Anonymous wrote:One of my friends is a first grade teacher and every Christmas a bunch of us do a white elephant party at her house--except we don't bring gifts. Instead, we all pick from her rewrapped gifts from kids and then steal them.

There are always a lot of candles, mugs, and picture frames. Some are actually really nice (she's in a nice part of Long Island) but she just has too many.

I love this. One of my favorite memories is getting to go through my mom's gifts (she was a teacher). My sister and i first viewed them as treasure and then over the years were just entertained by them. I'm not sure what she did with them. She wrote thank you notes and then they disappeared. Thinking back, the irony is that she would have us give our teachers ornaments.

I'm sorry to say this, but I get rid of mugs, ornaments, and chocolates. Also hand cream.

I get target gift cards for everyone - teachers, bus driver, mail lady, trash guys, along with a heartfelt card. They always let me know how much they appreciate it.
I think it should be the protocol to let them buy what they want. You can never go wrong there.

Geez people, get them a gift card and call it a day. We gave a Macy's gift card to teacher last year - she likes Macy's -.and Amazon gift card at end of the year for Teacher Appreciation.

Teachers get way too much crap -yes, your mugs, soaps, candles, magnets, etc are crap - and can use or swap gift cards.

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Anonymous wrote:I give a donation in the teacher's name to UNICEF.

That is far more for you than the teacher. Tacky.

Incredibly tacky!

I'm not sure tacky is the right word. Maybe presumptuous? I do not think it's okay to donate money in someone else's name unless you know for certain it's a cause that person would support.


Tacky is the parent giving teachers envelopes of cash.

UNICEF teaches and helps kids. You think it would be presumptive to donate to UNICEF on behalf of a teacher who teaches and helps kids?

UNICEF is not a completely uncontroversial charity.

I always do Barnes and Nobels gift cards. The teachers can either spend it on books for themselves or books for their classroom.

I also include a beautifully wrapped bag of 6 of my delectable and famous cookies. They are very, very good and anyone who tries even a nibble ends up eating the entire bag in one sitting. I know that the teachers like them because they ask my kids about them the following year, will approach me and ask for the recipe, etc. One teacher even told my kid not getting my cookies anymore was one of the saddest things for her when he told her we were moving, lol.

I think if you give home baked goods, they need to be fresh (made the night before, not last weekend), taste very good (not meh, good enough) and be presented in a professional and attractive way so they look like they were prepared in a clean kitchen by someone who washed their hands.

Anonymous wrote:I always give Target gift cards. Not very exciting but I'm pretty sure they are appreciated

Same. A nice card with a 20 or 25 dollar Target gift card is sort of my go-to gift for anyone around here. Plenty of Target stores in this area.

(I used to do Amazon but it's a bigger and bigger hassle these days if someone doesn't have prime, doesn't live in a building where you can safely deliver packages and has to use the locker, etc.)

If you don't want to do gift cards I love pens. A parent gave me a basket of pens, sharpies, etc last year and I loved it.

I always give a $25 target or barnes and noble gift card with a handmade card from my children to their teacher.

If you receive many soaps that means "Take a shower" "you smell like farty in the classroom".

I toss or donate coffee mugs, candles, soaps, the cheap lotion sets from Walmart/Target (b/c I'm allergic), ornaments, desk knickknacks, and homemade food (b/c I'm a germ person and I have weird food allergies).

So, like, pretty much everything most parents/kids give that isn't a gift card. I know parents feel bad about giving gift cards, but that really is what we want vs. any of the other stuff listed. But really, if a student gives me a card/note that they've written, that's awesome! I do keep those to reread on the bad days and usually post some up around the room.

I think if all parents stop trying to be creative we won't see so many these gift threads every year.

Just buy a amazon/target gift card and write a note of thanks to the teacher and be done. Nobody, not even one, will not like this gift. Don't we all have more things to worry than this?

Anonymous wrote:Zappos gift card? Amazon? Thoughts? Preferences?

Amazon is always preferable. I personally have never kept a pair of shoes from Zappos. I can always find them on Amazon for cheaper or on Nordstrom for better return policy.

Dollar store lotions and soaps. I also don't eat homemade food. Those are the gifts I receive as a teacher in a title 1 school and I gush over them and really appreciate that they thought of me, but I can't stand fake smells and also am a bit of a germaphobe.

My ideal gift would be a note from the student or parent CC'd to the principal. . A Teachers Pay Teachers gift card would also make me incredibly happy.

Things I tend to give:

Gift cards to Target (always useful)
Starbucks cards
Gift certificate to Thriftbooks.com which is a site I LOVE because it has tons of cheap books including lots of older ones that are out of print. I did this in preschool for teachers to buy books for their class or themselves and it was a big hit.

Always write them a nice personal note. My child loves your class, you're a great teacher, etc.