Post by Christina of Christina Williams Blog

I always have the best intentions to spoil my kids’ teachers with beautiful, thoughtful, personalized gifts before school ends in December. In reality, though, I usually end up grabbing something at the last-minute and then feeling disappointed that I didn’t manage my time better or put more effort into it. I’m so happy to have a reason to think about teacher gifts early this year by writing this post!

Teachers are my heroes! When I volunteer at school, I’m always amazed by the heaps of patience they have with such large groups of kids. And I can see a huge progression in the students throughout the year. They really work so hard with our kids, and the holidays are a great time to show them how much you appreciate all their hard work.

For this post, I actually did some super-scientific research to find out what REAL teachers REALLY want for Christmas. OK, so my research wasn’t very scientific at all. I just texted some teacher friends to ask what their favorite gifts are. They provided me with some great feedback–as well as some do’s and don’ts for teacher gifts. The thing at the top of the teacher’s lists were items they can use in the classroom. I’ve usually avoided gifting school supplies to school teachers, because I worried that they might want a change of pace. But every teacher I spoke with mentioned how much they appreciate things they can use at school.

One teacher specifically mentioned that she loves receiving cute things she wouldn’t normally buy for herself: fun stickers or stamps, cute desk supplies, or fun grading pens would be a big hit!

Another suggested that gift cards are always welcome: even just a $5 gift card is so helpful! Another popular suggestion was new books for the classroom library. It’s always such a treat to have new reading materials!

Most teachers told me that they get so many soaps and lotions and candy/treats as gifts. While they love these things, they also really appreciate practical items like hand sanitizer, personalized stationery, fancy pens, etc. that they can use as they need them.

With this great direction from some awesome teachers, I’ve made these cheerful printable gift tags for you. You can download them here. Just print, cut and attach them to any number of items those teachers are sure to love. You could gift one item, or a basket of smaller items with the corresponding tags attached.

Now just grab a few cute, practical items for those teachers and you’ll be all set! Happy Gifting!

Christina Williams is a blogger and graphic designer living in Salt Lake City, Utah. She’s a night owl and a bookworm, as well as a mother to three children ranging in age from two to eight. She shares her latest DIY and design projects along with her adventures in parenting on her self-named blog, Christina Williams.