Budget-Friendly Teacher's Gift Idea…
If you’re still in need of a last minute teacher’s gift that’s budget-friendly, check out this creative gift reader, Suzie, put together:
I wanted to share my teacher’s & bus driver gifts this year. I snagged 3 copies of the movie “The Blind Side” with Sandra Bullock off amazon for $4.99 each and put a pack of popcorn and a $1 box of movie theatre candy with it. Added some ribbon and a bow and I had a awesome inexpensive gift! I spent $6.50 on each teacher!
Walmart has $5 movies and so does Target. This makes a great teachers gift and a great alternative to the Hot Cocoa I’ve given in the past.. 🙂
Just wanted to share in case any of your readers were looking for a neat quick teachers gift!
Thanks for passing along your idea, Suzie! Also, if any of you have any last minute frugal gift ideas, please feel free to share them in the comment section. Thanks so much! 🙂
Cute!!!
I made our teachers bottles of hand sanitizer with a vinyl monogram on the front and a coordinating ribbon on top. The vinyl is waterproof , so the bottle can be refilled and used over and over again 😉
Where do you find the bottles to put sanitizer in? or do you use a bottle already prefilled and take off the front label? That sounds nice to give.
I used bottles from the dollar tree that are already filled, I just remove the front label. They are just like bottles of Purell. I leave the back label on so they can see indredients/warnings etc. 😉 Everyone who has received on love it…practical and cute!
I would love to see a picture of the hand sanitizer gifts you made! I like that idea a lot.
I don’t know how to post pics here ;(
I LOVE this idea! Where do get the vinyl monogram decals?
As a first grade teacher, I truly appreciate every gift I get. I am always very thankful to anyone who thinks enough of me to get me a gift. I hug every child and do a hand-written thank you because the kids are excited for what they give their teacher. With that being said, I think a Target, teacher store, walmart, etc gift card is the best idea. Many of the other gifts get sold in garage sales or given to Goodwill. There are only so many places you have to store “things” that you get…figurines, ornaments, etc. Also, if you give your child’s teacher something that is sitting around your own house, be sure and tell them not to say it out loud. One year, I got a little frog figurine. I said, “Oh, thank you.” The little boy said, “No big deal. It was ours. My mom just took it off our table and said give it to you.” lol! Again, thank you to everyone who gets their child’s teacher any gift. 🙂
I agree with the TeacherDL. I refuse to give my son’s hardworking Pre-K teacher a gift that will sit around or something they don’t need. I organized my son’s class to give gift cards to their favorite stores. Target & Ozona Blue. We only had 8 families contribute but we have $100 per teacher in a gift card. I don’t know why 12 other families didn’t contribute even $5 but thankfully the teachers will have a gift they can use from us. I was told by a teacher friend…even a $5 giftcard to Barnes & Noble, Target, Starbucks is such a treat!
Nice idea! As a teacher, I know kids don’t always do a good job of getting notes home, so that may be why the turnout wasn’t what you expected. That was very kind of you!
Maybe some families can’t even afford $5.
The frog story is cracking me up! 🙂 I have always gotten gift cards except in cases where I knew the teacher and something they would really like (one my my son’s teachers was in love with anything Vera Bradley so she got a Vera Bradley pencil case which she still uses five years later – another teacher was in love with Coach so she got a Coach keyring which she is still using!) I do like to put something with the gift card but I try to put something useful like those pocket size hand sanitizers from Bath and Body Works or a Travel Yankee Candle Spray
You are right Heather. Since I teach, I work with my youngest daughter’s teacher. I know what she likes…so I bought her something I knew she wanted.
Is there a site that anyone knows of with inexpensive gift ideas and photos (I’m a visual person) 😉 I have this one site but need more ideas. THANKS!!! https://printable.tipjunkie.com/24-quick-easy-cheap-gift-ideas/
I’m the same way. I can’t image things that well when they are explained.
That was ridiculous!! I would rather give a $5 gift card than a bag of oranges or any other food product.
Keep in mind if a family is receiving food stamps and they still are trying to be gracious enough to give the teacher a gift, they may give food as a gift but not have cash to buy a gift card. Just a thought.
