Teacher Gifts

I am making little treat jars for people. I take a mason jar, you can either save spaghetti sauce jars or buy a dozen of them new at walmart or something. I paint the lid a festive color, add some glitter paint too, I found inexpensive (maybe 50 cents) wooden tree ornaments already painted at micheals, glued them on the front, and filled with red and green M&Ms. If you're worried about an allergy just use plain. Most people can do chocolate!
Just a thought! good luck!

How about some personalized ornaments. You can get them at the craft store unpainted and then you and you little one can sit and paint them together and put the teachers name on them. Just a thought!!

M. B

Hi! Before staying home I assistant taught and then taught my own preschool classes. It's definately not expected that you give anything, especially if you can't afford it this year. I think one of the most clever gifts was a mini loaf of homemade bread. I actually got that twice...once homemade by the mom and once purchased from one of those fresh bread stores. I think one of the moms included a small jar of jelly as well. It was such a nice treat to get something I could use up (not sit around or store) but that wasn't sweet because of course everyone has lots of candy and cookies that time of year. I also liked ornaments that had the kids' pictures or that the kids made because every year when I decorate my tree it brings back all kinds of great memories!

I think homemade gifts are the way to go. My mother is a high school English teacher, and she STILL prefers the homemade gifts to the store bought because it's more memorable and because it means she was more then a side note when someone was at the store. It's better to get something that can be used up like stationary or food, then something they have to store. If you are going to give something that has to be stored, Christmas ornaments are the way to go. Family fun has a lot of cute designs for ornaments on their web site:
http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/specialfea...

good luck! and remember, it's not the amount you spend as much as the thought that really counts! :)

I like to put together a package with microwave popcorn (the packaged microwaveable kind) a blockbuster gift card for $5 and a small candy bar. It makes a nice (and inexpensive treat). You can purchase the popcorn in a box of a dozen and candy bars - you can buy the bag of minis or a box of full-size and split them up. Wrap it all up with celephane and tie a candy cane and notecard with ribbon and - viola!

Another great one for teachers is some Airborne, some hand lotion, a nice lip gloss, mints, gum and some choocloate wrapped together. These are all things they like to keep on hand ;)

When I was a preschool teacher the best gift that I ever received was a small legal pad with a scrapbook type cover added to it. The cover was made out of cardstock and attached with a 1/2 inch of the cardstock on the back. The child decorated the front with stamps and colored the stamps in. The mother wrote, "Thank you for all you do!" on the front. It was very special and I actually kept the cover when the pad was gone. They also gave me a nice pen to go with it and wrapped it all in a pretty cellophane bag. It was so sweet and it was something that I could actually use. It probably cost them less than $3 per note pad and pen set.

I am a art teacher and the best gifts I have gotten have been more personal, and home made. The cutest gift was a angel made by cutting out the face of a school photo and making a angel decoration for the christmas tree using a clothes pin and a doiley. I also had my son decorate ornaments for his teachers last year, it doesn't cost a lot and shows you care. Home made treats are nice too, store bought candy is way over done:) Good luck, it is so nice that you appreciate your teachers.

I have a lot of pre-school teachers I like to thank with a small gift as well. Last year I got everyone a $5.00 gift card to the local dollar store. That way everyone got something they could use and I was able to give them all a small but useable thank you. A $5.00 gift card to Starbucks is also something I have done in the past. Good luck!
Jen

Since there are so many teachers, you may want to buy something for the classroom as opposed to something for each teacher. Last year I bought the teachers in my sons preschool classroom several Play-doh fun factory toys and the Haircutting Play-doh set too. They loved it and all the kids loved it too! Just a thought. Good luck!

Steph

Have you tried getting with other parents and go in on a nice gift certificate? That and have your son make a homeade gift, like a nice card. That is the best reward for a teacher to see something one of their students made himself. I know with my daughter in first grade all of us parents are giving $5.00 and with 20 students giving the teacher a nice dinner gift card for his family to enjoy!

