Inexpensive items to include in welcome basket for teachers

[pammypooh]

I posted on budget board - because I am looking for inexpensive ideas
(please move post if in wrong place)

I am the new Home & school President at our school. I am putting together a welcome basket for each member of our faculty. Some of the items already on my list are: Disposible camera, Fun Tack, Lifesavers, Tylenol, Tissues, Pencils and pad with our school name, & Hand sanitizer.

Any thoughts on where to get great deals on items?

Thank you!!

Pam

 

[tar heel]

You might be able to get some decent, free stuff, especially if parents work for companies that have good marketing items. I just delivered 300 mousepads from my organization for new teachers in our system. Our mousepads are bright, colorful and not real company looking. Last year, we gave them pens and notepads. I can't remember everything in last year's goody bag but I know there was chapstick, sticky notes, highlighter, a lunchbag, and some candy.

Good luck!

 

[Zoemakes5]

Place for inexpensive items in bulk:
Sam's club/costco
Oriental trading company (they have an entire section called "teacher supplies")

Ideas:
Magnets
interesting push pins for bulletin boards and decorated clothes pins
Good job/star/encouragement stickers or stamps (I like stamps, as they are re-usable!)
"flower" pens that are so popular now, where you have the green tape around the pen and then the flower at the top. Reduces kids from taking the pens and walking away with the, plus is something nice and cheerful in the room. We did entire flower pots and fillings for DS's teachers this year. For the men, we used flags instead of flowers.
Hersey's kisses and hugs wrapped in little plastic wrap with a note that says "for when you need a little extra tlc, kisses and hugs for you".
Some sort of inspirational note/poem/story
A list of useful links and internet sites for the area(s) that they teach
A list of places that deliver lunch and after-school food (for later meeting days), whether they offer a discount, their hours and phone number, maybe even copies of the menus.
Stencils

 

[klmall]

I work in a school and include things like the following in welcome bags for my "new teachers"

---really big clip magnets for bulletin boards and cabinets
---nice, colorful plastic, rectangular baskets to hold and collect things
---mini-Sharpies
---Squish balls (soft, squishy balls to use in group activities)
---coupons donated from local retailers
---reward stickers
---lanyards
---big colored plastic paper clips
---small, colorful paper clips
---wall posters (even blank from Dollar store)
---gift certificates (esp. from Dollar Store, Michaels, Staples)
---colored copy paper (if copy machine allows)
---adhesive backed magnets (craft stores have these)
---anything for organizing supplies
---Lysol type wipes in dispenser containers
---air fresheners
---candy in individual, wrapped pieces (my staff loves this)

Hope these help!

 

[The Disney Bunch]

Scott towels for the classroom as well as dish soap. Our younger grades have bathrooms & they have that icky sanitory soap & hand towels. Our teachers prefer not to use them.

I like to ask the teacher for a wishlist at the beginning of he school year also. Helps when people says they don't know what to get for the classroom.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

As a teacher, I've always found the following items best for my welcome bags, in that they are VERY useful: nice pens (esp. red ones), plain ol' Post-Its, a few colorful postage stamps, a new chalkboard eraser, overhead type pens (They are a special brand, NOT sharpies), a few pencils. Post-it also makes page marker tabs (they are used like temporary book marks, and come in bright colors), mini highlighters, magnetic metal clips

Teacher will do everything they can to hold onto a nice pen - I'm not talking Cross - just a nice rollerball or felt tip!

One conference I went to gave out digital timers that could be displayed on an overhead projector, so kids could see the time left for an activity. These were VERY cool, and they couldn't have been very expensive. They were just cheap digital timers. I wish I knew where to find them. Any teacher would die for one of these!

At another conference, we got a set of ten small chalkboards (about 8" x 11"). These are great for lots of activites!


Things that tend to get never used: mousepads, rubber balls, stress balls, and toys (the kids discover them one day, and they become a liability)
sticky notes that have pictures on them or are any shape other than square(except maybe the school logo), Sharpies (rarely used, can also be mistakenly used on an overhead - ugh! since they don't erase), food, candy, block erasers, blank layards (though soem teachers loved the school logo ones one year)


Things I never got but would have LOVED: a gift card for a teacher supply store!, Staples, etc. - Even $5 would be great!, Kleenex TISSUES, hand sanitizer gel, unscented hand lotion

A company makes special staplers for teachers that fit over the hand. They are designed for using on bulletin boards. (They don't have to be held open like a regular stapler, so they can be used one handed )They are inexpensive and cool.

It also matters which grades you're talking about. Lower grades might LOVE those special scissors that cut a pattern (kind of like pinking shears), reward-type stickers or sticky stars, special magic markers (erasable)


I always wished for help getting posters too...since that ALWAYS has to come out of pocket, and you really can't have a classroom with bare walls all year. Those paper borders that go around boards are amazingly pricey too, but each teacher wants their own color/style. Maybe buy a bunch and let teachers pick out which style/color they want.

 

[CPM]

Advil

 

[Danemom]

Some of the items already on my list are: Disposible camera, Fun Tack, Lifesavers, Tylenol, Tissues, Pencils and pad with our school name, & Hand sanitizer. Any thoughts on where to get great deals on items?

Thank you!!

Pam

Dollar Tree! I've seen a lot of this at ours, even small bottles of Tylenol. Just don't make my mistake and get Tylenol PM by accident!

 

[hollyb]

Why not ask local restaurants for free gift certifiacates? That would be a nice treat for the teachers.

 

[bnf2]

While this is more of a treat for the teacher- personally- not for the classroom, I've given teachers car wash gift certificates. Check with some of the local ones and see if they'd donate some.
As a former teacher, I know the beginning of the school year is soooo hectic and the last thing I wanted to do was wash my car. And for many teachers- especially 2 teacher households- "having" your car washed is a real treat! This is also a great gift at Christmas- especially for those living in areas where it snows and you've constantly got road salt on your car in the winter.

 

[pweyl36]

I also think the dollar stores are cheaper,they are starting to carry teacher
supplies.

 

[writersblock42]

I've never received a welcome basket. That is so nice-I'm starting to get jealous hearing about all the stuff other teachers get. If someone would ever get me a welcome basket I would like the following
1. Ink Stamps and Pads (I saw these at Target's dollar section) Things that say stuff like "sign here" "Good Job" ect.
2. Chalk/ Chalk board erasers
3. Dry Erase markers
4. colored pencils
5. Really sharp Scissors for teachers
6. Hole Punches
7. Hole reinforcers
8. Stickers to give students
9. Glue
10. pens
11. Pencils
12. candy
13. stress balls
14. Chalk holder
Also any little treats like breath mints, hand lotion, things like that

 

[IDoDis]

One conference I went to gave out digital timers that could be displayed on an overhead projector, so kids could see the time left for an activity. These were VERY cool, and they couldn't have been very expensive. They were just cheap digital timers. I wish I knew where to find them. Any teacher would die for one of these!

A

You can display a timer on your computer if you have a projector in the classroom. I've seen it done many times. It's a free download program. I've seen it done at workshops where the presenter gives the group a 15 min. break and then displays the timer on the overhead projector. I used to have the directions for the download, but lost it. You could google "computer timer" and see if you can find one.