I’m doing little spa sets with the EcoTools that are MM at Rite Aid this week and some other high quality stuff that I picked up during the year
Very cute idea! I made a very nice gift for my daughter’s teacher on Vistaprint.com for $0!! Yes, $0! They run sales for free items all the time. I had to get creative, but it turned out awesome! I made a mousepad with little kids on it that said “Mrs. — Class”. I also ordered her the notecards, pen, sticky notes, and totebag with her name or initial on them. Then I made the business cards into homework passes and the return address labels into “This book belongs to Mrs. —–” labels! I also made a rubber stamp with her name and one that said “Great Job” instead of it having a return address on it. It took me a little while to come up with ideas, but it looks like I spent a fortune on her and it didn’t cost a dime! I also timed it when they were offering free shipping! :o)
Another great idea and a very useful gift too. Bet the teacher will love it!
That is a wonderful and thoughtful gift!! ;o)
I LOVE that idea, and the above too, but I’m much more into 3 dollars or under at this point. Next year I’ll do something like you did!
AWESOME! As a teacher I would love this. Just because it doesn’t cost anything doesn’t mean it isn’t from the heart? I’m sure your child’s teacher will LOVE this.
I forgot to mention that I used to be a teacher, so I knew that I would have loved it and thought she would too. We will find out tomorrow! There are sooooo many possibilites on Vistaprint for really cheap, cute gifts.
This is such a great idea, I am going to start doing this now and have a nice gift for her at the end of the year! Wonderful Idea – thank you so much for passing this one. You are AWESOME!
I agree. I think I will start working on this for end of the year gifts
If they don’t have the sale on right now, just sign up for their email promos and they will send you plenty of opportunities for TONS of free stuff.
Wow! That does sound creative! I LOVE vistaprint and order alot from them when they offer free items.
my mom is a kindergarten teacher and I did the same thing for her this year with the return address labels becoming “property of Mrs. S’s kindergaten class” labels. I can hardly wait until Christmas for her to open them. Can’t beat useful and free! 🙂
LOVE IT! If you are checking back on this post, can you tell me more about the homework passes? TY!
I just typed “Homework Pass” at the top in large letters and then typed “Good for one night of no homework”. And I typed the teacher’s name at the bottom. I used the green and pink polka dot pattern on Vista and it came out really cute. My daughter’s teacher gives homework passes occasionally for good behavior or as a special prize. Now she will have a box of 100 preprinted passes that she can easily use. I think she will love it.
Coming for a teacher- YOU ROCK!!!
Ha! Thanks! Well the teacher got her gift this afternoon and she LOVED it! She went on and on about how cool it was and it was obvious that she genuinely loved all of it. I will be doing the same thing for next year’s teacher for sure!
I agree with the gift card idea. My sister is a teacher and she said the schools are so underfunded they always appreciate a gift card so they can buy supplies. Or you if you can find a good deal on stuff for the classroom that is a great idea too. Even a $5 GC is appreciated.
For my christmas gift exchange (white elephant game) I also took a copy of The Blindside purchased on Amazon along with 2 fleece blankets 1.99 each at Rite Aid this week and a bag of peanut M&M’s on sale at Walgreens this week and I have a nice gift anyone could use for $8.75 (the price limit was $10). I am thinking about stealing for myself I like it so much!
I think some of you are missing the point. I also am a teacher and a couponer. I appreciate every gift that I get as well. Sometimes the kids even pick it out and that is truly from the heart. However we run out of space for mugs, trinkets and things like that. Storage for me personally is an issue. It does not mean I am not appreciative because I love everything that I get but you can only have so many mugs before you have to get rid of some. Some of you asked what teachers would like so a few gave their opinions.
Giftcards take up no room at all. Also, I LOVE getting things for the class (sticky notes, books, games (also big bargains on these right now).
I am a teacher too! One year I had an awesome room mom who asked me what I liked. Again, I am not asking for myself…but to give back to my students. That year I got 12 new board games for my classroom! Teacher spend LOTS of their OWN money for items in their classrooms. 🙂
Very nice idea! One day once things aren’t so tight with money (it’s tough w/ one income and 3 kiddos!) I’ll do something like that! I will be doing something a bit more inexpensive for the mail lady and teachers just on a smaller scale! I am putting gift baskets together for my daughter’s preschool teachers with stuff I got from my steals and deals from the drug stores, lip gloss, pampering stuff all I got for next to nothing! Also I have some hard working single mom’s that I’m doing the same thing for just some of it is a bit more necessity items…since they are in school now, etc.
