This is our first year of preschool so this also our first year showing our gratitude for Sophie’s teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week! I’ll admit it’s a little tough to manage gifts during these preschool years because classrooms with lots of small children require teacher assistants so there are multiple people to gift (which can add up quickly!).
While I understand that gift cards may seem impersonal, from what I’ve heard from teachers it sounds like that’s what they prefer to receive. However, that doesn’t mean that the gift has to be boring… just make the presentation cute! That doesn’t mean that they have to look like Martha Stewart put them together — just add a ribbon and a cute / punny tag!
The sentiment is similar to what I said in my Labor & Delivery Nurse Appreciation Basket post: teachers don’t expect gifts, but the gesture of giving anything (even a hand made card!) goes a long way!
If you’re looking for some gift ideas and inspiration, I’ve rounded up some of my favorites to share with you! (Also worth noting: most of these tag / packaging suggestions are great for last minute gifting because they’re printable!)
FOOD
If you would like to gift physical food or snacks, please stick to pre-packaged or professionally made items. Custom cookies (a great time to support a local artisan!), doughnuts, other treats (such as Nothing Bundt Cakes’ “Bundtlets”), or really any individual snacks (sweet or savory!) are easy ways to show your gratitude.
*These are particularly great for gifting multiple instructors.
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Gift cards for a teacher’s favorite local spot (always love supporting small!) or chain restaurant are especially great to give at the start of the school year because teachers have sooo much to do in the beginning. Between communicating with parents, setting up their classrooms, getting prepped with the curriculum and so on, I’m sure that taking a meal off of their ultra long To-Do list would be so helpful.
All of that said, you can’t go wrong gifting a meal any time of the year!
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COFFEE
Just like with food gift cards, the large chain cafes are the easiest to get gift cards for, but I fully encourage you to support small, independent coffee shops for your teacher gifts!
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GENERAL
If you aren’t sure what to gift, an Amazon / Target / Wal-Mart / etc. gift card is always welcome.
Taking it a step further, you could get an even more flexible option: a Visa gift card!
There are some amazingly clever gift card holders to make them extra cute — I loved this crayon style that felt especially perfect for preschool educators.
Occasions by Shakira is one of my favorite resources to get inspiration for teacher gift ideas! She even offers a brilliant (and free!) Our Teacher Printable Survey to make teacher gifting even easier.
I also get inspired by the gifting ideas from Aurelie Erikson.
One final thought: please don’t forget to include the teaching assistants or any specialty teachers (such as Speech-Language Pathologists!) that work with your child / children — they’re such unsung heroes!
I will be forever grateful to teachers — they absolutely deserve the best and even more recognition than just a week! We love you, educators!
Sending hugs —
xx, Natalie