Gift for classrooms?

[quiltymom]

We're going to WDW on Saturday and I would like to bring back something for the kid's classrooms, especially DD's. She made and posted a countdown calendar and posted it in the front of the classroom, so I need to share something with the class. DD is 7 & DS is 9.

So, I was thinking treats, and after doing a search on the DIS I only saw candy or mickey-shaped pretzels. I'm afraid the pretzels would get squished in the suitcases and candy, well, sometimes it's not appreciated by parents.

I was also thinking about a gift for the class itself, like a book or something. It would be much easier that way, I think, but here I am at a loss. What would you get? What is there to get?

Any suggestions will be most appreciated!!!!

 

[daisyduck123]

We do not get gifts for students in the class. I feel that that is sort of bragging that "hey, we went on a trip, & the rest of you did not". (I am surprised that the teacher allowed a countdown calendar to be posted in the classroom, but hey, that's great!) If we were to bring individual gifts, as a teacher I know that at least HALF of them would not make it home...they would be left on the floor.

I think a book for the class is a great idea!

We always bring back the canvas WDW tote bags for DD's & DS's teachers.

 

[camdensmom]

I would certainly avoid food. Most schools have policies against it, but at the very least you don't want to be responsible for any allergies or sugar reactions.

As a teacher I have seen it all...from the mother who bought EXPENSIVE tshirts for each child in the class to the kid who brought in Mickey soaps he snagged from Mousekeeping. Honestly, it just adds distraction to the class.

In thinking about a gift for the teacher...it is not necessary. However, if you do get something, please be sensitive to the fact that the teacher has her own taste and sense of style. I always feel like I need to show appreciation to my students for their gifts and to me this means that I often have to wear things I wouldn't have picked out for myself in a million years!

I personally am offended when a parent writes me a note asking me to "send home all of the work the child will miss so that it can be done while they are away." I put A LOT of time, thought and care into my lessons and pride myself on making the days fun, hands-on and interactive. It is hurtful to think that what I do can be simplified into a packet of worksheets. I only mention this because the BEST gift I ever received from a family after a vacation was a thank you note. It basically said that they appreciated my willingness to help ____ catch up on the valuable lessons she had missed and made note of the fact that they value what I do and were grateful to me for understanding their desire for quality family time.

As far as a "class gift" goes how about a CD of music from the parks? Depending on what type of music it includes it could be used in class for quiet times or during indoor recess.

 

[sconnell]

Well, if you are looking for something inexpensive. They have these cute straws in the food courts that are shaped like a mickey head at the top. They are $.49 I believe. My kids love them.
The first time I got one it was the "stick" for chocolate dipped marshmallows. YUM!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I was thinking about pencils.

 

[quiltymom]

Pencils would be good. It's amazing just how much kids love pencils, especially when they are NOT yellow! And the amount of pencils they go through in a year... My DS was asked to bring in 4 dozen pencils at the beginning of the year, and his teacher warned us that we'll most likely be purchasing more before the year is up. Yikes!

My kids won't be missing out on any school since it is their Intersession break. That's the one wonderful thing about them being in year-round school - we can take fantastic vacations in October when most others are not travelling. And we're also getting to WDW before DS turns 10 in May. That event will price us out of another trip for a l-o-n-g time.

 

[Tammysue5]

We did the Mickey Head shaped straws and the class loved them. Our DDs shared that they had missed all their friends and wanted to bring back a souveneir for them. We sent a postcard 2 days into our stay.... the teachers actually thanked us for remembering the class. The kids loved it. The straws were inexpensive.

Having never taken a vacation before (let alone during school) we wrote a letter to the teacher letting them know that we would do whatever THEY felt was appropriate in the way of making up homework.... all the teachers were GREAT! Each did something different and we did Thank them all for their time.

 

[cirquelovers]

My son bought the little Mickey head suckers to bring back to his class but that was from Disneyland. His teacher let him hand them out at the end of the day. I actually just found a bunch of the 50th gold ones behind the tv...they didn't taste very good

 

[baileygirlsmom]

I was thinking about pencils.

We have done this twice and the kids loved them, got DD's teacher a nice note book with note pad, big hit!

 

[cheery97]

We were in Disney in April and brought back pencils for my nephews class and also the mickey shaped head suckers, they enjoyed it.