I love HH ideas!!! Very very creative!! I have 6 kids and what dome people don’t understand is gift cards if only $5 really adds up! This year between teachers, teachers aids, bus drivers, girl scout leaders and voice lesson teachers I have 19 to buy this year! And that is leaving out the religious Ed teachers!!
I never give clutter gifts, I’m not a clutter person. But I give gifts that can be used and thrown away, like bath and body works soap for their classrooms or candles for the holiday.
Honestly, I struggle with these gifts. Everyone does it and some moms like to be these huge $20 gift card fivers at holiday time and AGAIN at year end. What happened to a little token gift from your child? It’s grown into these huge gifts for teachers twice a year. I’m sure I sound very ungrateful and I’m not. I just feel they are ALL getting paid for a job they chose. What other profession gets hundreds of dollars extra twice a year for doing their job 9 months a year?
Sorry just needed to vent.
You just reminded me that I forgot the bus drivers! Make that 17 gifts to buy. And the Sunday school teachers… *sigh*
I don’t know any teacher that only works only 9 months a year…teachers are at school many days that students are not during the summer. They work long hours after your child comes home and 2 “bonuses” a year are not a lot compared to many other jobs. Yes, we chose our profession, but getting a big gift twice a year is rare at most schools, but I’m sure very appreciated!
I want to know what schools Lynn is referencing when she says ‘hundreds of dollars twice a year to work nine months’ because I work 12 months and never get theses extra bonuses. Perhaps I need to change schools?? Perhaps she is mistaken…
I think she’s referring to the gift cards that can sometimes add up to an “extra $100 bonus”. For example, if there are 20 kids in class and everyone gives teacher $5 gift card that equals $100 in gift cards.
Lynn,
I totally hear you. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the teachers because I do. But when did it become the social norm to give teachers elaborate or $5+ gifts? When I was growing up in the 1970s , I don’t ever remember my teachers ever getting gifts from my classmates.
And for those teachers who don’t like homemade gifts or treats, just remember that this may be all that a student’s family can afford, esp in this economy. Also, not everyone has a stockpiled closet or pantry to choose from.
Every year I struggle with this as well.
With you, Cassie!!! I used to teach Highschool and I was LUCKY to get a few Christmas cards each season! And, for all of you with highschoolers…. i did LOVE the cards, dont’ get me wrong! But, don’t think that all teachers get nice gifts! That is certainly not the case! (oh yeah, and I WISH i only worked 9 months! 🙂
Wow. Way to make a blanket statement about every teacher in the world. I work WAY more than “9 months out of the year”. i also don’t get paid vacation days so don’t even go down that road. I teach over 100 students each week. Do you know how many gifts I got from them this year? None. Now I’m not dissing my kids. I love them and I don’t work for christmas presents. I’m just saying I think a lot of you have the wrong idea about how many students give teachers gifts and what exactly those gifts are. I agree with other teachers who have suggested gift cards.
Exactly. I totally agree with you! (I didn’t see your comment as I was posting mine. I just felt teachers needed defending. lol)
Best gift a teacher can receive-a parent who actually cares about their child! Oh how I wish more parents could shake their ambivalence! Every single time I see Oprah talking about how teachers are the reason our school systems are failing, I want to jump through the screen and shake her! The reason our school systems are failing is because so many parents just do not care. It is very sad sometimes to be a teacher. We get to know these little people and a lot of the time, we learn more than we wanted to know.
I’m sorry, but a lot of you do sound very ungrateful. Teachers are “mom” to your child for 7 hours out of the day, put in their heart and soul to educating your children, and you don’t think it’s appropriate to spend a few measly dollars on a Christmas gift? I understand if you don’t have $5 dollars to spend, but no gift at all is just a sad example of how people don’t appreciate teachers. I’ve seen teachers spend hours staying after school and during the summer putting together lesson plans, grading papers, and doing extra curricular stuff… spending money out of pocket to furnish a classroom… Oh, and the hundreds of dollars twice a year? In what universe? Rarely happens, and besides, if it did, don’t teachers deserve it more than those guys sitting in an office all year who get huge christmas bonuses? Yeah, I guess I just needed to vent too. lol
9 months….HAHAHAHA! Plus, do you have any idea how much money that teacher’s spend of their own money to buy things for each child??? I am up to about $500 so far this year….I constantly need a little something here and a little something there for projects, treats, treasure boxes, stickers, mother’s day gifts, Christmas gifts for each child… etc etc etc. I don’t expect a gift, but just a “thank you for all you do” would be much appreciated. I thought this thread was simply to say, “Hey…if you are buying a teacher gift, here are some good ideas.” I don’t think any teacher “expects” anything…But feeling appreciated is priceless.
