The Top 5 Teacher Approved Christmas Gifts For Any Budget
I don’t know about you, but once Spooky season starts in October, life seems to jump into hyper-speed and before you know it you’re nearing the last week of school before the Holidays when you suddenly realise, with horror, that you haven’t got teacher gifts yet!
Not only that, but by this point you’re so shopped out and tired of planning that even the thought of coming up with yet another Christmas gift idea feels exhausting.
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There are Always More Teachers Than I Remembered!
Most teachers don’t expect gifts. However, teachers play such a huge role in our children’s lives, so we definitely don’t want to forget about recognising them during the Holiday season. Often, teachers spend their own money on small gifts for their students and plan super fun activities for their classes during the Holidays. With all they do, teachers deserve to have someone celebrate them as well.
However, every time I set-out to get teacher Christmas gifts I am always surprised at how quickly the tally of teachers adds up. I only have two school-aged children, but they always seem to have more than one teacher that spends part of every school-day with them. And then there’s the music lesson teachers, my daughter’s gymnastic teacher….
And then I remember the bus drivers that safely get our children to and from school everyday. Our kids are lucky to have so many positive adult influences in their lives, but buying gifts for all of these important people can get overwhelming – and expensive!
Teachers Do Appreciate Gifts
Growing up, both of my parents were teachers. While they certainly never expected gifts from their students, they were always touched by each and every gift they received. My mom was an elementary school teacher and she always talked about how excited the kids would be to present their gift to the teacher and soak up the appreciation.
Not only do teacher gifts show our teachers we appreciate them, they are a great way to help kids learn the joy of giving. The experience is even more meaningful if kids are involved in picking out, making, and/or wrapping of gifts for their favorite teacher.
Teacher Christmas Gift Ideas for Every Budget
We always want to share useful information about how to be intentional with how and where you spend your hard-earned money – and Holiday gifts for teachers is no exception! Below you will find useful, fun, and teacher-approved gift ideas that check at least one (in many cases many) of these boxes:
Gifts from Women Owned Businesses
Gifts from Small Businesses
Environmentally Friendly Gifts
Budget/DIY
Whether you’re buying for a kindergarten or high school teacher, these great gifts will make sure the educators in your life know they are appreciated for spending the long school year mired in lesson plans, using their teacher voice, marking student papers, and buying their own school supplies.
1) Tea Tumbler
This 18 oz Love Bambo Tea Tumbler is sold by Sacred Lotus Love and is a great gift for any tea lover. If your child’s teacher gets through the day with the help of tea, this would be the perfect gift for them.
Each tea bottle is made of 18/8 stainless steel and natural, sustainably sourced bamboo. It has a leak-proof vacuum seal lid, and insulation technology keeps drinks hot for 12 hours and cold for 24 hours. It features a sleek design, and sacred geometry inscriptions on the removable 18/8 stainless steel infuser strainer and bottle body, and has a beautiful, LOGO-FREE design – inscribed with the mantra ‘Only Love’.
The materials contain no harmful plastic, chemical, or toxins.
The best part, in my opinion, is that it comes gift ready in stunning packaging, beautifully wrapped, and with a unique companion Poem & Rumi card inspired by the design.
Other options
If the bohemian style of this tumbler isn’t the right fit for the teacher(s) in your life, there are many travel tumblers to choose from, with endless design choices – for both a stylish and practical gift.
Go to the Head of the Class!
Another option – if you’re really aiming to impress – is to get a Yeti tumbler, perfect for a morning coffee, and have it engraved with the teacher’s name.
Yeti is well-known for it’s exemplary quality and nearly any engraving store can diamond engrave a Yeti for under $30.
2) Beeswax Wraps
Just like our own school days, teachers generally take a packed lunch with them to work. Teachers don’t have time to leave school to grab take-out or socialise over a sit-down lunch. A gift that makes lunch time a bit more interesting and sustainable will make a teacher’s day in the classroom a bit easier.
Cute and Environmentally Friendly
Beeswax wraps offer a fresh take on food storage: uniquely designed reusable beeswax food wraps that eliminate single use plastic and keep food fresh.
Most beeswax wraps are made with organic cotton and responsibly sourced beeswax, certified organic plant oils, and tree resin. Beeswax wraps can be used again and again, eliminating the need for teachers to repurchase plastic sandwich bags.
Make it a Gift Set
Beeswax wraps come in all sorts of colors and patterns. Pair a package of beeswax wraps with some gourmet lunch box snacks and your kids’ teachers will be feeling appreciated every time they sneak in a quick lunch break in the New Year!
3) Baking Gift Set
Pair these teacher themed pot holders with a baking mix – like this sugar cookie mix – and a Holiday themed spatula and you’ve got 4 teacher gifts done just like that!
4) Cheater DIY Drink Tumblers
Is there anything funner than stickers? Not really, if you ask me!
Except maybe decorating things with stickers. Large packages of vinyl stickers can be purchased for dirt cheap and they are great for decorating everything from skateboards to laptops to drink containers. I have experimented with adding vinyl stickers to water bottles and drinking cups and have found that they stand-up amazingly well with repeated use and trips through the dishwasher. I’ve never had a single sticker come unstuck or disintegrate.
Get a package of Teacher themed vinyl stickers and a set of glass tumblers, and you have the makings of multiple customized gifts for well under $10 each!
So Many Options
As an alternative to teacher themed stickers, you could go for inspirational quote stickers or these adorably punny stickers.
These packs come with at least 50 stickers, so once you’ve chosen the right sticker to decorate the outside of the glass, you can even fill the cup up with some of the other stickers – perhaps along with some instant cold brew coffee or iced-tea mix packets.
5) Hand Sanitizer Holder
Anyone who’s had a child start school knows that a classroom full of children is a hotbed of germs. Little kids are as germy as they are cute!
If you’re like me and need to buy for multiple teachers, these little hand sanitizer holders can be a cute and inexpensive solution to check off 5 gifts all at once! Buy this kit and a large bottle of hand sanitizer and use the included funnel to fill each little bottle.
Presentation is Everything
Add a cute tag with some ribbon or raffia and a handmade card from your child and you have an adorable and practical gift that doesn’t break the bank.
Download our free printable tags to complete this gift!
Get Your Shopping Done Now!
The best gifts for teachers are those that show that you understand something about the daily challenges teachers face in their work and/or that you recognise that teachers are regular people when outside of the classroom.
Hopefully these 5 teacher approved gift ideas will inspire you and help you get ahead of the curve, well before the Holiday craziness really sets in.
For more inspiration – scroll through these listings for teacher gifts under $25.
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