Beyond the Apple -
Showing Teachers Our Appreciation
As another school year comes to a close, I’m beginning to brainstorm ideas for a thank you gift to show my son’s teacher how much I appreciate what she does. And right now, I’m definitely thinking that you can’t go wrong with a delicious baked treat. After all, who doesn’t enjoy homemade chocolate chip cookies? It’s a sweet way to say thanks!
After working with my son to make the cookies at home, I’m packing them in a sealed container and placing them in a colorful gift bag with an added personal touch – a custom-made, school-themed gift tag. You can see step-by-step instructions for making a unique gift tag in my post here. Put a teacher-focused twist on it with school-themed clip art or stick-on embellishments. You could even get your child involved by having him or her draw a few apples, books, or pencils on the name tag before you have it laminated.
I’m also including a gift card to a store at our local mall so that his teacher can pick out a special treat of her choosing. I thought it would be nice to make a custom gift card holder to coordinate with the colors of the gift bag and tag. Check out our template and instruction sheet for details on how I made the custom gift card holder in the picture below. Trust me, it was super easy!
Hope you find these gift ideas helpful for your little one’s teachers. Feel free to share your tips on finding or making the perfect thank you gift for teachers in the comments section below. I’d love to get some ideas for next year!
Related FedEx Office Solutions: Lamination, FedEx Office Print Online
Comments
Love these!!!
I love these ideas, both the tag and gift card holder! Sure wish I would have had this for this year, but I'm definitely bookmarking it for next year! Thanks for yet another super creative idea!
Teacher Gifts
Over the years I have purchased various gifts. Some years I have bought items from the Walmart after Christmas sales. I buy candles, bath sets, placemats, etc. I will have the children create a card for their teacher. I have two in middle school. We don't typically buy gifts for teachers. My daughters first year we bought gifts but it is challenging since she has 5 teachers compared to 2 teachers in elementary school.
Teacher Appreciation
I always think ahead of time about ideas of what to give the teacher at the end of the year to show her my appreciation. This year I took pictures of her students throughout the year at different classroom events and I made a photo collage that had on the bottom "My 2009-2010 First Grade Class". It is a way for her to reflect on all the good times she had with this class and to remember those students from that year. I also try to give things that she can use in her classroom like stamps and ink pads and/or stickers that say "Great Job", "Good Going", etc.
GC holder
That is such a cute idea of a teacher! They work soooo hard through out the year and deserve something nice!
Teacher Gifts
Before staying home with my kids, I used to be a teacher. My favorite gifts were always the homemade ones! I loved using the cookie, brownie and pancake mixes in a jar (with a printed recipe attached) and I still cherish the hand painted ornaments I was given.
Another favorite was always gift cards (who doesn't love those, LOL!). Gift cards to the movie theater, restaurant, coffee shop, ice cream shop, gourmet market, mall, or spa are always appreciated along with a handwritten card or note of thanks.
One of the homeroom moms in my daughter's class did something very cute this year--she painted a clay pot with light blue acrylic paint, then added sponge-printed white clouds at the top and green grass along the bottom. Each child in the class then dipped his/her thumb in one color of paint (red, yellow, pink, orange, white or dark blue) and stuck it on the pot to make a thumbprint design--she let them choose from 5 designs. With a little bit of outling with a black Sharpie marker, each dried thumbprint magically became either a green jumping frog, a flower, a thumbprint caterpillar, a butterfly, or a ladybug. The kids names were written next to their "creation" and when the paint was dry, the Mom sealed the pot with a sealer from the craft store and the children presented the pot--filled with pretty flowers--to their teacher. Although this was a class project, it would be pretty easy to do just from one child, too. It's cute, homemade, and inexpensive to make.
From The Heart.
I'm so use to just buying a gift, but this seems more sincere. I might just bake some cookies for the teacher. Thanks for the creative ideas.
Post new comment