I see I kicked a bee hive and wanted to clarify. I was wrong to make such a blanket statement. I was referring to grade school teachers in my area. I do not see this at the high school level. It is the societal pressure that has been ramped up over the years. Most mothers want to show off their wealth by giving these $25 gift cards for their one teacher from their one child. Now every blog I read teachers are basically saying buy us gift cards everything else is useless trash. It’s just rude and I don’t think the schools should allow this. I was born in the 60’s and remember nice little gifts from me, not cash from my mom. That is what a gift card is right?
As for working 9 months a year. Some of you do not, but some do. I have a hard time finding some of my kids teachers more than 30 minutes after the day ends. I pay teachers on an hourly rate, $30 to tutor my kids over the summer. So rhode teachers are getting side work on top of working the 9 months. I’m not knocking teachers, I have had awesome experiences with sone of my kids teachers. I’m just wondering how it turned into this whole ” give me a gift card” twice a year thing.
Another teacher, had to comment… Many people give gifts to their mailman, hairdresser, kids coaches, etc. They all get paid for their jobs as well…it is more of a token of appreciation than anything else. Like a previous poster said, we spend more waking hours with their children than their parents do. With the demands of the school systems and all of the testing, assessments and recording, some of the joys of teaching are being taken over by more hours entering data into the computer. We spend a lot of extra time and extra money to make your child have a wonderful year. A little token of appreciation goes a long way… Being a teacher, Christmas is a good time to give my kids teachers a little something to let them know that I appreciate them and all that they do. I want my kids to be in the best care possible…
Lynn, I understand your frustration about the amount of money we as parents feel we must spend on teacher’s gift. I usually spend 5-10 dollars and I think that’s enough. I think it’s comparable to kid’s birthday presents and how that’s gotten out of hand. I spend 20 on each of my nieces and nephews and wouldn’t dream of spending that much on a kid I’m not even related to. Couponing comes in handy there, but sometimes I just put 10 bucks in a card with some airheads and that’s enough.
On another note, I am a high school teacher and any gift is considered thoughtful and appreciated. Especially when a kid stands and watches me open it to see if I like it. I don’t care about clutter or too many apple things on my desk. It’s okay. And I’ll kindly add this with no sarcasm or meanness involved….I am contracted to work 189 days per year. I am a salaried employee so anything more than 189 days is double-overtime at the Krusty Krabb (zip, nada, nilch). It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it. And I think my parents are pretty glad it’s me. 🙂
Jennifer,
I am a stay at home mom and my husband is lucky enough to work from home as well. You having this idea that you spend more awake hours with my children than I do is an insult! If you are contacted to work 189 days a year,and spending all of the 7 hours a day they are gone, giving you their lunch, recess, music and PE time, you spend 1,323 hours with them a year. I get the other 3,422 hours to teach, love, nurture, cuddle,raise and everything else that goes into being a great parent to them.
I agree a token gift from my child is totally appropriate. It’s just the requests for cash/ gc that rubs me wrong. The idea that the bigger the gc the better care your childs care is really sad.
If I had to work, I would choose the teaching profession. I would be fully aware they expect me to spend my money to do up my classroom. It’s part of the job everyone is aware of, right or wrong. On the flipside, I also would feel blessed to have this job as it allows me the best possible hours to be home to raise my kids too!
Every job we choose has it’s ups and downs. I just hope my kids have most of the teachers like Heidi above. Sweet, loving and clearly a teacher that cares nore about tge kids hearts than he gift cards! I’m glad she’s a teacher too!!!
I had 15 teachers/therapists to buy for, so I did the Yves Rocher deal Collin posted a while back and got a nice assortment of high quality bath and body products. Guess my kids’ teachers are getting “crummy” gifts this year. 🙁
No gift is crummy!
As President of our Education Foundation, we started a new idea this year. Parents were given the option to give a tax deductible donation in appreciation of their favorite teacher or staff member. The money goes back into the district to help fund things that were cut from our school budget. One of our Board Members is very talented and she hand painted wooden ornaments with a painting of the school building on the front. Each teacher or staff member that is honored will be presented with the one-of-a-kind ornament and a card naming each student who donated in honor of them. So far the feedback has been wonderful and our principal is very excited. I have spoken to some of the teachers and they gave their full support to this idea as well.
