Teacher Treat Halloween Bucket

Since I've been back in the classroom, I've been giving teacher gifts more thought.

I LOVE candy, but I don't need candy.

I need supplies...pencils, erasers, markers, sticky notes, pens, large clips, magnets, etc.

So, here are teacher gifts for my kiddos' amazing teachers.

Each bucket has 20 - 30 Halloween pencils, tons of eraser tops and orange sticky notes.

It's simply wrapped up in a Target $1 section bucket with some cellophane and a little left-over ribbon from my ribbon stash.  I made a little tag to top it all off.  Click here to download your own free tags.

Need more Halloween ideas?

 

CLICK HERE

PTA Teacher Appreciation Gifts - Day Four

On day four, we put these little bags filled with mints in all of the teachers' boxes.

I know, you've seen this everywhere already, but how many put in Andes mints?!?

EVERYONE loves ANDES MINTS!

 

One more day of PTA teacher gifts to go, then I'll share our daily hospitality events we hosted for Teacher Appreciation Week.

Other gifts this week:
Friday
Day one
Day two
Day three
 

 

Smiles!!

PTA Teacher Appreciation Gifts - Day One

The first day of Teacher Appreciation Week we  asked the students to bring a flower and note of thanks to their teachers.  To collect all of the flowers we gave them each a vase with a floral pick holding a Thank You tag.  A lot of the vases were donated.  One generous family probably donated 50 of the vases themselves.  We are so fortunate to have such involved families at our school!

 

Don't they look pretty filled with flowers?

(This teacher actually needed TWO vases to hold all of her flowers!!  What a great problem to have, huh?!?)

 

For the Free Printable Label

Click HERE

(printable on Avery Kraft Label 22808)

 

Click HERE

for the first gift we gave the teachers

Stay tuned for the whole week of gifts donated by our PTA!

PTA Teacher Appreciation Gift - Soap & Febreeze in the Teacher Bathrooms

Friday afternoon, after all of the teachers' doors were decorated, I slipped in to all of the teachers' bathrooms and left these on the sink.   They're not much, but it was definitely something the teachers noticed!

 

Here's a close up of the tags.

If you would like to use these tags for your own PTA,

CLICK HERE.

 

To see a post of some of the Teachers' Doors

CLICK HERE.

Teacher Appreciation Gift - Post It Notes

The final day of Teacher Appreciation Week's theme was

"It Should Be Posted EVERYWHERE!  Our Teachers are the Best!"

The students were all asked to bring a pad of post it notes to their teachers.

 

If you've followed for awhile, I gave post it notes as a Teacher Appreciation Gift two years ago, too.

You can see that I just revamped THAT IDEA here.

CLICK HERE to see my first Post It teacher gift.

 

An easy way to wrap up a post it pad is to simply put it in one of those cellophane treat bags and tie with a bow.  You can buy 50 of those bags for between $1 - $2.  Once you have them, you find a million ways to use them!

 

Keep in mind, most students interact with more than their main classroom teacher.  Taking a little something to those other teachers in your child's life will mean so much to them!

 

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

 

Previous Years' Gifts

 

Smiles!!

Teacher Appreciation Gift - Duct Tape

Day four of Teacher Appreciation Week's theme was

"We're Stuck on You!"

Students were asked to bring duct tape, highlight tape, glue sticks or magnets.

 

We chose some of the cute duct tape we've seen around.

I really thought about just writing on the outside of the tape, but I was already on the computer so I went ahead with these labels.

Again, I just printed them off on white card stock, punched them with the extra large scallop punch and attached them with a glue dot.

 

If you missed Day Two

CLICK HERE.

If you missed Day Three

CLICK HERE.

 

Don't forget to include your kids' "Specials" teachers when you are purchasing gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week!

 

Smiles!

Teacher Appreciation Gift - Clorox Wipes

Day three of our Teacher Appreciation Gifts theme was

"We're Coming Clean!  You're the Best!"

Students were asked to bring Clorox wipes, Lysol or paper towels.