J.,
For years I have made homemade cakes, breads and cookies for teachers. They have always appreciated them as they often have Holiday company and it help them so they don't have to bake as much themselves.
Movie coupons are great, also. As well as homemade ornaments (Anything except apples as everyone gets them an apple of some sort.)
C. B

Hi J.,
As a former teacher, I can give a bit of advice. The gifts I got often were food, sweets, and coffee cups (usually full of cocoa mix or sweets.) The holidays are such a time of food excess, It was hard not to over-indulge when I got 20 presents full of yummies.

Believe it or not, the gifts I loved getting were gift certificates. Using these I could update the classroom library (barnes and noble) go out to lunch with my teacher's aide (local restaurants) or just rent a movie with my kids (blockbuster). I hope this helps you.

Jo

Hi, J....

May I suggest that you have your son help with the gifts? Since they are teachers, why don't you go to a craft store and see what would be appropriate for them that he can help paint, glue, color, or put together. Also, you can take a group picture of the teachers and your son and have it made into a puzzle for the teachers. Most developing companies do those cheaply. I think something memorable from your son would be a heartwarming and unique gift they'd treasure longer than a scarf or something of the like.

Happy Holidays!
L.

J.,

I've found movie theater gift certificates are a really nice, all purpose gift. You buy them in $10 increments.

:-)T.

I am in the same position now for the 2nd year with my son. I got them each a small ornament from Target with a note of appreciation. They were very appreciative...Happy Holidays.

I had this same dilemma last year, when I wasn't sure which teachers to include! I ended up getting bath sets for each of the 3 main ones, which were $5 each at Walmart, along with I think a $15 gift card. For the instructional aides, I gave a holiday card and homemade cookies. Other ideas are: a Starbucks card and mug, or get a preschool book and attach a bookstore gift card. At our previous preschool, it was a big center so I got her teacher something and took in a tray of bagels and cream cheese for everyone to share. Candles, picture frames, stationery, holiday CD's. (I'm actually a teacher, too, so these are just some of the nice things I've gotten before.)

I always asked the my daughter's preschool teachers where they would like a gift certificate from. I think it is silly to pretend that we don't give gifts: we as parents do and they as teachers know they are getting something. I think you are right, the three primary teachers should get something. About the other two, do they come from another room where they have their own kids, or are they part-time? If they have their own kids from another room, they are getting gifts from those kids' parents, but if not maybe a half the price gift certificate than the main teachers. Also, I made my daughter either color on the card or write her name since she was 2, so she understands the act of giving.

Hope that helps and wasn't too lengthy.

J.

J.,
I have been a Preschool teacher for about 14 years now and the homemade gifts have always been the ones I remember. One little girl and her mom made us stationary and note cards- she bought plain white and used the daughters thumb prints to make little bunnies (Mom drew in the face and ears). She wrapped them with a pen in a coordinating color ribbon. I still have one after almost 8 years because I can't bring myself to use the last one!!! Another alternative is to get together with some of the other parents in the class to put your finances together and get one large gift or gift card. The one preschool I worked at had a Parent's Association, and they would collect money for each teacher- whatever the parents could give (We even had some governemnt assistance Parents contribute $1 per teacher)- and one large check would be given per teacher. The teachers were given a card with each contributing child's name in it (we never knew who gave what amount). Depending upon how many contributors there are, teachers can really get a nice sum. Hope this helps and Happy Holidays!!

Hi J.! Since my mom, and nearly everyone else in my family are teachers, I thought I'd respond. :) Everyone on my gift list is getting Arbonne gifts this year. :) My son goes to preschool, so I'm giving his teachers little gift baskets of various Arbonne products. Arbonne has wonderful smelling products - body butters, shimmering bath gels, sugar scrubs, aromatherapy, candles, etc. - and sells them in 3-5 packs of smaller product sizes. These are perfect to use in fun, little gift baskets or bags for everyone on your gift list! You can purchase cute bags and baskets, and little fillers like bath poufs, pedicure and manicure sets, etc. at the Dollar Store. And, it is extremely cost-effective because you can choose how many little products you want to put in each bag or basket depending on how much you want to spend on each person. I highly recommend the Ginger Citrus scent! It is to-die-for, and everyone I know who smells it, loves it! But, they also have Mandarin Cashmere, Luxurious Almond and Spiced Cider scents and many others! If you're interested, you can find Arbonne products at my website: www.mandyolsen.myarbonne.com. Also, I would recommend spending no more than $20-$25 on your teachers. Hope this helps! Good luck and happy holidays!
- M. O.
Executive Area Manager and Independent Consultant
Arbonne International
www.mandyolsen.myarbonne.com
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Hi J.,