This is a fantastic idea…I am actually going to pass it along to our education foundation and our tax credit people.
As a teacher I can tell you that is NOT a good gift..a teacher would rather have a $5 gift card than a movie he/she might not even like or watch. Be nice to your teachers, they do teach your child all day and watch them.
And how, exactly, is giving a gift NOT nice? Just because it’s not what YOU WANTED? It’s the thought! Geez.
GOSH Im glad your not my kids teacher.. I would get you a bag of coal!
Lol, Kate! Good one 🙂
I hope this isn’t the attitude you’re teaching your kids to have.
Actually it is.. If your naughty you get coal 😉 Sounds like Santa needs to leave you a few bricks!!
Apparently you’ve gotten too many bricks thrown at your head. You’re clearly oblivious because you suffer from mental retardation. Perhaps you should be the one attending school instead.
can’t we all just be nice, be grateful, and remember the reason for the season!?!!!
no gift should be counted as a bad one. maybe some seem better than others, but a gift is just that…. a GIFT!
Geez everyone calm down.
I think the point she’s trying to make is to invest your money wisely.
Rather than spend $5 on a movie (lets face it we all have different tastes) it’s better to give a gift card for $5 instead so that the teacher can spend it on what SHE would like. Afterall isn’t the point of giving someone a gift is to have the person actually ENJOY the gift?
I was a teacher and yes we appreciate ANYTHING our students give us BUT instead of a $5 gift I would prefer a $5 giftcard to Target to spend it back on YOUR kids because yes that is what we do. We shop for our students even when we’re not working.
No the point of giving a gift is just that, giving them something you thought about, put time into, and just letting them know you care and are thankful! Its not about “you better get something I like” kind of thing! Honestly to me a $5 GC is a “Im sorry I was too lazy to think, find, make you a gift so we stopped on the way to school and just grabbed this card”!!
And hey ever think a parent might be investing their time, money, and love into a gift for YOU as a teacher and not want you to take a $5 gift card meant for you and spend it on their child. Yet I get most teachers would do that, but its a gift meant for YOU!!!
Seriously if a student gave you that gift you would think it wasn’t a “good” gift?! If its not a movie you would watch either re-gift it, sell it, or trade it for one you would watch. I am very thankful for my son’s teachers but this year they are getting a bag of homemade cookies and a Christmas card. I seriously believe it is the thought that counts!!!
That is so rude. I hope you’re just in a bad mood right now and that you don’t actually feel that way. I like that gift. If you don’t like the movie – you can always exchange it for something else.
I buy the teachers movie theater gift cards (price of one ticket). I know a lot of teachers love going to the movie theater, especially over winter break.
great idea!
As room mother, I try and keep up with what his teacher is running low on. I asked her last week what she was low on and just made a bag of that plus a few personal items for her. She is getting a teacher’s planner, a teacher’s Christmas ornament, chalk, erasers, #2 pencils, 5 boxes of crayons, glue sticks, stickers, and red pens for grading. She’s a first grade teacher, so these are items I know they use a lot of in his class.
When my husband graduated school, he had so many hand-drawn pictures from students that he didn’t know what to do with them. So, for Christmas I got him a little binder and some
printer paper with students on it, and on the front of the binder I put “Mr. ______’s Picture Book”. And then inside were a lot of sheet protectors. Also, because teachers get many pictures throughout the year every year, I also made a title for that year, so he would know what class year it came from. For example: School Year: 2009-2010. I hope that makes sense… some teachers do this on their own, but a lot of teachers do not have something like this and end up throwing pictures away. 🙂
LOVE it!!!!
For my daughter’s preschool teacher I made this for her-turned out so cute! https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XfQJ00xYUYg/TPk0s52QJ0I/AAAAAAAAJpw/QLx8z21z_Hk/s1600/wreathsgifts.jpg, I got a different apple & used scrapbook letters & wrote the teacher’s name in the middle.
For my son’s teacher, I made cute labels on vistaprint for under $4 that had a school bus on it & said Please Return to: Mrs. Bazler’s class-she can put it on glusticks, cleaning stuff, sanitizer, books, anything!
How do you make it? Materials used? I love it and would love to make one for each of the teachers!
I love this idea! Thank you for such a cute idea!
Bath and Bodyworks has this cute baskets for $5.
