end of year classroom gift sugestions

[ptmmg]

I am the room mother for my dd 2nd grade class I have to go in next week for an hour to supervise the class for the teacher appreciation luncheon. I thought it would be a great opportunity to do a class gift for the teacher with the kids any ideas? I have seen the tote bags with the kids hand prints, class pic on a t shirt anything else???

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I know my DD's teacher has a little dog so we've given her dog treats from Petco and a 10.00 gift card from there.

I was thinking of doing that again for her end of year teacher gift.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

My kids have often had teachers who garden, so the class all donates towards a gift certificate to a nice nursery. (One teacher said she bought a pretty flowering tree to remember that class. ) Obviously this wouldn't work if the teacher wasn't interested in gardening.

We've also done scrapbook pages- each child given a piece of paper to decorate as s/he wishes (encouraged to include a photo of themselves or of a school activity. The room moms shared photos they had taken.) We scanned them and had them made into an album at Snapfish (interspersed with snapshots taken in the class through out the year.) You could just put them in a pretty folder or staple them together too. (We went the Snapfish route because there were mutliple teachers for the class + gave parents a chance to buy their own copy for their child as well. SF gave a nice bulk rate and I think they were around $10 shipped in the end.

 

[Bren's Mom]

I saw this cute idea in Family Fun:

http://familyfun.go.com/schools-out/schools-out-teacher-gifts/feel-good-flip-book-672803/

 

[2TxAgs]

I think Ed Emberly is the author of the thumbprint books. When my oldest 2 were in 5th grade, I got a couple of ink pads, the thumbprint book, and 11x17 poster board. Each kid in the class put their thumbprint on the board and we designed an animal/pirate/whatever around the thumbprint and wrote the kids name. They were very colorful and the teachers had them hanging on their classroom walls the next year.

 

[disneyfor3]

I'm doing a fun in the sun bag for my son's third grade teacher for the classroom gift. I got a tote, a beach towel, tostitos, salsa, magazine or book, and sun tan lotion. We also get her a gift card to her favorite store and I wrap it and put it in there too. I am also having the kids do an Acrostic poem based on the letters of her name and I will put them all in a scrapbook to put in the tote too.

 

[Kelrykengab]

We have just been collecting $ toward a large gift card/AMEX card and the teachers are LOVING it. It is like getting a little bonus at the end of the year and they can get something they will really use and want. And it is easy for us parents too!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I like your idea of making a personalized tote. I have done these things in the past and they are not very expensive:

I had each child bring in one flower on a certain day and I had a Walmart vase that cost about $3. At Goodwill there are many large vases that are around $1. (Now I know.)

I asked the teacher to let me have 10 minutes with the kids one morning. She left and I gave each kid a nice piece of note paper and asked them to write down why they liked their teacher...and sign their name and fold it. I put these into a pretty little basket I got at Target's dollar aisle.

I took a poster board in another morning and had the kids sign it and doodle something on it.

Possible write a letter to the principal about how great the teacher is and have the kids all sign it. Make a copy for the teacher. I just now came up with this idea, so I may use it myself!

I am doing our own Teacher Appreciation gift this year for my DS10's teacher. I usually give a GC, but I got a great deal on Smith and Hawken garden totes at Target-$4 and they are awesome! I am going to put a Rosemary plant inside which will cost around $3, I bought garden gloves, a little hand shovel from $ Tree, and a small bottle of hand sanitizer that I ordered on sale at Bath and Body Works for 5/$5. The entire gift will only cost $10!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

I saw this cute idea in Family Fun:

http://familyfun.go.com/schools-out/schools-out-teacher-gifts/feel-good-flip-book-672803/

THAT is so cute! If I were the room mom, I would do this. I may go ahead and volunteer to do it for her. We aren't recognizing Teacher appreciation until June because of CRCT testing next week. Plenty of time to do it! Thanks for the idea!

 

[mykidsand_i]

I have two DD's in school (so obviously 2 different teachers)...both of the classes are doing different things. I like both ideas!!!

