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April 29, 2016 by: Shell

Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas (No Crafting Ability Required)

Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Some schools choose to celebrate their teachers closer to the end of the year, but either way, it’s time to think about teacher appreciation gifts.

While I sometimes try my hand at crafts, it’s not my strong suit and most likely not something that I should give to anyone as a gift. And as a former teacher, I know some of the teacher gifts that I most appreciated.

teacher appreciation gift ideas

Beach bag: Our town is close to the beach, so it’s a pretty safe bet that beach gear is a hit around here. This is what I put together for last year’s teachers(admittedly, I went a bit overboard because my boys had outstanding teachers. This could be pared down a bit if you’d like but you can see the full list of what I put into this beach bag in last year’s Teacher Appreciation Gift Idea post)

teacher appreciation gift ideas

A Cup of Thanks: One year, I bought the boys’ teachers Tervis Cups(make sure you look for Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons- they let you use multiples and the store near us even accepts expired ones, so try that!) and filled them with a mix of individual drink packets. If you want to do something extra, you could add a gift card to the cup as well(I didn’t because we had so many teachers to buy for). You can see more detail on that Teacher Appreciation Gifts post.
teacher appreciation gift ideas

Movie Night: Put together a bowl or bag of movie treats: popcorn, candy, etc. Add in a gift card to the movie theater or to Redbox. I found cute popcorn-themed containers and bowls in the dollar section of Target and in Michael’s.

teacher appreciation gift ideas

Movie Night (Specials teacher edition): Our kids not only have their regular classroom teachers and assistants, but they have their music, PE, art, etc. teachers. My budget won’t allow for huge gifts for all of those, but I want to give them some token of thanks. On Redbox.com, in their gift area, you can choose to “send Redbox Promo Codes Online.” Choose which bundle fits (I’m going with the 10 for $12). Now send them to yourself because you can split these up by giving out the codes individually.  Buy either popcorn or candy and attach a tag with the promo code for the free movie on it. Easy to make one like this one below in PicMonkey or you can use mine and write the code on it and have your child sign it. Skip to My Lou has a big list of simple gifts like this(only with clever sayings, unlike mine!) that would be perfect for the Specials teachers.

teacher appreciation gift ideas

Gift Cards: to a restaurant, a spa, Target, Walmart, Starbucks, a Visa gift card, etc. to let them pick their own gift or buy what they need for their classroom. Here are some adorable and funny printables to go with your gift card.

Bring Lunch: Pick a day and let the teacher know ahead of time that you will be bringing them lunch. Either specify a place or give a choice of two and then ask what they’d like. If your school is like ours where the teacher has lunch duty and eats with the kids, bonus points if you bring the lunch AND take their lunch duty. A parent did this for me years ago and it’s one of the most memorable gifts I received.

Thank You Card: Don’t underestimate the power of thanking the teacher. Another of my most memorable gifts was one where the mom gushed about how much her daughter had grown in my classroom.

For more Teacher Appreciation Gift ideas, be sure to follow my Pinterest Boards, where I have hundreds more ideas!

What are your favorite Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas?

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Comments

  1. aimee fauci says

    April 29, 2014 at 11:09 am

    I love that beach bag idea!  I have never thought of that.. I  need to get on the ball and do something special… My girls have great teachers and need to be recognized! WOW… to be a teacher during the era of pinterest and blogging… priceless 😉 

  2. Robin (Masshole Mommy) says

    April 29, 2014 at 11:23 am

    Hi I’m Robin and I am super lame when it comes to teacher appreciation gifts.  I get them Dunkin Donuts gift cards for both Christmas and the end of the year.  Lame…..

    • Shell says

      May 4, 2014 at 12:25 pm

      Absolutely nothing wrong with gift cards! 

  3. Lindsey @ Redhead Baby Mama says

    April 29, 2014 at 12:24 pm

    Great idea about the Redboxes! I also love the Tervis gift.

  4. Cynedra says

    April 29, 2014 at 12:51 pm

    Last year, I bought some flower pots at Lowe’s, wrote (with a paint pen) all the students’ names on the outside of it and put a homegrown aloe plant in it.  The teacher’s love it and it cost very little (which is all I have).   One of my son’s teachers from last year is still gushing about it.  I saved that for the end of the year and sent letters to them for Teacher Appreciation week.  