WOW I can’t get over how many teachers on here are griping about what they get froma student.. Sorry if Jonny didn’t got to Target and get you are gift card!! GEEZ people its the thought that counts!
Two ideas that my son’s room mother’s did that I thought were brilliant were:
the room mother asked everyone for $5 – she bought a plant and asked a florist for a bunch of those floral picks (that hold the cards) – she then used the rest of the $ and bought small gift cards to lots of places – Target, Starbucks, Blockbuster, etc. She put the gift cards in the floral picks which were placed all through the plant – the teacher flipped over it! (granted that’s still $5 per teacher so that can add up when you have to buy for a lot)
the other idea was a charm bracelet – she had all of the parents take their child to a local store and pick out a charm that they thought represented them – they were about $5 each – the room mom bought the bracelet and put all of the charms on it – they presented it to teacher during their “winter” party and each child took a moment to tell her what charm represented them and why – the teacher was in tears!
I am a teacher as well, and one of the gifts that I liked the most was when a parent brought me lunch! One time she came in and said she was bringing us lunch from Subway and we could tell her what we wanted, and another time she made us lunch and dessert and brought it to school-it was so nice and thoughtful and didn’t cost her much!
That’s so awesome!! I’m a teacher, and that would just make my day!! Such a thoughtful thing to do!
In my eyes my childrens’ teachers are one of the most important people in my childrens’ lives so yes they will absolutely get good gifts from me at Christmas and the end of the year. It amazes me how many people don’t value their kids’ teachers more.
Bravo!!!!
Totally agree!!!
I trust them with my child’s life and their little hearts!!! Well said!
I refuse to give gift cards! Its like cash and to me a gift is not change from your wallet, but something you put thought into. To me cash and gift cards are a lazy man (or womens) gift!!
I agree with you on that!
I love the gift idea of the movie but that is more a gift that I would do for teacher appreciation week when I think that kind of thing are totally appropriate.
Whats appropriate for Christmas gifts?
i think some of you guys are getting a little crazy with the gift giving…that is not what christmas is about. and i doubt that the school bus driver or that any teacher at all “expects” a gift from every single child in their class…
if it is such a hassle to you, or you can’t afford it, don’t “sigh” and complain about it…don’t do it! buy a box of christmas cards and have your child write a special message inside.
you are worrying too much about what other people think about you and how much money you have, rather than focusing on family and friends and the true reason for the season.
🙂
just my opinion, i am not trying to offend anyone, just seeing sad faces and sighs when you are talking about something that should be making you feel good strikes a cord lol.
If you are referring to my sigh, let me clarify – I was sighing because I thought I was pretty organized and on top of things, but I did overlook the Sunday school teachers and bus drivers. I do enjoy giving gifts to the people in my life that I appreciate and love the spirit of this time of year. As a teacher and a mother of kids in school, it truly is the thought that counts and it’s a bit sad to hear people calling certain teacher gifts “crummy”. For those of you who are complaining about the teacher gifts you receive, think of the innocent child who is so proud to be giving his/her teacher a gift each time you think to yourself, “This gift really stinks. I wish he/she would’ve gotten me _____ .” Hopefully you’ll have a change of heart and be grateful they thought of you at all.
Well said…both comments! 😉
AMEN! =)
Our school keeps a teachers’ wishlist binder. I look through there to see what I can afford to give.
A teacher friend of mine wrote an article about gift giving. She said one of the nicest and free things a family can do is to write a letter praising the teacher for all that she/he has done for your child. Email or mail the letter to the teacher AND the teacher’s supervisor. Going the extra mile to forward it onto the principal or supervisor really sets the message that you truly appreciate all the teacher has done.
I have 5 kids which equals out to 10 teachers and aides in all. If I spend $5 on a gift it equals to $50 easily. So while I would love to give a gift costing more, I simply can not.
yes- a letter or note is wonderful, especially if specific things that that particular teacher are recognized. if it is personal and positive it will be treasured
I love to give gifts, some years I can do more then others. However, the bottom line is I give because Jesus gave to me. I give with JOY in my heart and out of love. I try to give things the person will like. However, I do not fret over it, if they do not receive the gift with a grateful heart, I still have my joy!
As a teacher, I appreciate anything. Where I teach, the students have no money to give anything. One student just handed me a bag of candy, which happened to be her leftover Halloween Candy, for my Christmas gift. That is all I got from a caseload of over 20 students (I am a Special Educator).