1 teacher is TOTALLY into gardening- so she's getting a large gift certificate to our local greenhouse- all parents were asked to put in $5-$10...which is very reasonable. It's a great way to show her our appreciation for all the work she's done!

the other teacher is really into getting 'pedi's, mani's, massages' so all parents are doing $5-$15 to get her a gift certificate to the day spa. She'll get several different certificates for the spa- 1 or 2 for hour massages, 1 or 2 pedi's and mani's- it all depends on how much is given. AND, one of our local day spas offers discounts for teacher gifts, so we get a lot more for the money (if $150 or more is spent on gift certificates for teachers, they donate another $50 towards any service the teacher chooses)!!! AND, what teacher doesn't need a relaxing massage after being with the kids ALL YEAR!!! It's a great gift!

 

[hffmnheidi]

As a daycare teacher(and we get all kinds of gifts), I've seen/been given...
1. notepads/nice pens-teachers write a lot..if you shop the Dollar Tree, Michaels, Target in their dollar sections, you can get a lot of fun sized/shaped notepads
2. giftcard to the school supply store in our town-teachers spend a lot out of pocket and this might help her get her classroom ready for the next year
3. giftcard to Target-get lots of stuff in the dollar spot
4. If you do a tote bag with handprints on it-make sure you seal the handprints or the first time it gets wet, you'll have it running all over the place in a big mess
5. Do a book...take a picture of each kid, find a cute school poem, put the poem on one sheet of paper and then have the child's photo on the other and have the kid write what they liked about school this year, bind them together, and make a book. You can have the kids write what they liked about school this year and pull them one at a time to take phots. Keeps the rest of the kids working while you pull them one at a time to take their photo. Make sure you give them prompts of ideas to keep them on task
-what fun projects did we do this year
-what books did you like reading
-what was your favorite subject
-who are your friends

Make sure you make a block or square where the photo will go and tell the kids not to write in the square.

 

[kellyg403]

My grandd's class is doing something similar with the flowers and vase. The room mother is sending home on Monday flowers made out of paper that will look like sunflowers. On the face of the flower the children are to write something special or something they feel about the teacher. Then they will put the 'bouquet' in a fancy pot to give to the teacher as a keepsake. I understand she likes to plant and garden so she will have the pot when she needs it and can store the papers where she would like to later.

Thought it was really a personal idea!

Kelly

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

As a daycare teacher(and we get all kinds of gifts), I've seen/been given...
1. notepads/nice pens-teachers write a lot..if you shop the Dollar Tree, Michaels, Target in their dollar sections, you can get a lot of fun sized/shaped notepads
2. giftcard to the school supply store in our town-teachers spend a lot out of pocket and this might help her get her classroom ready for the next year
3. giftcard to Target-get lots of stuff in the dollar spot
4. If you do a tote bag with handprints on it-make sure you seal the handprints or the first time it gets wet, you'll have it running all over the place in a big mess
5. Do a book...take a picture of each kid, find a cute school poem, put the poem on one sheet of paper and then have the child's photo on the other and have the kid write what they liked about school this year, bind them together, and make a book. You can have the kids write what they liked about school this year and pull them one at a time to take phots. Keeps the rest of the kids working while you pull them one at a time to take their photo. Make sure you give them prompts of ideas to keep them on task
-what fun projects did we do this year
-what books did you like reading
-what was your favorite subject
-who are your friends

Make sure you make a block or square where the photo will go and tell the kids not to write in the square.

Thanks for the ideas! Your book idea could be made into the flip book mentioned in the link above. It would be nice to have what the child enjoyed about the school year written on it, maybe even on the back of his artwork and picture!

 

[CTdiznymom]

My DD's is a new teacher, and her first class gave her a Canvas Director's chair that they painted with handprints. She uses it in her reading circle. The second year the room mom took the class picture and framed it with an extra large mat so the kids could each autograph it and write a little something on it.

 

[frkymcky]

Last year I was one of the room mom's, we couldn't get the class to do anything together so we decided to each their own. I decided to get my DD's teacher a gift certificate for Restaurant.com. I gave her the Dinner of the Month club for 12 months, she received an email every month entitling her to pick a $25 gc for a restaurant of her choice (one that participated in the program). I saw her at a local restaurant a few weeks ago and she told she got her email that morning for her gc for the month, she and her hubby decided to go out that night. She said it was great to not worry about cooking one night a month.

It cost me $24 for the 12 month "subscription" and she saves $25 at each dinner. I only purchase the gc's when I have a coupon code for 80% off.

HTH

 

[SweetPeasMom2]

This is what I'm making for my kids' teachers - class book