Need Gift Ideas for Preschool Teachers

Last year I gave the teachers gift cards to Panera Bread--they loved it.

I have a great idea I do Mary Kay and we put together a pair of gloves w/ a small lotion and a hand sanitizer and put a pretty bow tied around it. Gas Gloves very nice women love this maybe tops $10.00 Fuzzy socks w/ foot lotion and pedicure swet from the dollar store bow around it. We use our own products of course. Hope this helps Merry Christmas
M.

I would get her something from your daughter as an ornament or maybe something she made with your help like a necklase or bracelet or get her a gift card from a restuarant or something

My favorite gifts from students are homemade. There are so many crafts at Michael's that you can buy and make at home. My second favorite would be a gift card.

I have been taking my daughter to a pottery painting place for her teachers and she picks out something to paint. it is a lot of fun they have inexpensive magnents, or christmas ortaments and a lot more to choose from.

As a former high school teacher, my favorite gifts were in this order of preference...

A thoughtful and specific (as in you really helped Suzy with... this year) letter of appreciation from the student/parent

Homemade treats

A gift card to the bookstore

Check out Virginia Soaps and Scents online -- their soap is amazing -- I'm considering "gourmet" soaps as teacher gifts this year.

One year, I bought the staff necklaces or bracelets with a starfish charm on it, and printed the starfish story on brightly colored paper (the one where the "punch line" is "Made a difference to that one!" and had my children write, "Thanks for making a difference in me" and sign their name, laminated the story into a bookmark.

Gift certificates to a restaurant -even fast food for quick lunches might be nice. Or a box filled with things teachers use i.e. pens, pencils, Kleenex, hand sanitizer etc. Ask some teacher friends. Maybe the class could go together and get her a gift certificate for 2 to their favorite restaurant plus some school supplies. Good luck

As a former preschool teacher, I can tell you what the best gift I got was....MONEY!! Cold hard cash, usually wrapped around a tiny bottle of lotion so it wasn't so obvious. :) Or gift cards to target, etc. It may seem impersonal, but like you said I got REALLY sick of candles, lotions, and mugs every year! I have boxes of that junk in the basement somewhere.... ;) Money is the most useful, especially right now in the economy. Teachers don't make a lot, why not make the holidays a little more relaxed for them? Yes they already get paid, but not much. Even if you can only give a little it would be better to let them put the $10 towards food and clothes over something they don't need.

Hi K. - you could give the teachers a giftcard from Borders, Michaels, etc. or if you bake, make them a giftbag of christmas cookies, popcorn, etc. Hope this helps.
D. :o)

The moms at preschool all get together, chip in $5/teacher, and then get a fairly large gift card to a restaurant or local store.

OR . . . I sell Barefoot Books, and last year some friends of mine purchased gifts for the teachers -- a classroom gift! I thought it was a great idea, so I gave the preschool teachers a copy of "Animal Boogie" last spring as an end-of-year gift. I think it was fantastic, because one day when picking up my daughter recently, I heard the teacher playing the accompanying CD and the kids were loving it! So much so that the preschool director has ordered a few more titles for the other classrooms, too! You can check them out at http://lorihachenski.barefootbooks.com

My friend owns Paperquips, specializing in custom notecards and invitations. I think personalized notecards with the teacher's initials are a lovely gift! www.paperquips.net

Good luck!

L.

I am actually friends with several preschool teachers....every year we chat about the gifts their kids give them. And their favorites are:
1. Gift cards to places they like (like Starbucks)
2. Homemade items from the kids
3. Edible goods (like chocolates)

i'm a retired preschool teacher my favorite gifts were something made by the child and parent , items for the classroom (stickers,bboks, toys, puzzles etc.)

They loved the movie night basket. Get one of the popcorn tubs from blockbuster. Fill it with movie candy and extra popcorn. Put a Blockbuster gift card in it. Wrap it in celophane and put a bow on it. They loved it!

I agree, as a former first grade teacher, cash wrapped around a small bottle of lotion was nice but I loved gift cards. As a coffee drinker, tim hortons, starbucks, even mcdonalds was nice. We all have those days were we know we should splurge for junk but when you have gift cards it makes it a nice to be able to justify.

