It's that time of the year when we are all scrambling to come up with an original and inexpensive gift for all of our kids' teachers. For 8 years, I was a school teacher. Over those 8 years, I accumulated quite a collection of Christmas ornaments and coffee cups. Although I appreciated every single one of them, the truth is--you only have so much room for these kinds of gifts.
One of the things I've tried to do as a mom is to always give gifts that are either useful or consumable. All of us have too much clutter in our lives. So, I don't really want to contribute someone else's clutter. As your kids get older, they have more teachers. In middle school and high school, they typically have 6-8 teachers. That can add up. Even elementary kids have music, art, p.e. teachers. So the key is to find meaningful gifts that won't blow our budget.
Here are a few ideas that I have used over the years or that I have seen others give.
Movie gift card and a box of theater candy. (I used to give this with a Blockbuster gift card, but no one goes to Blockbuster anymore. Does Redbox have gift cards? That would be great.)
A Box of Peppermint JoJos from Trader Joe's. This is always a favorite. (They have some lucious chocolate dipped Peppermint JoJos as well. But, they sell out fast!) Actually--Trader Joes has some great inexpensive --chocolate options--chocolate truffles, dunkers cookies, even ginger snaps. . .mmmm!
Gift Cards--these are always an awesome gift. Anyone loves a $5.00 Starbucks card and when you consider the time and effort you save by grabbing one of these on the go--it's worth it.
Book Plates--I LOVE books and anything that goes along with it. Most teachers do. So, check out Whisker Graphics. They are offering a free downloadable pattern for printable bookplates. I absolutely love this idea! Check it out here.
Handmade Heated Rice Bags. My mom made some of these for us and my girls love them. They especially love to use them to warm up their beds in the winter. These would be a great gift for teachers to use after a long day of bending down and caring for our children. This site gives a step by step tutorial on how to make them.
A Home Cooked Meal--This is the gift that the Stoner family is giving this year. I think that most working moms appreciate when someone provides a meal. And let's face it--most teachers are working moms. I've done this in the past for male teachers and they love it as well. Here is how we are doing it--Each teacher will receive a menu with two options for an entree, side dish, salad and dessert. They will circle their choices and return their menu to us when they are ready for their meal. I m asking that they give us a week's notice. That way, they can choose when it is most beneficial for their families AND it spreads it out for us.
A Handwritten Note--There is nothing quite like a note written in our hand expressing appreciation. I think teachers appreciate this the most and yet, they get very few of these. It takes a little effort but it is so important to affirm those who are serving our children every day.
Check out this blog post for more ideas.
Merry Christmas and Cheerful Giving!
