Each year around this time I see my Facebook friends asking for ideas of what to get their child's teacher for Christmas.  I have walked the aisles of Walmart with the lotion and bath product gift sets.  I see the catalogs and websites putting out the cute teacher ornaments and mugs.

I am a huge proponent of "it is the thought that counts", so put those thoughts out there!  The absolute best gift is the expressing of your appreciation and thanks for all he or she does!  The best part about this is it costs NO money, but it does take your time!  Write your child's teacher a letter of appreciation and thanks for all the work he or she does for your child each day.  Don't forget to include the specifics about things he or she does that your child talks about at home.  Teachers often feel that their work isn't noticed or appreciated.  Don't forget to have your child write or dictate a note to you as well.

But if you are wanting to do more, what do teachers really want (and need) for Christmas?  Here are some ideas to delight your child's teacher during this holiday season...

🎁 Gift Cards

Ok I know what you are thinking..."Gift cards are so impersonal!"  Yes they can be if you don't put a little thought into them.  When I was a classroom teacher, I could tell the difference.  For example, I don't drink coffee at all...can't even stand the smell of it!  What gift card did I get more than any other?  Starbucks!  I would just give these away...most often to my colleagues who didn't receive student gifts, or I left on police officers' patrol cars as a random act of kindness.

But gift cards really aren't impersonal if you do them right!  In fact, the well-thought gift cards were some of my favorite gifts!  If you are lucky, you have a room parent that gets the teacher to fill out a favorite things list like mine used to.  (Are you a room parent and don't use a favorite things list?  Get one here.)  Any place your teacher included on this list they would greatly appreciate a gift card for!

No favorite things list?  Ask your child about what some of the teachers favorites are... does she drink a Starbucks iced coffee every morning?  does she talk about getting lost in the Target all the time? does he have a Friday tradition of having Uber Eats delivered to school?  Maybe your child notices her nails are always nicely done but doesn't know where?  Send your child into on a detective mission!  Teachers are asked so many random questions during the school day that she won't suspect a thing with a question from a child of where do you get your nails done!  Anything your child notices frequently about his or her teacher, that would would be thrilled to receive in gift card!  

If all else fails...an Amazon gift card would make any teacher happy!

https://pin.it/ktmz7b4lkabdcj

🎁 Classroom Supplies

I loved receiving classroom supplies as Christmas gifts!  By December, classroom supplies are already starting to run low!  First, classroom supplies don't have be lugged home! Second, who has to pay to restock the classroom...the teacher!  Take a peek back at the beginning of the year supply list (already threw that away?  Most schools keep that list on their website!)  A gift basket of pencils, glue sticks, dry erase markers, or brightly colored copy paper will make a teacher squeal with delight!

Not sure what supplies to get?  Then see the previous idea...gift card!  Give the teacher a gift card to Office Depot, Staples, or Amazon with a sweet note!  A teacher would also be excited to receive a TeachersPayTeachers gift card too!

https://pin.it/ktmz7b4lkabdcj

🎁 Movie Tickets or DVD Rental

Have you seen the price of movie tickets these days???  An evening at the movies makes a teacher's wallet cry!  Give him or her a gift card worth two tickets to the luxury of an evening movie!  Or if you have Red Box in your area...a gift code for a DVD rental will be greatly appreciated as well!

https://pin.it/k56f3kyum7kxgf

🎁 Don't Forget Gift Presentation!

The presentation of your gift is the best way to make it even more special and the best way to show you put the same amount of thought and energy that your child's teacher does each day in the classroom. Your child's teacher spends countless hours every week preparing the best possible lessons for your child.  He or she has spent their summer creating a space your child will feel at home in. So don't just slap a sticky bow on lotion gift set!

Presentation doesn't have to be fancy or difficult.  Pinterest has loads of ideas of how to present teacher gifts.  I have created a whole board full of ideas here.  Most have free printables to help you make your gift a little more special.  Here are some ideas from my board...

from Pioneer Party

from Paper Trail Design

from Creations by Kara

from Delightful Order

In the comments...Teachers, tell us some of your absolute favorite gifts!  Parents, get advice on your gift ideas!  Can't wait to hear them all!

