Pre-K Teacher Gift

A. I know this is too late for this year but I make custom cards for teachers so if you are in a quandry next year please feel free to contact me directly if you would like to see samples I make custom notecards with the teachers names for $1/notecard or $1.50/regular 4 1/2 x5 1/4 inch card with a primary color hand stamped design you can see some samples at my website http://nataliestamps.stampinup.net
this is what I give all my teachers every year and they LOVE it!

a pot of flowers, a hanging basket or even a bouquet is always nice.

If you are crafty, there are a few quick projects you and your son can make, The first and probably easiest is to have your son paint or draw a picture, or put in a photo of the teacher and your son,- and buy a nice frame for it. The teacher could always use the frame for personal photos or keep it as is for a momento. I also like to take the clear arcylic frames with the magents on the back that are for on the refridgerator and decorate the edges with stickers and mount a photo on cardstock and slide that in.

Another more involved idea is a decorated clipboard. You can google them on Etsy for ideas or go to You Tube to see a demonstration of the basics of how to make one. That was my son's gift to his preschool teacher this year. I covered a clipboard with apple themed scrapbook paper, used stickers to put the teachers name at the bottom, added some dimensional embellishments and clipped on a snapshot of my son and a handwritten note from him thanking her for the year. If you'd like to see, i can email you what i did.

Stationary is always a nice gift, with a nice pen

and honestly gift cards are super wonderful. They aren't boring if you present them right,
a gift card for a mexican restaurant could be attached to a bottle of hot sauce, with a note to Hope your summer sizzles, stuff like that.

There is a blog that i think is called Skiptomylou that has lots of cute sayings for appreciating teachers.

You could buy an "almond joy" candy bar and write a note about how the teacher brought your son "Joy" this year and attach a gift card for someplace fun.
Or some life savers- Teacher you've been a life saver this year don't know what we would have done with out you etc etc.

decorate a pot and put in a gift card to a nursery or gardening center.

Buy a children's book your son enjoys for the classroom and attach a card with a gift card in it for the teacher to buy herself something at a local book store.

maybe these ideas will spark something for you,if not maybe someone else can use them. I think our teachers do such a great job with our precious little ones, I like to really take the time to say thank you. I'm sure with most teachers that it really isn't what you give them it's just that you even thought to do something at all.

I know several teachers and they always appreciate practical gifts like a gift card to a craft store, teacher's supply store, grocery store, eatery or a gas card. Even an AE card would be great. I've heard the comment that their basements overflow with candles, hand lotion, ornaments, etc, etc, etc! Let's face it--these teachers get gifts from a LOT of kids and what may be cute and sentimental to you might be excess STUFF for a lot of them!

I would give a practical gift card of monetary value and make it special and sentimental by pairing it with a nice card or note expressing your thanks and specific things the teacher has helped your child with in the past year.

i would say a gift card would be nice maybe to a bookstore or a spa (like a mani or pedi) or if you know a favorite place she likes to shop or eat. little trinkets are nice and thoughtful but years and years of them become overwhelming. anything you do would be appreciated i am sure.

What about your sons handprints on a pot with a pack of seeds inside? I know it is not elaborate, but thoughtful :)

I also like to give gift cards and present them with something else. This year I bought my son's teacher a decorative dish, filled it with candy and wrote a poem from my son's point of view, working the candy names in it. If you are interested I could send you the poem you or you can search for other similar poems on the internet. We attached a gift card to it. I also wrote her a personal note to tell her how much my son enjoyed being in her class and how much I appreciated her.

I find the teachers appreciate the gift cards more than flowers, mugs and other trinkets. I have had a child in preschool for the past 5 years and after the first year, I would ask the teachers if there was anything on their wish list for the school. Most preschool do not have alot of money so buying something for the school is very much appreciated. If there were items on the wish list that were more than I wanted to spend, I would ask another mom or group of mom's if they wanted to go in on the gift and get the teacher(s) something bigger for the school. I hope this helps. Have a great day!

My parents are both teachers. They always appreciate getting a gift card and would much rather get a gift card than another teacher mug, pen, ornament etc.

Gift cards to a book store, movie theatre, a local restaurant, or to Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks are always great. It is always great to get a personal note from the child (their words- if they're not writing yet- and decorated by them) as well.

I always appreciated cash the most...we don't earn much $ as preschool teachers!

I am going to second (and third etc.) the gift card. If you can't afford a lot, maybe get some other parents to chip in with you to get them a nice amount. We did $60 cards for all my kids teachers!

I try to give teachers a summer themed present at the end of the year. A small $ amt. gift card to Ritas, another small $ amount to Barnes and Noble. A set of nice plastic glasses, some packets of lemonade mix. Maybe a beach towel or picnic blanket. If you know somewhat where they live, you could buy them a couple of movie ticket coupons to a local movie theatre.
The idea is to give them things that they will use, not another thing to add to their desk collection.

We got our preschool teacher a coffee mug with our child's artwork. The teacher loves it and uses it as a pencil holder. I think she liked it because it felt personal. We got it at www.sharemykidsart.com. Good luck!

i always do a "teacher supply" gift bag... pens, stickers, sticky notes, paperclips, and stuff like that and a usually also get a gift card to a book store. most of the supplies i find at the dollar store because i figure the gift card is the main gift.

teacher do get over loaded with candy filled mugs and things of that nature. i went to a christmas party and one of our friends is a kindergarten teacher, she said she doesn't know what to do with everthing she received for christmas gifts:) there's no way she can actually use everything she received. if i were you, i'd just try to stay as practical as possible.

Happy gift shopping!
S.

A.,

I know you have already done the gift card but I give my preschool teachers pre-made, frozen meals (I make them.) for Christmas. Last year I made pasta pomodoro, chicken piccata, and swedish meatballs. You have a wonderful personal gift that has a very practical application.

For end of year, I had my daughter paint a large clay pot and then we provided herb seeds and potting soil so the teachers had an herb garden for the summer.

The teachers loved the gifts. Once again, they were personal and useful.

My big problem with gift cards is the expense. To make them worthwhile, they need to be at least $20 each. This year I had three teachers, next year I will have six. I really do not have $120 to spend on gift cards.

Just a thought for all of you for future reference.

My babysitter also suggested (for Christmas) making cookie dough, rolling it in parchment paper (cooking paper), tying it off with festive ribbons.