Teacher Appreciation Gifts

Teaching / By /

Gift Ideas For Your Teachers

It’s Teacher Appreciation Month and you may be wondering what types of teacher appreciation gifts are right for the educators in your or your child’s life.

 

I am a high school English Language Arts teacher at a creative arts school and I have received a variety of gifts over the years. I can honestly say that the best gift you can give a teacher is any type of appreciation.

 

Acknowledging the responsibilities, care, and effort it takes to be a teacher with a wave or a heart-filled thank you goes SO far.

 

There is something that happens at my school that makes a difference for me every day: I am always so honored and grateful when my students say as they file out, “Thank you for class, Ms. Faxon.” I have never asked my students to do this, it’s something they’ve just done for as long as I have been teaching at my current school. And that extension of appreciation alone is a gift.

 

If you’re like, “That’s nice, but what can I actually purchase for the teachers who go above and beyond?” here is a list of seven gift ideas for teacher appreciation.

7 Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas

7. Gift Baskets

Create a themed gift basket filled with items like gourmet snacks, relaxation products, or school supplies. Enough can’t be said to how insane a day-in-a-teacher’s life can be. From running copies, ensuring the class is focused and locked in, answering emails from parents and admin, releasing the right students to the right activities, it’s A LOT. I don’t know how accurate this is, but I recently read on World of Better Learning that, “Acording to Dr. Tina H. Boogren, a teacher makes more minute by minute decisions than a brain surgeon.”

 

Now, of course, the stakes are higher in the second scenario, but we do deal with the future of dozens of students within every classroom, multiple times a day, Monday through Friday. That’s a tremendous amount of responsibility, so enough can’t be said about mental or emotional support gift baskets showing your teachers that you care about them. Gift Basket ideas include:

 

  • A basket of your teacher’s favorite snacks or coffees. I have received a number of Starbucks packages over the years and I am very grateful for those!
  • A relaxation kit: lavender scented anything, teas, candles, sleep mask
  • A Give Yourself A Break Basket – That’s loaded with stress relief activities – a coloring book, a “dammit doll,” (one of my teachers in high school made me one of those), a salty snack, a sweet snack, a spicy snack. 
  • Instant coffee, coffee, or bags of tea (Note that caffeine is a recurring theme)

The gift below was actually a present from my administration to all of us teacher at the beginning of the school year, but it was so sweet and everything in that bag came in handy!

6. Plants or Flowers

A potted plant or bouquet of flowers can brighten up a teacher’s desk and day!

 

I love having real plants in my classroom. I currently have one snake plant, one pothos, and one baby aloe. One of my students last year brought me a cute little pig planter with a faux succulent in it and this lil pig sits among my plants. The students and I benefit from having the green at the front of the class, as it has been proven many times over that being around and seeing plants can positively boost our mood!

 

One of my students has placed googeley eyes on most of the items in my classroom – I talk about them in a bit more detail in this article. 

5. Books

While I do believe books are very personal gifts, if you know the teacher’s interests, consider giving them a novel or book they might enjoy reading if ever they have spare time, (haha). A student of mine gave me a fantasy-genre book, one of his favorites, as a gift for my wedding; he said the book is about starting an adventure and he thought it was fitting because I was starting a new adventure of my own. I loved how this student made so many symbolic connections (I am an English teacher and a fantasy author), so this is a treasure!

4. Classroom Supplies

An uncomfortable reality is that we teachers often spend our own money on classroom supplies, which can range from lined paper to having emergency hygiene products for our students.

 

Consider giving the teachers items like markers, pens, notepads, tissues, sanitizing wipes, or classroom decorations within their vibe to help lighten their load.

 

Two of my students surprised me with a pack of markers and a note on my desk out of the blue last semester and it was the sweetest gesture. Every one of those markers was used and cherished!

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3. Gift Cards

Gift cards are just great gifts in general. For teachers, you could give them gift cards to bookstores, coffee shops, or office supply stores, restaurants they like, any range is essentially at your fingertips these days, which is why gift cards are practical gifts teachers may enjoy.

 

One of my students recently gifted me the below Barnes & Noble gift card with the very sweet note in honor of Teacher Appreciation Month. 

2. Personalized Gifts

If you or your child have come to know your teacher pretty well, you may be able to get them a personal gift. Something that represents who they are, their passions, or what they mean to your student or community. 

 

The gift below was a Christmas gift one of my students gave me and it was SO sweet and thoughtful! They gave me the typewriter which I use as a pencil and pen holder on my desk at school. I absolutely love it and I am so grateful that my student found something that he said made him think of me right away. 

1. Handwritten Thank You Notes

This is my number one and the number one of many of my colleagues. I can’t tell you how many handwritten notes I have written as expressions of gratitude over the years, as there really is something special about receiving a penned note.

 

A heartfelt letter expressing gratitude to your teacher, acknowledging their hard work and dedication can be incredibly meaningful. I keep all the notes my students and admin have given me, even the anonymous ones I have found left on my desk. I have a little treasure box where I keep the kind notes and cards I have received. One of my favorites of which was from a pair of grandparents who did not even know me, but their grandchild was enrolled at our school – they weren’t even in my classroom – but the grandparents had heard that I had my “hands full of teenagers” and that they were very impressed by all they had heard about my work with the students and the school. 

 

If you are a teacher just starting off, I promise the majority of the veteran teachers out there would share similar advice: keep the notes. Those pieces of paper and cardstock will be there for you, even on the most challenging days when you need the little reminders about why you teach.

If you’re still not sure what would make your teacher feel appreciated, ask! They may have something on their mind within your budget that they might not ever feel like they can buy for themselves. But again, all it takes, is just a little acknowledgement, which can go a very long way.

 

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Cheers and THANK YOU to all of you teachers for all that you do!

Sarah