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Tackling Teacher Gifts:
How to Figure Out What Present to Buy your Child’s Teacher
By Leah Ingram

It’s that time of the year where parents let out a collective groan—and I’m not talking about the upcoming school-free, summer months, when your kids will be looking to you for their daily entertainment. No, I’m talking about that end-of-the-year teacher gift.

If your child is in preschool or elementary school, then you know what I’m talking about. You’re likely in one of these two situations: You’ve got an over-anxious classroom parent who has just started sending secretive messages home in backpack mail about chipping in for the teacher gift, and she hasn’t given you a lot of time to think about how much you want to contribute. Or, you’re anxious all on your own because you have no idea what to buy the person who spends six hours or more per day educating your child. And since no one has reached out about a collective gift for Mrs. Smith, you’re going to have to do some solo shopping.

Fret no more. I’ll help you navigate the etiquette of teacher gifts and come up with ideas that are appropriate, based on your child’s age, and her teachers likes and dislikes. This information should put your mind at ease—and make your gift shopping much easier:

DAY CARE

When my girls were in daycare, we gave their teachers and the classroom aides each a gift certificate for a manicure. I figured that these teachers were using their hands all day long, either changing diapers or doing hands-on projects, and they could use the pampering. Some confided in me later that they’d never gone for a manicure before, and our gift was a wonderful and welcomed present. Best of all, at most strip-mall manicure shops, you can treat a teacher (or anyone else, for that matter) to a manicure for less than $20.

NURSERY OR PRESCHOOL

While preschool or nursery school teachers might enjoy a manicure as well, when my daughters were in preschool, I would give the teacher a book to read or a gift certificate to a local bookstore. Either way, each gift would come with a personal note. For the book, I might write, “I thought this book was such a great page-turner that I wanted to share a copy with you, in hopes that you would enjoy it as much. Happy reading!” With the gift certificate, I would write in the card something like this: “I hope you can use this gift certificate to buy that perfect beach book you can read over the summer.”

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Now that my children are in elementary school, I’ve expanded my teacher gift repertoire. I still love the notion of a gift certificate to a bookstore—especially if I can support a local business. However, these days I might choose a gift card to the local coffee shop instead, whether it’s a chain like 7-11, Wawa, Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks, or the mom and pop “Joe’s java” shop near to the school. This is an especially relevant gift if I’ve run into one of my children’s teachers there in the morning, when I stop in to get my daily java. Then I know for sure that they’ll love and use this gift on their morning coffee run—if not this year, when they come back to school in the fall.

Another gift idea is a bit of a twist on the traditional, and I can thank my daughter’s first grade teacher for inspiring me to give this kind of gift. Believe it or not, on back to school night in September, she talked about, of all things, teacher gifts. During her presentation the teacher told the parents straight out not to plan on getting her any gifts at the holidays or at the end of the year. “I’ve been teaching for 30 years and really don’t need anything,” she said. What she did need, though, were new board games for the classroom—games that the children could use during indoor recess. She then pulled out a Connect Four box that was haphazardly taped together to prove her point.

That year our family bought a new Connect Four for the classroom, and I believe many other families selected the gift of board games as well. We made the same gift choice in second grade, and we might go back to that gift idea this year if we discover that our children’s teachers aren’t coffee drinkers, but instead favor Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders.

Next year my eldest goes to middle school, where I understand we’ll finally be off of the teacher-gift hook. Parents with older children have told me you don’t give teacher gifts anymore. While that will be a relief, I’m also going to miss the fun of shopping for the perfect teacher gift. Well, at least my youngest has another year of elementary school left.

Leah Ingram does her teacher gift shopping from her home in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Lately, she’s been blogging about green gifts and other green topics at The Lean Green Family (formerly Suddenly Frugal) at www.suddenlyfrugal.blogspot.com.