The end of the school year is coming up, and I like to give small appreciation gifts to the teachers. Usually I give a rosebush since we also have a garden center/nursery business, but since I have four kids that will go through the schools, that will be a lot of rosebushes for some of the teachers! LOL I will have 7 teachers to knit for, since there are 2 teacher per grade (they team-teach, we’re in a small rural school district), which includes DS’s third grade teachers, DD’s first grade teachers, and DS’s preschool teacher, teacher’s aide, and daycare teacher. I was thinking maybe these little bags below, but am very open to other ideas, hopefully things that are quick, inexpensive, easy, but impressive LOL!
Suggestions for teacher gifts please
Those little bags are cute if they keep business cards on their desks. Another idea is a nice face cloth made with a soft cotton (not sugar and cream) and some nice soap with be a wonderful gift!
I agree, I think cloths are a great gift. I do dishcloths and washcloths with Sugar & Cream, I’ve found that it softens with use & isn’t expensive. But, soft & poofy cotton is much more pleasing for the face 
There are BUNCHES of patterns for cloths on the web, too.
I recently gave some giftbags with soap sack (can be used for soap or sachet for your drawer, etc) with soap in it & wash/dish cloths to match; they don’t take long to make, either
We gave my son’s teacher gift certificates to our local Ben and Gerry’s for an ince cream cone (I think we got him 4 cuz he’s married to a woman and has two kids) and he LOVED it.
I second the dishcloth ideas since you have so many to buy for. Here is one DD10 made for her teachers last year http://www.knittingknonsense.com/applecloth.html
This year DD made her teacher a felted bag like the one you mentioned but bigger. Her teacher loved it and appreciated that it was a handmade gift.
Well, since I get gifts from my piano students all the time, I can speak from experience.
I always LOVE getting gift cards, because I can get whatever I want. Most of my gifts are candles, bath sets, or trinkets that I can’t really use. And I have more christmas ornaments than I could ever fit on a single tree.
My favorite gift card is Starbucks, because it doesn’t cost that much to get a really satisfying drink there.
Being a teacher, I beg , I plead…please NO stinky gifts…sented soap, candles, bathsalts, etc… you may like it, but I can’t tell you how many gifts I’ve appreciated the thought of, took a sniff of…and tossed right in the trash! you may like the smell but…I may not! so please please don’t make it stinky!
Barns and Noble gift cards are nice, mall gift cards are nice, starbucks coffee gift cards are nice, movie tickets are nice! Ice cream is yummy! remember that us teachers appreciate the r&r time, just like you parents!
My favorite gift of all time was from a little boy who had thought of a present all by himself…this was for x-mas mind you…and he was 4…he decided he wanted to give both of us teachers a great big cup of hot chocolate…so he picked out great big mugs, and a cute little package of tissues, went home and filled a plastic bag full of hot chocolate mix, put it on the bottom, and a small bag of mini marshmallows and put those on top of the cocoa mix…gave the gift with the tissues on the side…like little napkins… Now that was a GREAT gift…cuz he thought of it…and BOY do I Love a good cup of hot chocolate in the winter!
that was 3 years ago, and every time I drink from that cup, I think of that little boy!
PS. also getting all the parents to chip in $5 or $10 each and giving cash in a nice card is always wonderful!!
OMG, I have a totally different opinion!!!
I have SO-HO-HO many mugs from my kids it isn’t funny!!! I literally get 7 or 8 a year… so that brings my total to… over FORTY freaking mugs. And I teach music, so they all have little notes or instruments and tuff on them. Of course, i cherish each and every one. :shifty:
Personally, I like getting candles. Sometimes they are kind of strong, but I light them in my classroom to cover up the “i’m a 7th grade boy and don’t wear deodorant” smell :rollseyes:
I like the washcloth idea, too, though. Maybe that and a small bar of oatmeal soap.
In my previous life as a teacher, I received my share of coffee mugs, candles, and christmas ornaments (the best was one dated 1997 and it was 1999!). In my current life as a mom of two preschoolers, I’ve kind of stuck with a few ideas if we’re not giving class gifts.
Christmas:
flower bulbs to force and a nice container
hand care (especially love Mary Kay Satin Hands)–teachers wash their hands a lot in the winter!
End of Year:
pedicure set/flip flops
beach bag with towel
and if it’s been a really rough year–margarita set :happydance:
DON’T take alchohol into a public school though! You could get into some serious trouble!
My favorite all time gift to give is one that we did with my son’s preschool class last year. Each student and parent was given a 4x6 index card and they were asked to decorate and write whatever they would like to the teacher. Parents wrote thank you notes and students drew pictures. The kids were also asked to complete the sentence “I like Mrs. K because…” We slipped all of the cards into a photo album. It was a sweet, thoughtful, easy gift. One that I wouldn’t mind getting every year!
I have had my eye on this knitkit site for a while now! The Special Companion is really nice. But with a lot of teachers, this might be both costly and take a really long time.
The dishcloth, washcloth, soap saver ideas sound like a good alternative to the usual bath and body gifts. I’m a high school teacher, and therefore rarely receive gifts compared to the elementary school teachers. However, when I do get gifts, they’re usually personalized in some way or made by the students themselves.
Another idea is a water bottle in a knitted cozy. I don’t have a pattern, but I saw something about one in this forum. Teachers get really thirsty and usually carry water bottles with them everywhere. While presenting a lesson with overhead pens, it’s really annoying to sip from a wet water bottle and get water from my hands on the transparencies. A cozy would do the trick and be thoughtful.