Having taught in a much wealthier area before, I have to say that even just a $5 giftcard is sweet. I know I’ll get backlash for this, but receiving an ornament with your child’s picture on it may not be something I keep forever. . . . teachers receive so many ornaments and coffee mugs (yet many of us never drink coffee. . lol).
I do think it gets out of hand with gift giving, but it’s what you make of it.
And to the comment that we are in this field by our choice and make TONS of extra money twice a year from gifts, I’d love for YOU to come teach at my school and help buy Christmas gifts for the needy families, jackets for the children and groceries for their tables. THERE IS NO EXTRA MONEY FROM ANYONE!
I teach also and in my humble opinion, it is the thought and not the cost that matters. I love kids, and that is why I choose this profession. I cannot imagine going to work everyday with grumpy adults, yuck! Your children enjoy giving us a gift, no matter what it is. They all smile and wait to see our response, that is everything to me. I know some of my collegues like gift cards, mostly because of the clutter. But as for me, I love each and every trinket, to keep and remember the past 11 years of teaching. Thank you, moms and dads for thinking of us and giving your child one more lesson on showing appreciation.
Your post almost made me cry, you must be a great teacher!
Agree very sweet! 🙂
Wonderful! THis is the kind of teacher i want for my kids, and have had many times in my own life.
My DH has been a teacher for many years now and has only ever received a handful of presents. This year he moved up to high school and has come home every day this week with cookies and other goodies his students have made. We love it and are extremely grateful. I love seeing what kids and parents like to give. He has never had a “bad” gift. So from me to you, thank you!
This year I made all of our teachers hand-soap dispensers. I bought the dispensers from Hobby Lobby. I bought the large clear handsoap refill from Target. I typed “Mrs. Jone’s Hands, loving hands, grateful hands, kind hands, loyal hands, helping hands, caring hands, friendly hands, Giving hands” in a list and printed it out on transparency paper. Then I cut the list out, filled the dispenser with soap, inserted the list, and then tied a cute ribbon around the top. About $2.50 each and EVERYBODY loved them.
When my son was in elementary school, He took it upon himself to give his gym teacher my husband’s Cologne that was already used! LOL he hid it in his pocket and brought it in- The gym teacher came up to me and thanked me for the cologne, I had NO idea what he was talking about! Then my son told us, we all still laugh about that- He is almost 18 now- it is the thought that counts the most 🙂
Hahaha, that’s hilarious!! I can totally see one of my students doing that!! SO cute!! :-b
I just wanted to say these were a HIT.. The bus driver actually got the movie “Time Travelers Wife”, she was so tickled and thankful (I don’t think Bus Drivers get that many gifts) she came up to me this afternoon and hugged me (made me tear up).. My boys also had so much fun wrapping them and picking out the candy to go with the movie.. Both their teachers said they loved the movie & were going home tonight to watch it..hehe
To all the teachers out there – Thank You!! Merry Christmas!
Thanks so much teachers for weighing in on the gift cards. That’s probably what we are doing this year for our daycare teachers but it doesn’t seem special enough for the people who care for and love our children nearly as much as we do. $$ is very tight this year as we just completed our second adoption but I do want to give a special gift to their care givers. I’m glad to know gift cards are wanted and appreciated.
this is a great idea. the dollar tree also has movies for a dollar. there are not new releases but i found some good ones from the 1990’s like Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. so it is worth to at the least to look. i will try to recreate this for the teachers aides at my sons school. thanks for sharing!
This year my daughters teacher and bus drivers got a jar full of red and green peanut M&M”s. Got the jars for 40% off at Michaels, and the M&M’s ended up being 4 bags for 5 bucks with the Jingle cash at Walgreens. On the top of the jar I tied a reindeer tag and called it a jar of reindeer noses. LOL, I thought it was cute…..and who doesn’t love M&M’s? Wasn’t super expensive, and I know that it will get eaten! 🙂
As a former teacher, I can honestly say the sincere thank you cards were always my favorite gifts. Especially if it was a homemade card from one of my students. If money is tight, simply say thank you–its priceless!!
I was thinking of putting my excess office supplies I picked up throughout the year in a cute basket. I figure a few reams of paper, glue sticks and what not would never hurt. I also buy baskets from thrift stores and spray paint them so they look cute. I know the teachers end up spending a ton on supplies throughout the year.