I plan to give my son's teacher a hand-made gift. Sorry, but I love making things by hand, and my son will help with it.
We will be getting a gingerbread pop kit, decorate it and I will put those into a terracotta (or something similar) pot that I will paint with a winter scene. We will fill the pot with some home-made cookies and wrap it up.

Our teacher can decide to eat them or give the cookies to her family. But she can reuse the pot (or similar item) for pens/ pencils/ markers or even a small plant for her desk.

I have always felt hand-made gifts come from the heart, and mean more when I receive them myself as so much work goes into making them, such as a little part of that person, so to speak. Not to mention, I always feel very good inside when I give a hand-crafted item as they do mean so much more to both parties.

To me, Christmas is not always about money - but giving of the heart. Right now I feel more peace, love and understanding needs to flow in this world as it is. (sorry if this part offends, it is not meant to- it is just how I see and feel of things.)

Probably the best gift I have ever come up with was I had a wooden recipe box engraved with the teacher's name. It said something like "Teri's Secret Recipes" on it. Then I asked all the parents in the class to submit their 5 favorite family recipes. On each recipe they would write which child it was from and on at least one of them we put one of the child's school pictures. This way for many years to come they would have a memory of that child and family, as well as about 100 new recipes that were our favorites to enjoy with her family!

Hi K.... I like to give useable gifts. With all of the budget cuts going on right now the supply fund is dwindling and teachers are paying for their own supplies. Try a box of classroom necessities like crayons, colored penicils, markers, dry erase markers, notebook paper, pens, pencils. All of the things students need and teachers have to supply.
Have a great day.

Hi K.! I've always had a hard time with this also. I have 3 children and my youngest just entered junior high this year so no more teacher gifts for us! I know from talking with friends who are teachers, and also my neice and brother-in-law who are teachers, that their favorite gifts are gift cards. Does your daughters teacher drink coffee? How about a 10.00 gift card to a coffee shop. You could put it in a little bag with a few chocolate kisses. I do know they need no more mugs, candles, or lotions!!!!!!!!!
I wish you a blessed Christmas!!

B. Hooyer
bhooyer.usana.com

How about a gift card to starbucks or a local book store.

heres a great link I found.
http://childcare.about.com/cs/generaladvice/a/teachergift...

lots of great ideas!

While it doesn't personal when you think about it, I had a neighbor a few years ago who is a first grade teacher-she told me her favorite gifts were gift cards to places like Target, bookstores, or coffee/tea places like caribou, starbucks, bigb. Last year we since her preschool class went in on a rather large gift card, we just had our daughter make a card with her photo in it. However, now she is in Kindergarten so at the begining of the year we did a getting to know you survey which helped us learn our teacher does not drink hot drinks. But she loves to read, and watch Hockey. Now we know what direction to go in. Also think outside the box, if you love to cook prepare a family meal and bring it in for the teacher to take home. A night off after a day with a bunch of preschoolers sounds pretty good I am sure.

I made relaxation kits.....bath salts (recipes online or in spa books) and masks (filled with flaxseed and herbals that can be heated or chilled). Something to get them relaxed at the end of a long day.

Have you checked out restaurants.com? You can get gift cards at prices much lower than the face value if the gift card.

When my kids were in head start I sent out fliers to all the parents and asked for a photo of their child and I also gave out 8x8 cardstock and asked them to attach the photo and have their child draw a picture and sign it. Then I put them all together in a scrapbook, wrote a teacher poem in the front and gave them to their teachers for Christmas. I was told it was the best gift they had ever gotten. I also wrote on the front the year.

M.
mom to Christina 18 - MYCA Graduate/Flat Rock High School Graduate 6/4/09
Isabella, Logan and Brody 7

A gift card to a nice restaurant is always appreciated. who wouldnt want a night out after a day full of preschoolers. ANY GIFT CARD IS ALSO A GREAT GIFT

Teachers love gift cards, even small ones, that they can use for something personal.

They love gift cards. I think movie passes are the best. The teachers always seem to love them and my good friend is a teacher and she says that is the best thing to get!