Things I Can't Say

Tips and Tales from an Introverted Mom

Teacher Appreciation Gift Idea

My boys’ teachers this year have been absolutely amazing.  And let’s face it, even if they hadn’t been, I’d still want to get them something for Teacher Appreciation Day… because all teachers are hard-working… and if you have my kids, you’re definitely working hard!

Last year, I put together picnic baskets for the teachers, with plates, cups, plasticware, a thermos, sunscreen and a few other goodies: Target usually starts putting out this sort of thing in their seasonal aisles at this time of year. Another year, I put together movie buckets. I also have a few last minute Teacher Appreciation gift suggestions.

Your school might choose to celebrate at another time or do gifts the last week of school. Though National Teacher Appreciation Week is this week, with Teacher Appreciation Day being May 8th.

Between my first grader, kindergartener, and preschooler, we have 7 teachers that they see every day they are at school. If I get creative before the week is up, I’ll come up with something for their “specials” teachers, but I wanted to be sure their regular teachers got a little something on Teacher Appreciation Day.

Inspired by pinterest*, this is what we came up with:

teacher appreciation gift ideas

I adore Tervis tumblers: they keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold. I bought them, along with lids and straws, at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  You can find similar cups at Walmart for under $4 each, but they are made in China(this lead-poisoning mama prefers the made in the USA claim on the Tervis cups) and aren’t as good of quality, but that’s certainly an option. I know not everyone has my lead paranoia. 

teacher gift idea

I then bought a few different kinds of individual powdered drink mixes, like lemonade, iced tea, and Crystal Light and put about 10 in each cup. I thought about putting airplane bottles of some “grown up” drinks in there instead since hey, teachers can use a break, but I figured that my kids probably don’t need to get in trouble for that.

Then I wrote little tags that said “A cup of thanks for all you do!” on one side and the teacher’s name and my child’s on the other side. Someone craftier than I would have made these fancier, but I figure they do the job!

What are you doing for your children’s teachers for Teacher Appreciation/End of the Year gifts? 

*Usually, I would link to the source if I got an idea from pinterest. This time, the source of the pic was a spam site and I really don’t want to spam you! 

Comments

  2. What a clever idea! My mom did something similar for the women at my dad’s office at Christmas: she bought each of them a cute lunch bag from My Thirty One, then got one of those reusable warm coffee thermoses that had a band in a coordinating color and she put tea and K-cups inside each cup. 

    My mom’s also a preschool teacher and growing up I always loved seeing all the cute gifts she got at Christmas and end of the year.

  3. Oh I was just looking for some good ideas.  Pinterest rescued me last year for sure!  We did little mason jar gifts.  Can’t go wrong with cups and mason jars.  =)

  4. Those are adorable! Fantastic idea.
    Our preschool class stuck with the gift card option and I still haven’t figured out anything for the kindergarten teacher yet. I just might have to copy you!

  6. Those are awesome! I bought them each a bag of gummy Lifesavers and thanked them for being a lifesaver. Does that mean I’m cheap? We also give them much nicer gifts on the last day of school.
    Sandy

    • That’s such a cute idea! 

      Most only do either teacher appreciation or last day gifts. 

  10. I wish you were one of my parents! As a teacher of high school aged kids, I am lucky to get a gift card…and I do mean 1 gift card.

    • I taught both elementary and middle school- elementary: lots of gifts. Middle: this week was barely acknowledged! 

  11. Ha–I pinned this idea too! I don’t have it together enough to send one to school today, but I probably will do it for the end of the year. We stick to inexpensive but thoughtful gifts. Some of the schools around me (not ours, TG) give $50 gift cards (to even the specials teachers) to say “thanks.” Yikes.

    • Yikes is right! If I did that for all of the teachers they see, we’re talking close to $1,000!!!

      • I’ve used Tervis cups for over 20 years now. They have a lifetime warranty, so anytime one gets cracked or just looks scratched up, I send it back and they send me a brand new one!! I love it! I don’t always get the same design, especially years later, but we have so many that it’s fun to get new ones anyway.

  16. 5 minutes before my kids were walking out the door, I remembered that today was “bring a flower to your teacher” day. I like this idea better. Pinning it for next year! Thanks for sharing! 

  17. Wow!  You’re brilliant!  As a former teacher (left last year to be home with my kids), I know I would have loved this.  A little bit of appreciation can do so much good.  Simple and useful gifts are always the best.  Thank you for taking the time to do something special for your sons’ teachers and for inspiring other moms as well!

    • I’m a former teacher as well, so I try to go for the practical gifts that I would have liked back then! 

  18. What a great idea. I got a photo I took of a John Deere enlarged for my son’s teacher. She is a HUGE John Deere fan. I also bought her a book introducing her to digital photography. She has told me over and over that she wants to learn photography. The pre-k teachers get gift cars for pedicures. 🙂

  21. I did this same thing, but I’m just doing it for one teacher so I’m also going to put in a $10 Target gift card with a note, “Thanks for keeping me on ‘target’ this year!” For Christmas I did $5 Starbuck cards for all of the teachers.

    • Oh, that’s so cute! We had so many to buy for that I couldn’t add anything else to ours. 

  23. This is great! I have dragged my feet and procrastinated on this, and I think I have time to pull this off. And I would have LOVED it as a teacher.

    • Pinterest-inspired. If I were craftier, I would have made a prettier tag. 

  28. Love this post! Such a cute idea. I think the teachers would love airplane bottles, but I agree, the kids probably don’t need to get in trouble for that one =) 

    • Hey- you keep showing up in my spam folder- I think b/c you are adding a link in your comment. When you go to comment, just add your link in the spot for your website and your latest post should show up in comment luv. 🙂 I sometimes don’t get around to checking my spam for several day and I don’t want you to be sitting in there! 🙂

  31. I love this idea! This year, the school told us that the teachers made a wish list at Target and we are supposed to get gifts from there. I am sure this is to make it easier but it doesn’t really feel right to do that. I’ll probably compromise and get them gift cards. I like your idea better!

  32. Hate that some of the pinterest links are starting to be bad and spam now. Always have to check before repinning.

    And those are totally cute gifts! Our PTA gave us a list of ideas for the week- I followed the idea, which was mostly supplies until the last day when I made my Pencil art decor which I showed on my blog yesterday

    • Guess it wasn’t going to take long for it to be another place we have to watch for spam.

      I need to go check out what you did! 

  34. Those are a great idea! I come from a family of teachers, and I can tell you the best presents they get from students are ones they can use. The drinks and cup fit the bill (as would the airplane bottles if your child is extra rambunctious). Simple things like gift cards or money are good too, but they dont have that personal touch.

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