Your children’s teachers spend a large majority of their time with them every year.
Your child comes home every week during the school year with new knowledge and reaching new milestones.
None of this would be possible without their teachers.
That's why I think it's important to get the perfect gift for my children's teachers during the holiday season.
I love getting the teachers in my kids’ lives a Christmas present to show them how much we care and it's a great way to show them we appreciate all their hard work.
This can include teachers from school, sports, and extra-curricular activities. This year, I am getting my favorite gifts for my daughter's Kindergarten teacher and teacher aid and dance teachers.
No matter if you're buying for preschool teachers, elementary school teachers, a middle school teacher, or a high school teacher, you can find some of the best teacher gifts for your kids' teachers.
If you are looking for a thoughtful gift idea, check out my list of ultimate teacher Christmas gift ideas.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read  full disclosure  for more information.
Gifts I Try to Avoid
I’m not saying there are bad gifts, but there are some aspects to a gift I try not to include so the great gift will be used.
I’m sure no matter what your child gives their teachers, they will appreciate and love it.
1. Apple-Themed
The Apple is the major symbol of teaching. There are so many items out there with apples on them for teachers. I think the apples are very cute, but they are a tad overused. Their teacher may have received multiple apple-themed items over the years. Unless of course it’s homemade, then that’s a different story and could be a great gift for your child to give.
2. Your Child’s Name
Your child’s teacher has many children in their classroom every single year. Most teachers try not to show favoritism in class. A gift with your child’s name may not be a good idea. Their teacher most likely will not keep it in their classroom, but it’s not really something they can use at home either. You may want to avoid your child's name altogether, unless you plan on including, the name of all the children in the class and the year they were students.
3. Homemade Treats
While homemade treats are a wonderful gesture, many teachers are told not to eat anything homemade from their students. This can be a safety issue because of possible contamination or Ill-intent. Many of my teacher friends have told me they were trained not to eat food from students after it has been given to them. Just know, your kind gesture may be thrown away for safety reasons.
4. Coffee Mugs
Coffee mugs tend to be a popular gift because everyone can use them and you can personalize them. The problem is, most teachers will receive dozens of coffee mugs and won’t be able to use them all. You can only use so many coffee mugs at home and at work before you need to start throwing them away or giving them away. If you want to get your child’s teacher something personalized, maybe consider personalizing something besides a coffee mug., travel mug, or teacher tumbler.
Best Gift Ideas for Teachers
There are so many great ideas you can find that would make great gifts for teachers. You could gift one of these items or include multiple items for a basket of ideas. Whatever you choose, you cannot go wrong with some of these awesome ideas for teachers.
1. Gift Cards
This is my favorite idea and I always include a gift card with every gift. Your children’s teacher can always use more supplies for the classroom or just want to pick something out they love. The teacher in your life with appreciate gift cards or even a gift certificate to their favorite stores. Some ideas could be an Amazon gift card, Target gift card, or even Starbucks gift cards if you know they like a caffeine fix in the morning.
2. Dry Erase Markers
This may seem lame, and maybe it is, but helping teachers buy school supplies is a huge deal. Many teachers spend their own money on supplies to teach your children and many districts do not pay much. A few new packages of dry erase markers would go a long way for teachers. Most schools are equipped with white boards now instead of chalkboards, so they go through a lot of dry erase markers each school year.
3. Antibacterial Hand Soap / Hand Sanitizer
When you work with children all day long, you’re more prone to illnesses. Many teachers would appreciate a way to keep their hands clean while teaching your children to help prevent the spread of germs. Some classrooms have sinks in the rooms for hand soap, or you could gift hand sanitizer for their desk. Both options are great and can be used by all teachers.
4. Bookmarks
Whether they want to use them for personal reading or in the classroom, bookmarks can be a great option. There are some higher quality bookmarks that can be used for a long time that are made of wood or metal. I prefer reusable bookmarks over the paper or cardboard bookmarks that only get 1 or 2 uses out of them.
5. Highlighters
Many teachers use highlights for correcting papers or showing examples on paperwork for their students. Highlighters run out very fast or dry out and need to be replaced constantly. They can be such a cute gift and can be paired with a gift card or another school supply if you want to go with a gift theme.
6. Favorite Packaged Snack
Your child spends a lot of time with their teacher, so they may be aware of their favorite snack food they eat at school. Food is typically acceptable by teachers as long as it comes prepackaged. Run out and grab some of their favorite snacks, or even their favorite beverage, as a great Christmas gift.