  5. melinda says

    April 29, 2014 at 1:02 pm

    those tervis tumblers are awesome. i’ve given though a few times

  6. julie gardner says

    April 29, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    Great ideas here, Shell.
    As a longtime teacher, I endorse them all!

  7. Scott says

    April 29, 2014 at 2:35 pm

    We buy our teachers gift cards to a local ice cream shop.  Needless to say they are VERY well received!

  8. Louida says

    April 29, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    Awesome ideas! I usually just get my daughter’s teachers a gift cards from a gift list they provide for us.

  9. Katy Rawson says

    April 29, 2014 at 5:16 pm

    First of all, I didn’t know that Red Box has gift cards, where have I been? Coming up with an affordable yet clever gift for the teacher is always hard for me. Your ideas are fresh and easy. I do not have to labor over my decisions this year.

  10. Julia says

    April 29, 2014 at 5:54 pm

    Great ideas. We usually do a gift at the end of the year so I love the beach bag for that but I might do the red box and a card for teacher appreciation day, seriously the splitting up of the Red Box codes is genius. 

  11. Carly Bellard says

    April 29, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    Thank you for the reminder! I would have missed this completely! Great ideas- love the cups!

  12. Meagan says

    April 29, 2014 at 6:28 pm

    As a daughter to a former teacher, I have a great appreciation for all of the hard work teachers do! What fun, thoughtful, and unique gifts! 

  13. Brandi says

    April 29, 2014 at 7:12 pm

    All great ideas! I think I’m going to do the cups for a couple of the teachers we have on our list.

  14. Alesha @ Full Time Mama says

    April 29, 2014 at 7:19 pm

    These are great ideas! I love the “Cup of Thanks” idea best. My kids are homeschooled… Think I can get them to give me a “Cup of Thanks” appreciation gift? 😉

  15. Keikilani says

    April 29, 2014 at 7:51 pm

    These are great ideas! We totally need more appreciation for teachers. I am really trying to make the end of the year special for our teachers.

  16. Rachael says

    April 29, 2014 at 8:54 pm

    These are some great gift ideas for Teacher Appreciation Day. Thanks for sharing.

  17. Debra says

    April 29, 2014 at 9:11 pm

    Those are all great ideas. We’ve got a big PTA Teacher appreciation lunch on Tuesday – it’s going to be a huge feast for all the teachers at my son’s elementary school!

    • Shell says

      May 4, 2014 at 12:40 pm

      We’re doing a lunch for the elementary and breakfast for the preschool. Lots of cooking and baking to do this week! 

  18. Jaime says

    April 29, 2014 at 9:55 pm

    My husband is an educator (he was a classroom teacher for years before becoming a literacy coach.) Gift cards were always a hit with him.

  19. Maggie @ The Love Nerds says

    April 29, 2014 at 10:15 pm

    As a former teacher, I would have loved ant of these great gifts! 

  20. Liz Mays says

    April 29, 2014 at 10:34 pm

    The whole bringing lunch and covering lunch duty thing was a super idea. I can see why that went over well with you. I think your beach idea is a super cute one too!

  21. Jessica says

    April 29, 2014 at 10:58 pm

    I was JUST googling Teacher Appreciation Gift ideas! I love the idea of filling an adorable tumbler with goodies. I am going to use this for my daughter’s teachers.

  22. Christie says

    April 29, 2014 at 11:49 pm

    Love the Redbox idea! Teachers here love Starbucks 🙂

  23. Veronica says

    April 30, 2014 at 12:03 am

    Gift cards are what I give to teachers a lot. Then they can get whatever they like

  24. Danielle says

    April 30, 2014 at 12:18 am

    LOVE this idea and that it doesn’t require crafting!!

  25. Cam | Bibs and Baubles says

    April 30, 2014 at 12:23 am

    Perfect timing! I am in the middle of figuring all of this out now. Thanks! 🙂

  26. Amanda Her says

    April 30, 2014 at 12:40 am

    I love the gifts in the cups!  I usually have no idea what to buy so this should help a ton.

