June 4, 2013

Teacher Gift Ideas

If you have a child in school, it will soon be the end of the school year and time to think about end-of-year teacher gifts.

I have shared some of my teacher gifts in the past, including:

Money, Cards and Spa Products
serving dishes (especially for summer parties)

Recently, a poster to the D.C. Urban Moms mailing list gave some excellent suggestions to add to this list of ideas.

Personalized pencils. This is so clever I wish I thought of it. Pencils or pens are used all the time by teachers. Giving them a set with their name or a complimentary phrase like “Mrs. Jones Rocks!” would be an awesome and simple, clutter-free gift. Oriental Trading Company has many cute choices. Pencils Etc at amazon.com also has come great pencil options.

A Note to the Principal. If you have a great teacher, write a letter to the principal/school director praising the teacher that can be included in the teacher’s employment file. Who wouldn’t like looking good in front of the boss?

This year, I took a big risk and also bought clothes for my daughter’s teachers. Clothes are seriously risky. You never know if you are going to match someone’s style or color preferences, not to mention figuring out the right size to buy. But I felt pulled to take the risk after attending my daughter’s spring concert where the teachers were dressed in summery outfits and looked gorgeous and relaxed and refreshed. The vibe was terrific. When I was thinking about how to reward our hard-working teachers, I just kept thinking about that concert and thought that having a fun outfit to wear might be the best way to go. I found inexpensive but stylish outfits that seemed like classic choices to me. If the teachers don’t like them or they don’t fit, hopefully they can re-gift them to someone else.