Teacher Gift Ideas
 

I need some Christmas gift ideas for my son's teachers. My son is in kindergarten (so this is the first year I've had to think of gifts). His main teacher has been teaching kindergarten for 20 years and the assistant teacher has been the assistant for 7 years. So I am sure they have TONS of apple-teacher themed items.

So, what would be some nice gift ideas?

I have heard that teachers appreciate gift cards so they can purchase school supplies. I would also think a nice gift certificate for a local restaurant or a manicure would work also.

One of my good friends is a kindergarten teacher... she has said that some of her favorite gifts include:

coffee mug w/ good coffee (from a local coffee shop, not like Maxwell House)
bookstore gift card
movie theater gift cards (or movie rental gift cards and microwave popcorn)
Wal-Mart or Target gift cards (like ZTABullwinkle said, this would usually be spent on school supplies)

One parent (whom she personally knows) actually gave her two home-printed coupons: one for a home-cooked meal with all the sides and drinks, and the other for a free babysitter so she and her husband could have a date night.

That last one was my friend's favorite, but I can't imagine that'd go over well unless you know the teacher personally.

I also like ZTA's suggestions of a restaurant gift card and a manicure!

Yes, we do! :)

i agree - my landlord is a kindergarten teacher (has been for 15+ years) and spends SO MUCH of her own money on her classroom. i think something in that vein would be appreciated. i figure at 20 years in, the teacher has got to LOVE what they are doing.

I have received gift cards that were Visa/Mastercard kind. It's great because I can spend it where and when I want. (They sell them in the grocery stores and at 7/11 here in Dallas.)

One year, several mothers got together and made a gift basket for me. It had microwave popcorn bags, some diet Cokes (they knew I am addicted), some Hershey bars, and a gift card. I really like it.

Another teacher had parents who made a gift basket with lotions, bubble bath, hair products, and a gift card.

I can appreciate the fact that all of you parents want to buy gifts for your child's teachers, but can I ask why? Is it really necessary to buy gifts for a teacher? Perhaps I don't understand because I don't have a child in elementary school.

I guess I just don't get it. I'm a high school teacher, and aside from the occasional candy cane, my students/their parents could really give a crap less what I would want for Christmas, nor do they purchase gifts, nor would I expect one, ever. Sure, I've gotten some home made cookies before, chocolates and the like, perhaps a card or two, wishes for a nice Christmas but a gift card? Never.

Either you guys are all way nice, or maybe this is just an East coast/South thing?

ETA: Maybe a nice card of appreciation, stating how much your son is enjoying her class would be appropriate, how great it's been to see him learning new things and liking school?

I think it's more of an elementary school thing, since my friends who teach middle and high school complain how unfair it is that I get flowers, cards, notepaper sets, etc... Of course then they remind me how they get a nice long (relatively speaking) prep each day. I remember getting gifts for my elementary teachers, but not my junior high or high school teachers. My parents said it was just too hard since I had so many teachers. The best gift I ever got was a partial gift certificate to the local day spa. It wasn't enough to cover a service, but that meant I could get pampered for a "discount."

I think the gift giving thing only happens with Elem School teachers. LOL sorry! I know I stopped giving them after Middle school. I think elem teachers tend to get gifts more since the kids don't tend to get as embarrassed giving them as older kids do. It's not 'cool' after about age 13 to give your teacher gifts I guess.

There were great ideas posted already. Gift cards, mani/pedi gift certif...etc. We just like to relax!

Perhaps the best gift I've ever been given from a student was a set of 4 juice glasses "I got to pick them out at the Lot store" he told me. Which I assum was Big Lots, the discount store. So precious. Just your basic glass but I loved the fact that he picked them out himself!

It's an elementary school thing. As a teacher, IF my students and their parents wanted to be generous and buy me a gift, I'd appreciate the fact that they even thought of me in the first place. If I had a choice, I'd definitely go for the gift cards.

My mother-in-law, also a teacher, said the strangest gift she ever received was a ham.

I suspect that the more teachers a kid has, like in middle school and high school, the less likely they are to get gifts.

I have received gifts over the years, and they all seemed really sweet. It really strikes me as so thoughtful and gracious that I think it's hard to go wrong with any idea.

One really memorable one was from an artistically talented student who made an arrangement of candy by gluing snack sized candy bars onto floral stems and arranging them like flowers. I know it sounds kind of weird, but it was cool because it was both a holiday decoration on my desk and a food treat since you just unwrapped them to eat. If you are kind of a craft person, you could probably do a cool one with materials from a craft store and hot glue. I don't think it would really take long once you had all your supplies.

Another kind of similar thing involves using floral tape to cover pens or pencils and attach artificial flowers to them and then present them in a flower pot with kind of craft gravel-ly stuff instead of dirt. One of my colleagues has one, and it's great because when the kids have to borrow pens in class, she can easily keep track of hers since they are the ones that look like daisies.

I'm a teacher and would enjoy a liter of Crown Royal http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/icons/icon14.gif

Kitso
KS 361 times I approve this message

I always love it when my students give me gift cards. Borders/Barnes and Noble, Starbucks/Caribou Coffee, and Target are THE BEST! :)

Thanks for all of the ideas. I will probably go with a gift card for each of them- my son's school sells "script" which as I understand it, you buy the gift cards and a portion of the money is given back to the school.

I feared that gift cards would be inpersonal, but it seems to be the winner!

Oh, and I live in Indiana, so teacher gifts are not just an East Coast or Southern thing!