Any Ideas for End of the Year Teacher Gifts?

Mottola-Buffett · Post by **Mottola-Buffett** » April 25, 2008 4:55 pm

Here it is again, end of the school year and I'm stumped as to what to get the teachers. I've got four female teachers to buy for and a limited budget (max $15 each).
What is it that teachers really want? What are they tired of getting? I know that gift cards are popular, but I have this thing about handing someone a gift that has the price tag written all over it.
I'd like to be creative and not get the same old thing every other student gives.
Any ideas?

SuperTrooper · Post by **SuperTrooper** » April 25, 2008 5:14 pm

Mottola-Buffett wrote:Here it is again, end of the school year and I'm stumped as to what to get the teachers. I've got four female teachers to buy for and a limited budget (max $15 each).
What is it that teachers really want? What are they tired of getting? I know that gift cards are popular, but I have this thing about handing someone a gift that has the price tag written all over it.
I'd like to be creative and not get the same old thing every other student gives.
Any ideas?

My wife is a teacher and she dreads the crap kids/parents give her at the end of the year. Please, nothing that says teacher on it. No perfume or dust collectors. If you must give a gift, then a gift card to a local restaurant or a "teacher supply" type of store or Staples, etc. With the ways things are with local budgets teachers often spend their own money on stuff for their classes. (Yes, it is tax deductable for them.)

ejr · Post by **ejr** » April 25, 2008 5:30 pm

I agree with you entirely about giving gift cards, generally. I never give money as a wedding present because it says I think our relationship is worth ___ dollars.

However, I think this really is a time where a gift card would be appropriate-restauant, or a bookstore, or amazon.com would be my choice.

dnw · Post by **dnw** » April 25, 2008 5:40 pm

I always gave the teachers a gift card from the local mall. The card was good to use in any store in the mall for up to a year of the purchase date.

Salukulady · Post by **Salukulady** » April 25, 2008 5:41 pm

Summer.

bocanuts · Post by **bocanuts** » April 25, 2008 5:42 pm

Chalk

buffettbride · Post by **buffettbride** » April 25, 2008 5:53 pm

Do you know them well enough to know something they might like for their classroom?

tikitatas · Post by **tikitatas** » April 25, 2008 6:58 pm

A donation to a charity. Done that for years as the teacher. I need for nothing.

conched · Post by **conched** » April 25, 2008 7:14 pm

I can't tell you how many little $2 piddly things I have kept for years. A sweet note and a token memory of your child I'm sure would be appreciated.

Sure, they may get thrown away eventually, (or not) but it's the thought that counts, not the $$ value of a gift.

Gardening stuff...seeds, plants, gloves, trowel, pruners
Beach stuff...bag or hat or towel, pretty shell
Sports and leisure stuff... cancer pink ribbon golf balls, good beach-read book, tennis stuff, water bottle for bicycle

(try to know what the teacher enjoys doing in the summer)

Gift certificate for ice cream, Starbucks, movies, bookstore

parrothead216 · Post by **parrothead216** » April 25, 2008 7:18 pm

Gift cards to national stores or restaurants.

With a note saying "Have a lunch on the future leaders of this country. Thank you for all you are doing to make them great!"

Teachers are the best!

Mottola-Buffett · Post by **Mottola-Buffett** » April 25, 2008 8:00 pm

Thanks for all your ideas, everyone. If I do give a gift card, do you think $15 is an acceptable amount?

Brown Eyed Girl · Post by **Brown Eyed Girl** » April 25, 2008 8:08 pm

Mottola-Buffett wrote:Thanks for all your ideas, everyone. If I do give a gift card, do you think $15 is an acceptable amount?

The amount doesn't matter...you give what you feel you can afford. Teachers understand. Enclose a note from your child...the gift card would be the cherry on top.

The gifts that I treasured most from my students were the notes, drawings, pictures of us, books that they inscribed to me and books classes made for me (laminated pictures/stories). In my downsizing efforts I pitched the mugs and all that stuff...but kept all of the above mentioned items.

Not too long ago I was going thru a drawer and found a piece of newsprint paper that had been folded a gazillion times. Opened it up and it was a drawing from one of my preschoolers...full of cats and the words "sorry about your kitty. Love, nathan."

I had just had one of my cats put down and it had devastated me. That little drawing touched my heart more than anything else...and reading it again instantly took me back to that time. And yes, I smiled thru my tears.

THAT little piece of paper is a treasure.

OystersandBeer · Post by **OystersandBeer** » April 25, 2008 9:55 pm

What the hell? I've been a teacher for five years now, and no kid has ever given me a year end gift. Maybe I shouldn't have had them read Old Man and the Sea over Christmas break with a test on the day they returned. Or maybe it was the Hero's Journey project I had them do over Spring Break. Oh well, summer's good enough for me.

