An Easy Christmas Gift for the Teacher

A Christmas gift for the teacher is a way to express gratitude for their dedication, patience, and hard work.  Did you know teaching is among the top 5 stressful careers?  Why not take some time during the holiday of giving, to show your appreciation?  If you are looking to do just that, and  simple and affordable teacher gift ideas, here is a look at what I put together for my daughter’s preschool teacher.

Teacher Gifts for Christmas

Don’t worry if time is running out.  There is plenty of time to pull together a last minute gift for teachers.

It’s easy to forget about a Christmas gift for the teacher, because you have to plan on giving it to him/her a week or two before Christmas day.  You’re not alone; many parents are hustling to put together a DIY teacher gift the day of the classroom Christmas parties.

If I’m not speaking to you, and you’re one of the parents who have morning routines for school nailed down, family dinners planned for the week, and sticker charts hung around the house to reward positive behavior, then I bet your looking for simple gifts to make for the teacher a month ahead of time.  Either way, I’ve got you covered 🙂

Christmas Gift for the Teacher

Because I am a teacher on a budget, I wanted to put together an affordable teacher gift for my daughters preschool teacher.

Items we used for  Preschool Teacher Gift:

• clear ornaments
• Christmas colored m&m’s
• Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks gift cards
• vocabulary word cards

We purchased clear fillable ornaments, and filled them with Christmas m&m’s.  What teacher doesn’t love chocolate? Some ornaments are large enough to fit an entire bag of plain m&m’s, while others are smaller and only fit 1/2 cup or so.  When purchasing the ornaments, make sure the hole at the top is large enough for the m&m’s to fit, or that the ornament splits down the middle to open and fill that way.

Next, I laminated a set of my Vocabulary Picture Cards, put them on a binder ring, and placed them in the bag.  Her teacher can use them for seasonal bulletin boards, with her ESL students, or in a writing center.  This bundle of printable picture cards include vocabulary words for all seasons and holidays, and will last her for years to come.  I like to think of it as the gift that keeps giving!

Get a year round bundle of 150 vocabulary cards HERE for under $15

Last, I added a gift card to her teacher’s favorite donut shop.  Thankfully, Dunkin Donuts is right next to her school!  We were able to swing by the morning of and get a last minute Christmas gift for the teacher.  If you have a Starbucks nearby, that, too, would also be a great gift-card for teachers.  As a teacher myself, I can say that almost all teachers love coffee, tea, donuts, and chocolate to get through their day!

If you don’t have time to drive around town picking up gift cards, don’t worry! You can purchase gift cards on amazon.  You can have them delivered to add to a teacher gift bag, or send them directly to the teacher via email.

Christmas Card for Teachers

The night before taking her Christmas gift for the teacher to school, Skyler made Christmas cards for her teacher and the classroom aide. (We also bought the aide a gift card).  I wrote Love, and she signed her name.  Learning how to write her name has been so much fun.  She even added her own artwork 😉

The next morning, she was so excited to take the gifts to her teachers.  Before leaving the house, she decided she also had to get out her microphone and guitar to put on a little performance.  She is definitely not the shy kid in class! 🙂

Before you go, here are a few blog posts you may enjoy:

10 Easy Christmas Crafts for Kids

65 Easy Holiday Crafts for Kids

75 Best Yes or No Questions for Kids

3 Fun Classroom Christmas Party Ideas

Christmas Gift for the Teacher