We give See's candy. They have some nice selections at reasonable cost. You can go online and see where their nearest store is. Other suggestion is Best Buy has the Xbox Guitar Hero key chains for $7.99, plus the proceeds go to the Girls and boys Club. A Christmas music CD perhaps?
Have a Merry Christmas!
Cath

I say get them all a small gift like a card to Starbucks.... have your child make a sleeve to put them. That is meaningful and practical.

Good Luck and Happy Holidays.

The Dollar Tree has tons of inexpensive stuff for teacher's gifts, stocking stuffers, birthday party loot, etc.

Here is what my daughter and I did last year for her preschool teachers. We went to the craft store and bought soap molds, glycerine soap cubes, scent and color, and empty charm bracelets. We then bought a bunch of different "teacher" charms.

We put the charms inside the soaps for the teachers, so that as they use it they can collect special charms for their bracelets. We also tried to match the teacher to a scent - for instance, her one teacher was very laid back and liked natural things, so we made her green tea scented soap.

Both teachers loved it, I think it cost us about $20 for everything, and they still stop me in the hall when I'm volunteering and talk to me about how much they loved that gift.

Hi there.. I know I am responding a little late, haven't checked my e-mail in a while! I make alomond rocca for my friends and family every year, and it is very easy to make, and everyone looks forward to it every year. You need one pound of butter (make sure butter not margarine) 1 large hershey bar (i get the hershey with almonds), 1 box of brown sugar, and some almonds ( almonds can be expensive so i have used walnuts in the past... nobody knows cuz they are all gound up). You definatly need a candy thermometer!!! oh and a medium to large cookie sheet. Prep work, you will need a blender... you need to grind up the chocolate and set aside, and same for the almonds ( i have found that it is easiest to freeze your chocolate before you put it in the blender so it doesn't get all melty) you want to have your chocolate and nuts gound up before hand. in a 3 qt sauce pan (2 qt is almost too small) you melt butter and sugar and bring to boil over medium heat, you want to stir contantly, when candy thermometer reaches hard crack temp remove from heat and pour into cookie sheet...sprinkle evenly with chocolate, then with nuts, when cooled a little take a spatula and press nuts into chocolate. let cool completely, take a butter knife and break into pieces. depending how much you want to give everybody, it should be enough for 2-3 people. it is a little time consuming i will agree, but well worth it, for me anyway. another thing, you want to make sure you don't cook too fast, or you will get a granualy sugary batch and won't be any good. put into nice containers.. i buy mine from Dollar Tree.

Or...
If you are a little handy with the crafts...
I make potpouri lamps too. You want to get little glass bowls, like the ones you get in the craft section at walmart for .79, a bag of potpouri (your choice of color and scent), some lace, fake flowers, (again your choice and color), some ribbon, and a 20 light strand of x-mas lights. I get most of my supplies at Dollar Tree, if you don't have one in your area, walmart is almost just a cheap. What you do is, you want to evenly mix the lights and potpouri in the bowl, it can get a little tricky since there is not much room for your hand, but you want to try to hide most of the cord only leaving the lights exposed, i find it helps to have them plugged in while i do this so that i can see what i am doing and make adjustments. then you take some lace, i find it easy to trace a paper plate and cut out, its the perfect size.. rubberband it down... fluff out the edges a little, then i put ribbon around the rubberband and decorate how you like... i use hot glue gun to keep everything in place. it is a very cheap gift that looks expensive. one bag of potpouri should make two lamps... they really do look nice.

hope i helped you in any way!! I hope you got some good tips on what to do! Good Luck!!!!
C.