A few years ago, one of my son’s teachers sent out a letter at the beginning of December saying that in lieu of gifts she would like to collect donations for a giving tree project at school. Our kids donated supplies and toys for other kids that Christmas. I thought that was the best idea ever. It made everyone feel good and ,of course, my son wrote a nice Christmas card to the teacher as well. Maybe the teachers who can’t use 25 mugs, candles or lotion sets every year could adapt the idea.
I am stunned at all of the responses! I think that we all need to take a deep breath. This time of the year can get very stressful, but we need to remember the reason for the season. I am forever greatful for my boys teachers. During the school year, they are with my children as much or more than i am a day. I always try to do something special for them at Christmas and at the end of the year. this year, I am doing baked treats and include a nice thank you note. Last year I was a room mother and I asked each child to bring $1-$5 (even if you are tight on money you can spend $1) and bought a spa gift certificate. That was the only thing that she received but she thanked the parents numerous times for it.
This year my mother in law made 6 cinnamon breads-my girls go to a Christian preschool and their are 2 teachers in the class and then my son gave 1 to his teacher and one to the bus driver. I bought Christmas tea towels on sale and wrapped the breads with the towel, we made homemade cards and put ribbon around them and it was a very cute yet inexpensive gift that lets the teachers know we appreciate them.
My daughter is only 2, but I came up with what I think is a cute ( albeit not original) idea for a gift for the teenage babysitter that helps me out 1 day a week. I split a bottle of Simply Lemonade ( cool shape) and filled with trial size products like Vaseline lotion, Ponds towelettes, John Freida shampoo and also small items like Carmex, nail polish and Listerine Pocket Pacs. I am in my late twenties and I still like “little” things, so I think a 16 year old will be tickled! I am putting a bag of Sour Patch kids with it that I got for free at Rite Aid just before Halloween. Counting tax, the entire gift was about $2.50, but I know it was probably free since I get so much overage when I shop!
I am not one to do a gift for every single person I know out of obligation. My aunt was big into the “pay it forward” principle and so am I. I choose to do things “just because” anytime of year and not feel like I have to buy for everyone just because it is Christmas. That being said, getting free toiletries, candles, etc. has provided me with the opportunity to give more gifts. I have put together baskets for people who have helped us with dog-sitting, for housewarming gifts, etc. My daughter’s church nursery teacher will also receive a “spa” goodie bag that I think she will love. Not to mention the “white elephant” swaps and those hard to buy for guys on my list. Granted, I don’t just box up toothpaste and give it to someone without any forethought, but I have several nice Gillette razor sets that I purchased for .99 that I think will go over great!
Sorry this is so long! =D
This year I decided to make a fun gift for my kids’ daycare teacher. I went to JoAnns and used 40% off coupon to buy a big 16×36 cork board, was only about $6 after the coupon, then I found some inexpensive school print fabric and some 2/$1 ribbon. I also got a 0.79 piece of felt and a 0.99 cent puffy paint so I can make a label with her name at the top. All said and done it was only just over $10 but it’s an awesome homemade gift that’s going to be totally functional for her at home daycare!
This year my kids and I made jar cookie mix to give to their Teachers. We put it together all nice and cute and attached the tag. I agree with most of you, It’s defiantly the thought that counts. It doesn’t matter what you receive, but that someone took the time to think of you.
I think the scarves at old navy on saturday would make great gifts you could use them as the ribbon or give them on their own
What a cute idea!!! Love it!
We have also done the gift cards to Target etc… But to be honest even $5 X15 (teachers at school, Sunday school, special helpers etc) adds up very quickly. I started to do antibac soap from Bath and Body or Avon with a homemade or Christmas themed towel. I can do them for about $2-$3 a piece. It is not much, but everyone uses hand soap somewhere in their home and my kids get to pick out the color soap and towel. But hearing all of the comments I guess that would not be an appreciated gift either! OH WELL! I guess it is not the thought that counts some days!
As a teacher and a mom of 2 daughters with 11 teachers between them, I love this idea! Thanks!
I think any token of appreciation is wonderful. Last night my girls had a Holiday Open House where their teachers worked all afternoon getting their rooms together, arranging things for parents, etc. I simply wrote each classroom a card and low an behold, both of my cards were hanging outside their room today. Simple gift- one of thanks.
Above all, Merry Christmas to everyone. From a book I read to my students: (I don’t know if the quote is entirely correct…) “If it’s a gift from the heart, then she (or he) will love it.”