(Paper towels may seem strange, but the only place in our school you will find paper towels are in the Kindergarten rooms and in the teacher bathrooms.  If there happens to be a spill in the classroom, the teacher either uses her own paper towels or Kleenex!)

 

I printed off these labels on white cardstock, punched them out with an extra large scallop punch, had the kids write the teachers names at the top and their names at the bottom and stuck them on with a glue dot.

Feel free to print your own labels HERE.

 

If you missed Day Two TAW gift

CLICK HERE.

 

Smiles!

 

Teacher Appreciation Gifts - Dry Erase Markers

 

This year our school focused on bringing gifts that our teachers could really use...well, except for the first day when we showered them with flowers.   Flowers are just a nice thing, right?

 

So, on the second day, the theme was

"Our teachers receive high marks!"

The students were asked to bring a dry erase marker.

Can you imagine what a great day it would be for a teacher to receive a dry erase marker from each child?!? 

 

We found a deal on dry erase sets at Sam's.

I just made a quick tag on the computer, cut it out and taped it with clear packing tape to the package.

Easy, peasy lemon squeezy!

 

Because getting gifts for each child's teacher as well as each special teacher can be expensive, we decided to spread out the gifts for the specials teachers.  The P.E. coaches got a gift one day, the music teacher another day and so on and so on.

(Please remember these teachers.  They give so much of themselves everyday and often get overlooked during Teacher Appreciation Week.  Also, the librarian, nurse & office staff appreciate being recognized as well.)

 

Stay tuned for more gifts from teacher appreciation week!

 

Smiles!!!

You're a Good Egg

Our teachers will find these little treats in their boxes today.

It's not much, but just a little something saying "thank you."

They do so much for our kids with so little recognition.

Our hospitality budget gets smaller every year as PTA says most funds should go towards things that are beneficial to all students...programs, technology, etc.  I agree the kids need all of those things, but I argue that taking care of the teachers is also beneficial to the students.  A happy teacher is a happy classroom.  We'll leave this topic for another day so.....

Our budget friendly little token of thanks was simply a mini twix bar, wrapped in a thank you note and stuffed in a plastic egg with paper grass.  On the outside I wrote, "You're a GOOD egg!"

 

What are some budget friendly ideas your PTA does to say thanks to your teachers and staff?

 

(As always, sharing this with the parties found in my sidebar.)

 

Smiles!

Teacher Heart Attack

 

My room mom partner suggested that the Teacher Heart Attack might be a fun surprise.

She shared some details on how it worked and I totally agreed.

Our sweet teacher was out one day a week or two before Valentine's Day.  The perfect chance for me to drop off the pre-cut hearts and have the students write a little something.  I gave them the prompt, "I love Mrs. Monk because..." 

 

 

Here is one example of the hearts that were inside.  I meant to include her entire team, but life got in the way.  In the future, I'd add her team, maybe parents, the principal and other people along those lines.  It might even be cute to sneak one in from her husband/parents/kids if you could manage it!

 

Our teacher did say it was totally unexpected...she loved it!

 

Smiles!

 

Will share this fun idea at some of the great parties found in the side bar =>

 



Happy Summer Cake Pops

One of my favorite little friends gave these to some of the staff and faculty at our school for her little "End Of Year" gift. 

Pretty sweet!

Smiles!!

I may share these cake pops with some of the fun parties found in the side bar =>

Teacher Gift Card Wreath

Thought I'd share with you the gift card wreath that we make for the teachers at our school.  It takes a little planning before hand, so it's probably too late for you to pull it off this year.  Just put it on your to do list for next year!

We start by sending out a letter a few weeks before hand with a self addressed envelope attached. (CLICK HERE TO SEE LETTER.)

The parents are then asked to either send in a gift card, cash or check by a certain date...usually a week before the end of school.  Once we have collected all of the cards and the money, the room moms purchase the gift cards, wreaths and ribbon.  

The cards are simply tied to the wreath with ribbon and that's it!  Of course you can add more embellishments but it looks great just as it is.

   It's so easy and such a great gift for teachers!