  27. Pauline C. says

    April 30, 2014 at 3:33 am

    Awesome ideas especially that “a cup of thanks” ! I’ll share this to my sisters 😉

  28. Amanda says

    April 30, 2014 at 9:16 am

    We LOVE Tervis! We used one for our teacher appreciation gifts too! 🙂

  29. Jennifer Bullock {MommyBKnowsBest} says

    April 30, 2014 at 9:37 am

    The cup of thanks is cute! I love all the designs that Tervis makes these days.

  30. Emmy says

    April 30, 2014 at 9:43 am

    Great ideas!  Our teacher appreciation week is actually this week.  The school handed out ideas for every day, just small little themes for each day..but well yea I have been a slacker and so am just going to bring something big on Friday..now to decide what. 

  31. valmg @ Mom Knows It All says

    April 30, 2014 at 10:24 am

    Our school does a teacher appreciation lunch which they all love. We love our teachers!

  32. Jenn @ The Rebel Chick says

    April 30, 2014 at 10:25 am

    These are great ideas And it’s wonderful you don’t have to be crafty to make them!

  33. Tracey says

    April 30, 2014 at 11:00 am

    Those are awesome ideas! A lot of them seem easy to do but will make a big impact on the teacher.

  34. Dina says

    April 30, 2014 at 11:17 am

    These are all such great ideas. I love the thought of bringing her lunch and taking her lunch duty.

  35. Rosey says

    April 30, 2014 at 12:01 pm

    You do have cute ideas. It’s about to be teacher week here and the parents are asked to donate one food item each morning for a big lunch the teachers get to enjoy. It lasts all week long. I like it. 🙂

  36. Krystal says

    April 30, 2014 at 1:32 pm

    I love the tumblers filled with goodies! Those are so handy over the warm summer months.

  37. Toni says

    April 30, 2014 at 3:30 pm

    These are great teachers gift ideas.  You had me at no crafting

  38. Ashley M says

    April 30, 2014 at 3:55 pm

    I’m glad you mentioned this. My daughter “graduates” from preschool at the end of May and I need to find something for her teacher. 

  39. Autumn says

    April 30, 2014 at 8:34 pm

    These are great ideas for Teacher Appreciation gifts. It’s so wonderful that you spent some time thinking about what would actually be useful for the teachers – like the beach bag. 

  40. JDaniel4's Mom says

    April 30, 2014 at 10:30 pm

    I have always loved getting gift cards, but I love your cup idea!

    • Shell says

      May 4, 2014 at 12:42 pm

      Gift cards are such a great idea! I did the cups one year when I was working with a smaller budget and had so many to give to. 

  41. Cassie @ Southeast by Midwest says

    April 30, 2014 at 10:59 pm

    Teacher appreciation gifts are such a great idea! I’m going to forward this to my sister-in-law so she can do some of these for my niece’s preschool teacher 🙂

  42. Dawn says

    May 1, 2014 at 4:14 am

    Those really are great gifts. Those Tervis tumblers are really nice.

  43. Virginia @thatbaldchick says

    May 1, 2014 at 6:04 pm

    What cute ideas.  I love the cups with the crystal light in them. 

  44. Felicia says

    May 1, 2014 at 11:50 pm

    These are great ideas!  I love it when things are simple.

  45. Roxanne says

    May 2, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    I am totally not a crafty mom, so thank you for all of these great suggestions. And the reminder that it’s Teacher Appreciation Week next week. I usually don’t know this stuff until it’s almost over!

  46. Christina S says

    May 3, 2014 at 4:39 pm

    My kids don’t have teachers yet, just mommy! I love the redbox code idea!

  47. Katherine G from La La Land Mommy says

    May 4, 2014 at 8:58 pm

    These are awesome ideas! Teachers would love these.

Trackbacks

  1. #ThankaTeacher Giveaway for You and Your Favorite Teacher says:
    May 5, 2014 at 7:49 am

    […] This post is sponsored by Kronos Incorporated. I’m always happy to work with brands that support our teachers. Don’t forget this is Teacher Appreciation week. If you’re still looking for ideas, check out my Teacher Gift Ideas.  […]

Welcome to Things I Can't Say: Tips and Tales from an Introverted Mom. I'm Shell. Boy mom, beach girl, bookworm, ball games, baker, brand ambassador, Thinking yoga, food, and travel should start with "b," too. Finding the easiest way to do some things while overthinking so many others. Read More…

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