:18 am
Well, geez! I thought it was the thought that counts?!! Between my three kids there are over 15 teachers and I am on a budget. If the token gift and note of appreciation isnt appreciated, then maybe the teacher needs to take a minute to think about why she is teaching?!
(Thanks for the reassurance,Suzannah.)
I bet you are one of those wonderful teachers that still give hugs, aren’t you : )
MAC | May 22nd, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Oh brother! Yes, it is the thought that counts, and yes I still gave hugs, and yes notes are nice. But at the end of the day, so is a Starbucks gift card, come on!
Adrienne | May 26th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Honestly, a note of appreciation is wonderful too! I’d rather get that then chocolate, which just goes to my hips, a candle that might give me a headache, and a coffee mug that collects dust. I don’t want to give the idea that I’m ungrateful…the thought is apprciated. And I appreciate a budget. A note telling me that I’ve effected your child in a positive way goes a long way. I have a file of those types of notes. They stay with me.
KW | May 27th, 2008 at 4:11 am
I’m a teacher in middle school so I realize that my students see lots of different people during the day. Here are some things I have appreciated: science books for my classroom (perhaps something your own child would enjoy) or supplies (you can get stuff really cheap at the beginning of the year) because frequently this stuff ends up coming out of my pocket. The letter to your principal/supervisor is excellent since they are often the person who evaluates/rates the teacher’s performance.
Meggan | May 30th, 2008 at 1:15 am