Top Tips for Teacher Gifts

Top Tips for Teacher Gifts

The end of term is fast approaching and you may be thinking you’d like to get some kind of thank you gift sorted for your child to take into school for their teacher.

The first thing I want to say at this point is that you absolutely should not feel obliged to give your child’s teacher a present, so if you don’t really want to then stop reading here and press back…..

So, now we’ve established that this is not a post about whether presents should or shouldn’t be given, read on to find out some of the best ideas for what can be given either individually, as a joint present or as a gift from the class. These gift ideas are easy to organise and will be hugely appreciated. I’ve put some links illustrate product ideas. These are not affiliated links – I don’t get anything from them so do shop around for your perfect choice.

Top Tips for Teacher Gifts
Photo by Plush Design Studio on Unsplash

As a teacher it is a lovely feeling to receive presents from grateful parents and pupils. As a parent of 3 children of my own I have felt sometimes that I would particularly like to give a present to my children’s teachers, especially when I know that they have gone above and beyond in nurturing my child.

I have been fortunate enough in my 14 year career to receive a number of gifts from pupils. Some of those gifts have been quirky, unique, incredibly thoughtful and some even downright amazing! Sometimes it’s small tweaks that take an ordinary present to make it into a really fabulous present. So here’s my low-down on the coolest presents to give your child’s teacher.

Gifts from your child

(although good tip is to club together with the parents of your child’s best friend and do a joint present to make it even more affordable):

  • A personalised notebook or pen – if they are personalised they have less chance of going walkies in a school full of books and pens! It also feels special for the teacher when they can use them in staff meetings too!
Top Tips for Teacher Gifts - from a teacher!
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
  • Personalised stamper – you seriously can’t have enough of these and teachers often buy them themselves.

https://www.primaryteaching.co.uk/teacher-stamps/personalised

  • Personalised key ring – this is better with Mr/Mrs + surname rather than the teacher’s first name.

https://thecraftygiraffe.co.uk/teacher-gifts-keyrings/

  • One for crafty people – handmade jewellery. It is just lovely to receive something unique and that makes for a great talking point with others.
Top Tips for Teacher Gifts
  • Thermos coffee cup with lid – perfect for taking out on playground duty!
  • A plant in a nice pot – it can be kept in the classroom or at home. They last longer than a bunch of flowers, but it also doesn’t last forever.
Top Tips for Teacher Gifts
Photo by NON on Unsplash
  • Funky USB – let the teacher be the envy of the the staff room with a cool USB for storing all those thousands of files of planning, worksheets and data grids!

https://simplymylove.co.uk/novelty-usb-flash-drives-cool-memory-sticks.1.catalogue

  • A letter – nothing beats a lovely thank you letter from a child saying why they have enjoyed being in your class. It is also particularly nice to get a little note added on from the parents too at the bottom of the letter or inside the card. When I have received thank you letters they get put in my memories box at home. To make it extra special use decorated paper or write in a personalised card.
Top Tips for Teacher Gifts
Photo by Howard Riminton on Unsplash
  • A book – a copy of you child’s favourite book is a super gift especially if it would make a good book for either the teacher to read with their own children or to their next class. Write a note inside the front cover so they will always remember who it was from.
Top Tips for Teacher Gifts
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
  • A nice bottle of wine – this doesn’t mean ridiculously expensive wine, but a decent bottle that has come from somewhere like Waitrose or M&S feels so much more luxurious than one from Aldi (which is what your teacher probably buys for themselves anyway!). It’s nice as a teacher to share these with your other half, your parents or in-laws at a family meal and makes a good talking point if it is a less common wine producer.
  • A picture of the teacher drawn by your child. I have a few of these and I love them. It’s really nice if it is framed too and can sit on the teachers desk at school or at home!
Top Tips for Teacher Gifts

Gifts from the class:

Gift vouchers always go down well and there are loads of options to choose from:

  • Voucher for a local big store e.g. John Lewis, M&S, Next, Selfridges – somewhere where there is a lot of choice. I have been known to kit out my kids in things for summer from gift cards when we were really short of money. I have also kitted myself out in new work clothes for September before now with money from gift vouchers.
  • Meal voucher/afternoon tea – for the teacher and their partner. Try to find something local to the teacher if you know they live quite far away from school.
Top Tips for Teacher Gifts
Photo by Lucas Alexander on Unsplash
  • Cinema vouchers – I was given these once with enough money to take my husband and kids to see a film together. It was a really special treat for us as it was too expensive to go as a family ordinarily.
  • Voucher for local salon to have their nails done, a pedicure, a massage or a facial. – we all know a bit of pampering feels even better if you’ve not paid for it yourself!
Top Tips for Teacher Gifts
Photo by Rune Enstad on Unsplash
  • Purse, wallet or handbag – not talking about the really expensive designer ones but something unique like these Yoshi bookworms ones are simply gorgeous 

https://www.yoshi.co.uk/collections/bookworm-leather-bags-and-purses

  • Class picture – not a photo (one of these is taken during the school year) but something like this lovely balloon print is a fabulous momento. This will be particularly special if your child’s class is the teacher’s very first class.

https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/perfectpersonalisedgifts/product/thank-you-teacher-print?DGMKT=FID__TID_pla-341737106373_PID_787475_CRI_341737106373&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvJOb6KH84gIVqrvtCh3DHgVNEAQYASABEgKJK_D_BwE

  • Teddy bear made out of old school uniform – this is particularly perfect if the teacher is leaving as it is a memory of the whole school not just one class.
Top Tips for Teacher Gifts
  • One for male teachers – a personalised tie. I love the hidden message inside this tie design and the colours are suitable for everyday work wear.

https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/chichimoi/product/personalised-thank-you-teacher-tie 

  • Personalised scarf – I was bought one of these once from Not On The High Street and I still love it. Not On The High Street still have a great selection to choose from. I think this one is particularly nice:

https://www.notonthehighstreet.com/theforestandco/product/personalised-rainbow-edged-grey-scarf

  • Bottle of craft gin – impressive to have out when guests come round over summer!
Top Tips for Teacher Gifts
Photo by Jez Timms on Unsplash
  • Bottle of perfume/aftershave – a luxury you can rarely justify buying yourself.

Things to avoid!

Chocolate – there are just too many choices and people can be quite particular about which brand they like.

Mugs – mugs are a very popular choice of gift and having a few is fab but unfortunately the non-personalised ones tend to accumulate in staffroom cupboards and don’t get taken home!

Body lotion/hand cream – these tend to accumulate in cupboards at home too. Body wash, hand wash, soap or bubble bath is the better option here as it can be used by the whole family, so is much more useful!

Diary – you would think they would be useful but schools often buy their teachers a diary/planner so other paper diaries tend to become redundant. It’s just really sad when lovely presents aren’t able to be used.

Why not PIN these Top Tips for Teacher Gifts ideas for next time too!

Follow:
Emma
Emma
Share:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

1 Comment

  1. barjerow
    June 22, 2019 / 8:44 am

    What a lot of great ideas. I particularly like the balloon print that would be such a great memento to have.