This month for our Random Acts of Kindness, my mom (also a teacher) brought me a great idea, and she told me I could share it with you. She does a Valentine Exchange in her classroom, but she wanted to also have her fifth graders complete an activity that involves a little more than writing their name and a lot more implementing writing strategies. So she created...

 

You know what is perfect about this activity??? The secret part! You know how our upper elementary/middle school students start to get a little squirrelly about Valentine’s Day.

Students spend a week creating their messages to their classmates. They can’t use the overused words of nice, pretty, sweet, cool, or awesome. And the messages aren’t very long...only about a sentence! Then students turn them in for “review.” This allows us to catch and correct any possibly unkind messages (not that my sweet kiddos would intentionally be unkind...but just in case!). On Valentine’s Day, students will cut apart their messages and stealthily distribute them. My mom says her students spend more time enjoying these messages than the other cards they get.

Not allowed to do a Valentine Exchange? Then this may just be a perfect way to get around that by incorporating these messages into your writing class! Add the requirement of a certain number of similes, metaphors, and other figurative language that need to be included in the messages your students create. You could even take a grade on these if you needed one!  

To get your download your copy, click on the banner below...

Prep is easy. Simply print...write your students’ names on the lines...copy (make sure to copy only single sided--this is a reminder for myself too! I just know I will press that duplex button!) Your students will do the majority of the work!

I can’t wait to show you the Valentine’s I am distributing to my students...I just have to make them first!

I love giving gifts!  The joy of finding just the right gift for the people on my list has got to be my favorite part of this time of year.  So let me share with you about my two big gift-ing opportunities...

I enjoy giving my students treats!  And Christmas time is no exception!  Thank goodness for Scholastic Book Clubs and bonus points...I was able to find two activity books...a Kakooma puzzle book and a Mad Libs book.  Then I had enough bonus points left (don't worry I earned all the bonus points buying books myself...not parent orders!) to also get each child a free book pick gift certificate!

Then I also ordered my students personalized pencils from For Teachers Only.  These are a fantasic deal...99 cents for a set of three personalized pencils!  My students with less traditional names that have difficulty finding their name on pre-printed items LOVE these!

As you can see, I wrap each child's gifts.  Presentation is a big part of gift giving for me...and what child doesn't enjoy tearing into wrapping paper!  My sweet peas were so grateful for their gifts, and I got lots of big "thank you" hugs!

 

 

I also recently had my grade level gift exchange.  The tradition in 4th grade at my school for many years has been a Favorite Things exchange.  The idea has spread to other grade levels at my school too.  

 

Here is how it works...You know Oprah's Favorite Things???  Well, pretty much the same concept!  Except no one is giving away new cars!  Each teacher brings a $5-$10 item that they enjoy.  Last year, I gave a Tervis Tumbler with our school mascot on it.  The year before I gave personalized note cards from my favorite stationary site, A Touch of Whimsy.  The year before an ornament decorated with the recipient's first initial and polka dots.

 

This year I had an awful time trying to decide on what my Favorite Thing would be!  Luckily my mom gave me some inspiration...and luckily I had enough time to get it all together and ready!

 

So after school, we met up at Olive Garden for dinner.  After a very yummy meal, we each presented our favorite things...

• an adorable scarf with tiny pompoms in our school colors
• gift cards to Starbucks (great minds think a like!)
• inspirational saying note cards and EOS Lip Balm (now my new fav!)
• adorable Christmas plates from Crate and Barrell
• a straw tumbler with our initials
• a big bottle of Bath and Body Work hand sanitizer (We just recently survived a flu epidemic...only hit 4th grade!)
• a warm, fleece Christmas blanket
• and from me...

a big magnetic calendar.

I designed the "4th Grade Teachers Rock!" graphic and uploaded it to VistaPrint as a poster calendar.  Then I had it printed on magnetic paper.  They turned out really cute!  And my grade level buddies loved them!

 

Share with me your school gift giving ideas!   Do you give your students a Christmas gift?  Do you have an exchange on your grade level?