7. Tote Bag
Teacher's typically design and decorate their own classrooms, at least where we are from. They like to show the students they care in a meaningful way and create a great learning environment for the entire class. This requires constant craft store runs and buying items constantly as decorations or learning aids. Many teachers would appreciate tote bags to help with their shopping or to use around the classroom to store items.
8. Paper Clips
One of the items that is most easily lost is paper clips. While the majority of my daughter's school paperwork comes home stapled, paper clips are very useful if you're not ready to staple yet. What better way to give a useful gift, than to gift something you know their teacher will use in the classroom. This may not be one of the favorite things to give as a gift, but teachers will appreciate it.
9. Fun Pencils / Pens
I remember my teachers using cool pens and pencils while I was in school, and I loved the different kinds they would use. Fun pencils and pens can be great inexpensive Christmas gifts and you can add other gifts to them. I would pair an Amazon gift card with some fun pencils. You could even go as far as to attach them together with cute gift tags.
10. Sweet Treats
If your child's teacher has a sweet tooth, some sweet treats may just be one of the very best gifts for them. They could keep the candy for themselves or share with their class, but it's an easy way to show you care. You could pour the candy into a cute mason jar as one of the fun ways to gift it. Just make sure the candy is prepackaged so there are not any issues.
11. Homemade Gifts
Without getting too personalized, you and your child could make homemade best teacher Christmas gifts. I would steer away from gifts that focus on your child and make a gift that could be useful at home or in the classroom. Making a homemade special gift with your child could be a fun thing to do together. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time to make the homemade gift because you don't want to be limited on how much time you have to spend making it.
12. Good Book
If you have an idea of your child's teacher's taste in books, you could pick them up a copy of one you think they might be interested in. There are so many good books to choose from and it could be a great option to give themselves some me-time at the end of the day. Amazon has a large book collection, and you could have them delivered your door in as quickly as two days.
13. Christmas Tree Ornament
If you know the teacher you are buying for celebrates Christmas and hangs Christmas tree ornaments, this could be a cute gift to give. I'm always trying to find the right gifts, but tree ornaments could be an addition to any other gift you are giving as a cute decoration. A fun idea is to pick a gift like the antibacterial hand soap with a cute Christmas tag. Then add the Christmas tree ornament to the tag so you have a double gift.
14. Gift Basket
If you want to give more than one item, you could assemble a gift basket. You could turn the basket into a theme like choose different colors, make it school supplies theme, a self-care basket, or whatever you think they would love to receive. The basket for the gift basket could be an item to be used in the classroom as well. Maybe grab a fabric bin for the gift basket, which could be used as an extra supply bin or to organize projects. Wrap the entire gift basket in cellophane with a bow on top and you have an adorable teacher Christmas gift basket.
15. Handwritten Note
If your child is learning how to write, a handwritten note is a sweet way to show their teacher how well they are doing in school. Even if they are older, having your child write a note to their teacher themselves shows their involvement in the present. Let your child tell their teacher a little about themselves and some things they are enjoying about school. Let them have some creative freedom to write the note, but I would still proofread it before giving it to their teacher.
16. Christmas Card
A Christmas card can go with any gift you choose to give. Your child could pick a few items from this list, put it altogether in a cute basket, and include a Christmas card with the gift to show their teacher who it is from. You could also get a Christmas card with a gift card slot and include a gift card you think they might enjoy inside the card. You can always find a good use for a Christmas card no matter what type of gift your child decides to give their teacher. I would not recommend giving their teacher a family photo Christmas card if they do not know the rest of the children in your family.
Teachers have a very important role in your child’s life. They spend around 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, for around 10 months a year with your child. All this time spent with your child does not include writing lesson plans, grading, and preparing for their whole class of students in the classroom setting. There is a lot of prep work and behind the scenes things that happen for teachers to get prepared to teacher your children for the full school year.
Whether you are looking for a holiday gift, teacher appreciation day gift, or end of the year gift, there are many ideas for a beautiful gift to give to your child's favorite teacher.
I appreciate how much the teachers at my children's school do to make the school year successful. They deserve more than just a teacher appreciation week!
Show your favorite educator how much you care with some of these unique teacher gift ideas.
What are some of the best Christmas gifts your children have given to their teachers?
Are there any other great Christmas gift ideas you would recommend for your child's teacher?
Share in the comments below!
Comments