I'm lucky enough to be the room mom to both of my boys' teachers so you get to sneak a peek at the two I created this year.  (To see the tree I made last year, click here.)

The paper mache' letters were added to personalize the wreaths a little bit.  Tied to the wreath with ribbon lets the teachers' use it for a Christmas decoration now and in the future.

Teacher Gift Idea - Donate Books to the Class Library

A great way to say thanks to your child's teacher is to

 1) order books when she passes out the Scholastic book order forms

(the more the students buy, the more points she earns to buy items for the classroom.)

AND 

2) order an extra book for her classroom library when you do.

Many times there are $1.00 books on the order forms that are PERFECT for this sort of thing.

These inexpensive books are a great way for her to suppliment her library and/or give-a-way to students.

A personalized book plate for the donated book is a nice touch.

CLICK HERE to download a blank version of the book plate shown.

For more great teacher gift ideas

CLICK HERE!

Smiles!



My Top Ten Teacher Gifts

As the school year gets ready to begin, my thoughts start turning to the teachers that will spending a large part of their days with our children.

Being a former teacher and a room mom,  I thought I'd share with you my top teacher gift ideas.

another kate creation

1. Visa Gift Cards – individually or as a whole classroom contribution are ALWAYS a hit.  They can be used anywhere for anything anywhere!  Gas, groceries, spa day, maid service, ANYTHING!!!  There are lots of cute ideas out there for dressing up a gift card.

the blackberry vine

2. School Supplies – extra supplies for the students or “nice” supplies for her; think cute file folders, notebooks; nice pens, nice scissors, etc.  Pick up extras before school starts when the prices are CHEAP!

3. Books – order extra books when filling out the book orders each month. For every book you buy the teacher earns points that she can use towards extra books for the classroom.  Make book plates to put inside each book your family donates.  For a free book plate printable, CLICK HERE.

4. Items for Rewards – dollar store toys, kids meal toys, cool pencils, stickers, etc.  Collect items from party favor bags and kids meals.

5. Lunch – bring or make her (or the entire grade level) lunch. To plan ahead of time, make a menu for her to fill out and return to you so you know you’re getting her exactly what she wants!  This is nice anytime of the year, but a special treat for her birthday (or half-birthday.)  For a free Get To Know You printable, CLICK HERE or CLICK HERE.

the blackberry vine

6. Dinner – when you pick up your kiddo from school, drop off a frozen entree (that you made earlier that week, month) with as many of the fixings as possible. i.e. manicotti, garlic bread, salad, pound cake and fresh berries for dessert.  Be sure everything is disposable so she doesn't have to worry about returning dishes!  This is especially nice for the teacher with a family at home.  What a treat to not have to wonder about what's for dinner! CLICK HERE FOR BLANK MENU.

the blackberry vine
7. Homemade items - Cookies, snacks, pies, cakes, anything yummy!  This is especially nice for the teacher with children.  Bringing home a sweet treat for after dinner or for breakfast is always a hit.  CLICK HERE FOR CINNAMON ROLL PRINTABLE; FOR CINNAMON ROLL RECIPE.

8. Coffee/Tea/Soft Drinks – Drop off her favorite drink during the school day.  A fancy caffeine pick-me-up is always a nice treat, especially for those on a budget (aren't we all!?!?)  CLICK HERE FOR YOUR OWN TEACHER INFO SHEET

9. Your Time – volunteer to do what ever you can to make her day easier. Teachers of the younger grades may have many items to cut out/prepare for each weeks’ lesson.

10. Your Prayers – for her, her family, her principal, her class, etc As you develop a relationship with the teacher, you may want to send her a note letting her know that you pray for her every day. Asking if there is anything specific that you can pray for her is always appreciated? Let her know no request is too small.  For a First Day of School Prayer, CLICK HERE.

Don’t forget the others that help to make your child’s year a wonderful one. The school secretary is a big one…especially the one who takes most of the calls and helps most of the parents. Be REAL nice to her…she deserves it!

Smiles!

Linking to some of the fun parties in my side bar ->