For Canadian kids, the end of the school year is approaching (quickly!), and if you are at all like me, you want to offer the teacher a token of appreciation for the hard work they’ve done with your kid(s) this year.
And, if you’re like me, you haven’t even begun to think about what the heck that gift should be. I mean, sure, I could run out the day before school ends and grab a Timmies card or a mug or a box of chocolates, but I prefer that we appear slightly more creative than that. And what I mean is, as creative as one can get on a budget, with 8 school days left in the year. (Seriously, nobody warns you about these things in the baby books.)
With that in mind, I bring you:
The Creative Procrastinator’s Guide to End-Of-The-Year Gifts For Teachers
Catchy, eh?
1) Make a donation to a children’s charity in honour of the teacher
The nice thing about making a donation is two-fold. On one hand, you have the altruistic: you will truly be helping children in need, and nobody can deny the beauty in that.
On the other hand, donation amounts remain anonymous, and therefore fit any budget.
It’s often possible to make the donation online and print out a donation card at the same time, but in the event that one will be mailed and miss the end-of-year deadline, have your child hand-make a card, and simply print out a slip of paper with the charity’s information on it to include in the card, signifying the donation made.
Some favourite places to donate:
Your local children’s hospital
2) Photo collage
Education 2.0 often includes a website that teachers maintain, and these, along with personal and Facebook photos can provide everything you need to put together a collage or album of special moments throughout the year. It’s especially nice to include the pics of your child at school functions that the teacher may never have seen. These can become a triptych of sorts that your child can add captions to, explaining each special moment.
Services like Picnik or Kwikpix are great if you are no friend of Photoshop (like me).
5) Get your child to make something
For younger kids, getting them to draw a picture of their teacher, or write a story about a day at school is a lovely gift to give to a teacher.
Older children could make something crafty, like a set of magnets or something clever, like a booklet of fun activities a teacher could do with her time off (“Go to the beach. Do not perform one head-count while you are there.”)
4) Write a letter
At the end of my daughter’s first year of school last year, I wrote her teacher a letter. I began by speaking to the fears and anxiety I had watching my daughter walk into the classroom on her own for the first time, and how, 10 months later, my daughter emerged a confident, happy, totally keen pupil. And I let her teacher know how much I appreciated the role she played in that transformation, and in putting my mind totally at ease when leaving my daughter under her care and influence every day. I didn’t think too much about it; I just wrote.
And I cannot tell you how much it meant to me when, at the beginning of this year, that teacher told me that my letter made her cry, and that it still hung on her fridge.
It’s pretty easy to let the good teachers know that they are appreciated, and that their work makes a difference. And if you really, really want to, you can always slip a Timmie’s card in the envelope.
Actually, I find that the teacher always appreciates a bottle of wine… and after coping with my kid all year, he or she definitely needs it! It’s one of those gifts that if the teacher is not a drinker, invariably one is invited to a party and it can serve as a hostess gift. (My mother-in-law is a former teacher, and has infomed me on many occasions that you SHOULD NOT give either coffee mugs or chocolate!!! Way too many of each. And avoid lotions and soaps and the like–allergies abound. The idea of the child making the teacher a gift is cute and heartfelt, but alas, think that after a few years the clutter in the teacher’s house becomes unmanageable!)
Wine is always good in my book, too. True about the clutter, which is why I try to advocate a useful gift, perhaps something for the coming year in the classroom.
I always give our teachers gift certificates to the LCBO (but only after I confirmed that no one is a teatottler — which they weren’t and that was no surprise). But that letter idea is great, not that I want to make G’s teacher cry or anything but he really did make a huge difference over the past two years and I need him to know that. Great idea Karen, I’m always a fan of tips for the procrastinating parent.
katie | motherbumper´s last [type] ..Comment on Speechless by Mr Lady
We got a gift card for the Extraordinary Babyshoppe for a teacher who is expecting in August. For the others, we will do gift cards for restaurants and/or malls.
We usually give gift cards to a local coffee shop, but I love the letter idea. Super sweet and thoughtful!
Angella´s last [type] ..There She Goes
As an ex-teacher, I can honestly tell you that a sincere, kind letter can be the most amazing gift! I used to keep all sweet cards and specially positive notes in a special box so I that I could revisit them for encouragement after particularly tough days. You can never underestimate the impact kind words and thoughtfulness have on people, especially teachers! If you want to see a simple “encouragement box” idea you can make with your kids, you might like to refer to my post of today http://veronicaslaterpresents.blogspot.com/2011/06/teachers-gift-guide.html I had listed it as one of my good teacher’s gifts ideas!
Veronica Slater´s last [type] ..Teachers Gift Guide
WONDERFUL ideas there – thank you! In fact, I think I found the perfect gift in your post…
I’m married to a teacher, so I can tell you, mugs may SEEM like a good idea… but gift cards are ALWAYS appreciated. Coffee stores, LCBO, movie theatre chains, Indigo, or art supply stores with many locations (like DeSerres, for example) are all excellent.
Wine, also good.
Homemade gifts are wonderful, too. We’ve received some really nice cookies, homemade brownie-making kits, and strawberry jam. These are sweet, relatively inexpensive, and way more appreciated than a cheap tie or soap!
kittenpie´s last [type] ..100% Mindblown