Christmas Gift for Preschool Teacher

Every year I get my daughter's teacher an ornament from Wal-Mart that you can engrave the teacher's name onto.

I just finished making my daughters teacher gifts...I made them white choc covered pretezels, put them in a christmas tin and added a tree ornament to the bow...she loves them and I think her teachers will too.

make it simple and appreciative

a picture with a hand imprint will last forever.

also since most teachers buy supplies with their own monies enclosed a check for supplies with a simple thank you.

God Bless Merry Christmas

a special photo of your kid with santa!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm getting my daughter's teachers a package of Starbucks cookies with a $5 Starbucks gift card tied to it with some really pretty ribbon. It's cute and the gifts cost me about $8 each...she has 3 "teachers" (Mothers' Day Out). Back before I was Mommy, I was a daycare teacher and small gifts like that helped out and were really sweet too. :) Let us know what you decide!

A gift card would be wonderful. Or like someone said - cookies and a Starbucks gift card. As sweet as a photo of your child or their hand print might seem - teacher's get handmade special "gifts" like that from children all day long.
I taught elementary school for several years and I can't tell you how many mugs with hard candy, "teacher is #1" type knick knacks & random scent bath soap/gel products I ended up with year after year.
Gift cards to places I couldn't otherwise afford to splurge on were a great treat!

I was a preschool teacher before I had my baby boy, and I can tell you that I always enjoyed getting gift cards. I know some people think they are impersonal or whatever, but I (and all my coworkers) loved it. We got them to Panera Bread, Sonic, Starbucks, etc. One of my favorite gifts - and I don't know how much it cost - was a miniature rose bush. I got it 2 years ago and its still alive. I just thought it was sweet. Hope that helps. Really, anything you give will be great. It's just nice to be appreciated. =)

I would suggest a gift card and/or some "consumables." There are lots of cute things our there to give them, but by the time each child gives something, the teacher ends up with a lot of little things that ultimately become clutter. If you give her something she can eat or use up (cookies, fudge, soap, gift card to a favorite restaurant), she won't have to find a permannent place to store it in her home.

I've read some of the responses you've gotten on your request, and they are all great ideas. The idea of a photo of your child is great, but I would add to that by putting it in a cute frame made by your child (with help if necessary). That of course is if you are the creative type and like arts and crafts. If not, a gift card is always a safe bet. If you don't know her/his favorite places, go with Walmart. Everyone goes to Walmart or something she/he may need for class like extra markers or something that would take money out of her/his own pocket. Hope this helps.

My daughter's school actually had the teacher's fill out a form with their likes. It was a great idea I thought. Plus, my BFF ;) is a kindergarten teacher so she is always helpful in offering suggestions.
The #1 rule is to just make sure you get something! Candles, bath & body works, a fun scarf, candy or gourmet treats. Apparently gift cards are a huge hit. Nail salon (if you know of one close to them), restaraunts, starbucks (if they drink coffee). I think having your daughter help bake cookies would be a sweet gift. If the teacher doesn't eat them I'm sure she'sgot someone at homewith a sweet tooth. A lullaby CD for the classroom or some cute notes (my daughter's teachers have always sent home notes on cute paper).
The one thing I've been told to STAY AWAY from is anything teachery.
My friend stresses that spending a ton of money isn't important at all. Just making sure you remember the teacher is what counts. Plus, I think you can't start the kids too early in learning the joy of giving. My daughter loves getting her teacher's gifts & gets such a kick out of handing it to them. That's gotta be a thrill for the teacher's too.....

I had a pic of my son and teacher from the Halloween party, I went to snapfish.com and had it put on an ornament!

This was a topic of discussion during Sunday School yesterday. One of our class has taught Pre-K for 15 years in public school. She would love it if parents would give gifts for her classroom and hence, her students. She and other teachers often spend their own money to purchase items for their students and classes. It could be craft supplies, antibacterial handsoap, games or toys for instance for a Pre-K class.

A Rubbermaid or Sterlite shoebox with a painted lid. Depending on how much you want to spend, you can put school supplies in the box or just give the box itself. It can be used as storage in the classroom. Decorate the lid with whatever you want - include your child's name and school year.

I gave boxes to my children's teachers several years ago. Now my youngest has some of the same teachers so I see in their classrooms that they still use those boxes. That warms the heart!

Have fun with it!

"Consumables" as someone already suggested; restaurant gift cards, Starbucks, (something they can actually use) are great. As much as teachers "love" the kids they teach, they don't necessarily want pictures of them, they see them everyday. Depending on what your spending limit is, I used to run a home daycare and one of the best gifts I received was a gift certificate for a pedicure. I still remember that gift to this day, it was wonderful. Some places only charge $20-$25 for one.

I played basketball when I was a kid, and when my team went to the championship, all the moms got together and we got the coaches' names put on the back of sweatshirts. Then, one night after practice, all the kids dipped their hands in some color paint, and then we put our handprints on the sweatshirts. The coaches wore them to our championship game!! It was creative and not very expensive, so maybe something like that would be helpful?? Good Luck!!

If you want to make something, get the Christmas issue (with the cookies on the front) of Martha Stewart Living. One of my friends made the bath salts and did a few truffles and chocolate bark. All the recipes are in there.

we bought my daughter's prek teacher a really nice travel mug for coffee, tea, water, etc. And she's carried it every day since! We got a cute one at a Barnes & Noble cafe and put it with a pound of good coffee.
Good luck!

Just a quick comment - as a former teacher, it's always sweet when you get a picture of a kid, BUT parents need to remember that teachers have MANY kids over MANY years and it's impossible to keep all those sweet pictures (w/out going insane and cluttering your house and classroom). A teacher feels guilty when they throw a picture out, too.

So please don't be offended when I say I don't think a picture is a good idea. Something truly useful or something that you know the teacher likes (like coffee or a gift certificate to a favorite store/restaturant) makes a teacher feel like you've been paying attention and really appreciate her! If you really want to do something homemade, then make cookies, a cookie mix, hot chocolate mix, or a soup/chili mix (great for busy late nights). You can offer to make a meal for her freezer - a fabulous idea!!!

Candles, gift card to her favorite place. They have a lot of little things, give them something, they can use. A Spa treament.

We made a little basket for my daughters teacher. We put some boxes of hot tea, hot chocolate, some candy, some of those little packages of Crystal Light flavor that you add to water and a coffee cup. She loved it! You could also do a movie night theme with popcorn, candy, and cokes! Hope this helps!