Teacher Gift Ideas
At the end of the school year it is of course traditional to show your
appreciation of the efforts your child's teacher has made, but thinking of a
gift that will be appreciated can be daunting! If you are looking for some
inspiration for your teacher gift ideas this year, scroll down and browse!
Group Or Class Gifts
Personalise a camping chair or beach chair. Buy a light coloured fabric
chair and some fabric paints or pens. Depending on their age, the children can
add a colourful handprint, draw a self-portrait, or sign their name and add a
small picture.
Personalise a fabric shopping bag or book bag - as above.
Personalise a golf umbrella - as above.
Personalise a tea towel - as above.
Personalise a tea shirt - as above.
Paint a salad bowl, vase or other large ceramic item. Buy a "blank"
ceramic item from a craft supplier or "Paint Your Own" shop, together with a
collection of ceramic paints. Some ceramic paints will need to be fired by your
local "Paint Your Own" shop; others can be fired in your own oven at low
temperature or not fired at all. The children should add their own little
picture or design and sign the item. You could suggest a theme such as flowers
or houses if you like.
Paint a set of mugs, teapot, bowls or cups and saucers. A young teacher
setting up home may appreciate a collection of breakfast items hand painted by
her children.
Make a classroom cookbook. Each child produces his or her own page with a
favorite recipe, a drawing or photo, and a special message to the teacher.
Laminate the pages, punch and put into a pretty binder.
Make a classroom memento book. As above, but each child should produce a
page of their favorite memory of the teacher or the year, a drawing and a photo
of themselves (with the teacher if possible).
Paint a flower pot. Buy a large terracotta or ceramic flower pot and,
using acrylic paints, let the children embellish it. Now either add an
appropriate plant or fill it with gardening gifts such as gloves, trowel etc
Paint a watering can. A keen gardener may appreciate a personalized
watering can. Buy a good metal can in a pale colour and use acrylic paints to
decorate it, perhaps asking each child to paint a flower, ladybug, butterfly or
bumble bee. To be safe, add a layer of acrylic gloss varnish.
Make a DVD. If one of the parents has a video camera and basic editing
software you can put together a class DVD. Take a snippet of footage of each
child (perhaps singing a song, recounting a favorite experience at school, or
just saying why they love their teacher). If possible add some class events or
shots of the classroom, and package the DVD nicely.
Vouchers. Young teachers may really appreciate some gift vouchers for a
good department store, online shop, DVD rental or restaurant. Ask another
teacher! If you know there is another teacher at the school with whom your
teacher is particularly friendly, ask him or her to suggest a shop or restaurant
that your teacher frequents - or would like to!
Wine. If all the parents club together, you can usually buy a nice case
of wine, or even two cases of table wine in a big class. Alternatively you could
subscribe to a "wine of the month" club for your teacher, who will be thrilled
to get a good bottle every month for the next year.
Monthly clubs. In addition to "wine of the month" clubs, you could
arrange for chocolate or flowers (or even pizzas!) to be delivered to your
teacher on a regular basis.
Make a quilt. With a bit of organization and some parent help, you can
make a fabulous quilt for your teacher. Prepare a square or rectangle of pale
coloured fabric for each child and ask them to draw their best picture with
fabric pens or paints, and sign it. Now stitch them together, add a border, some
batting and a backing, and you have made something your teacher will treasure.
Alternatively, ask the children to draw round their hands onto colourful cotton
fabrics and cut out. Fuse or stitch the handprints to individual squares of
contrasting fabric, or arrange in a design on one large piece.
Here's one my son's class made for their (retiring) teacher.
Decoupage a class tray. Ask each child to supply a good close-up
photograph of themselves cut out. Paint a wooden tray blank and then, using
white glue or decoupage glue, arrange the photos on the tray. You might want to
paint the name of the teacher, the class, and the date somewhere in your design.
When dry, apply several coats of acrylic glass varnish (you can buy this in
spray bottles to speed up the process).
Produce a set of class note cards. Ask each child to draw their best
picture of the teacher. Scan them into your computer, reduce in size and print
out onto printer card blanks. Alternatively, ask each child to do a
self-portrait and reduce in size enough to fit together onto one card. You could
also have these printed up by an online print service, which can be very
inexpensive.
Here is something similar that we did when we moved schools. My daughter drew a
little picture of each of her classmates and her teacher and labelled them. Then
I mounted them together, scanned the whole thing in, shrank it, and had it
printed onto postcards online. We used them as invitations to a leaving party
and gave a box of them to Miss Allen, too.
Fill a gift basket or other container. If your teacher has a hobby he or
she may appreciate an appropriate gift basket, packed full of special treats.
Gardeners are easy. Film buffs may enjoy a DVD rental voucher, a film critic's
guide and a popcorn maker or popcorn supplies. Perhaps she will be travelling in
the long vacation? Pack up a really nice travel bag with some travel-sized
toiletries, a good guide book and 2 or 3 paperbacks. Is she a beach fan? Give a
beach bag stuffed with flip flops, nail varnish, books, sun cream and other
toiletries and a luxurious beach towel. With all these suggestions, if you can
think of a way for the children to put in something they have personalized, all
the better.
Charity donation. Some teachers support a particular charity and would
like nothing better than a donation made to it in their name. If you decide to
do this, a small additional gift is a nice gesture.
Provide a service. Sometimes the best gift you can give is time. For a
busy teacher, a few hours of a cleaning or gardening service, or vouchers for
some hand car washing or gourmet prepared dinners could be a real blessing.
Tickets. How about 2 tickets to a sporting event or a musical or play?
Camera. Digital cameras can make an excellent gift for a young teacher,
especially if they have plans for the summer vacation.
Individual Teacher Gift Ideas
We also have lots of ideas for gifts that kids can make themselves here:
Gifts Kids Can Make
Back to Teacher Appreciation
Back to Themes
|