~ Parrot Bay ~ · Post by **~ Parrot Bay ~** » April 25, 2008 10:33 pm

bocanuts wrote:Chalk

LOL... MY wife is a teacher. She loves to get Dry Erase Markers or other supplies since almost all supplies comes out of our pockets. No nick-nacks, baked goods or "World's Greatest Teacher" stuff.

You can't go wrong with handmade stuff like pictures, cards, ect.

SuperTrooper · Post by **SuperTrooper** » April 26, 2008 8:46 am

OystersandBeer wrote:What the hell? I've been a teacher for five years now, and no kid has ever given me a year end gift. Maybe I shouldn't have had them read Old Man and the Sea over Christmas break with a test on the day they returned. Or maybe it was the Hero's Journey project I had them do over Spring Break. Oh well, summer's good enough for me.

I guess you answered your own question. Vacations are supposed to be vacations for the kids too, not just more time to cram your useless projects into.

nutmeg · Post by **nutmeg** » April 26, 2008 9:07 am

conched wrote:I can't tell you how many little $2 piddly things I have kept for years. A sweet note and a token memory of your child I'm sure would be appreciated.

Sure, they may get thrown away eventually, (or not) but it's the thought that counts, not the $$ value of a gift.

Gardening stuff...seeds, plants, gloves, trowel, pruners
Beach stuff...bag or hat or towel, pretty shell
Sports and leisure stuff... cancer pink ribbon golf balls, good beach-read book, tennis stuff, water bottle for bicycle

(try to know what the teacher enjoys doing in the summer)

Gift certificate for ice cream, Starbucks, movies, bookstore

oooh! Nancy has some great ideas. Who would have thought of gardening stuff or a beach towel....nobody else will be likely doing those and you will stand out in the sea of coffee mugs.

As far as the money goes, I don't think the teachers are expecting you to spend lots on their gift. In my day, other than the occasional fruit or can roll, we never gave teacher gifts.

I think a personal thank you note from you and your child with a carnation would be nice

Tiki Bar · Post by **Tiki Bar** » April 26, 2008 1:12 pm

$15? Live from Anguilla!

I actually think $15 is high... I've only ever done $5 in a gift card. Where I live, there are 30+ kids per classroom... if everyone did $5, it would be $150! I realize that not everyone does, and some give more, and some give less, but that's what's worked for me. Especially when there are sometimes more than one teacher - it's not fair to leave the art, music, and PE teachers out because they don't have a homeroom. But then again, multiply $5 by all the kids in the school, and those teachers could cruise the Caribbean!

I am happy to say, it's never felt obligatory to me... it's always just been that my kids love their teachers so much, they want to give them a little 'good-bye' gift, and I see it as a 'thank you' for all they've done for my child.

The girls always make a special card or picture to go along with it, and when we've done gift cards, they have been for Borders, Culvers (frozen custard), Buffalo Wild Wings (for a teacher we saw there more than once), or McDonalds (for a teacher who would start their day with a cup of McD's coffee).

The only gift I remember doing was a Tastefully Simple apple cake mix, along with an apple (the only thing added to mix)... I just liked the apple to the teacher symbolism on that one!

conched · Post by **conched** » April 26, 2008 1:29 pm

This is one of my most favorite teacher apple gift ever.
mr conched gave it to me one Mother's Day and for end of year.

But, there is nothing like that box of pictures and stories kids did.

One picture is of a necklace that a little girl drew for me that was one that she remembered her grandma wearing, and she wrote a poem about it.

One drawing was of a baseball glove. YEP, loved that drawing and that little girl.

emotional today...

Mottola-Buffett · Post by **Mottola-Buffett** » April 26, 2008 9:57 pm

Thanks for the ideas, everybody. Your input means a lot to me... I feel like I've given every gift imaginable this year... three kids with a total of 4 teachers (two of them co-teach). Between Christmas gifts, teacher b-day gifts, Valentine's Day, teacher appreciation week and end of the year gifts - not to mention baking cookies for open houses and bringing in treats for my kids' birthdays... I AM SPENT! Literally!

thebeachbumm33 · Post by **thebeachbumm33** » April 26, 2008 10:03 pm

Mottola-Buffett wrote:Here it is again, end of the school year and I'm stumped as to what to get the teachers. I've got four female teachers to buy for and a limited budget (max $15 each).
What is it that teachers really want? What are they tired of getting? I know that gift cards are popular, but I have this thing about handing someone a gift that has the price tag written all over it.
I'd like to be creative and not get the same old thing every other student gives.
Any ideas?

Wow what a great thread idea, I always mock what my wife comes up with for our kids teachers,yet at the same time can't come up with any good ideas myself

BuffettNews.com

Any Ideas for End of the Year Teacher Gifts?

Any Ideas for End of the Year Teacher Gifts?

Re: Any Ideas for End of the Year Teacher Gifts?

Re: Any Ideas for End of the Year Teacher Gifts?