I was doing school pick-up yesterday and one of the teachers told me she is counting down as there are only 12 days left of school.

WHAAAAAT???

While she was excited, I was having a total panic that I only had 12 days left until that last school bell rings. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very ready for summer, but I’d be lying if I said that working from home and having kids off school is easy. If you have any super awesome tips or tricks on how to actually manage that, I’m all ears.

But, I digress…

I thought it might be fun to do a quick round up of easy teacher gifts….because if you’re like me, this causes stress each June. These gifts can work for school teachers, but many would also work for daycare, preschool, dance teachers, etc, etc. 

School Supplies/Prizes

This has been my go-to gift for the past few years and the teachers have seemed to love it. Most school teachers I know have prize buckets in their class and they have to fill those prize buckets using their own money. I visit the dollar store and stock up on a whole whack load of tiny trinkets to re-supply their prize bucket. I’ll also add in stickers and other school supplies into the bin so that they can save some of their own money to buy something they actually want. 

Booze

So, this depends on the teacher and you have to know that he/she will be into this, but seriously, after a whole year teaching kids, I think teachers deserve a drink! Buy a nice bottle of wine or go all-out and do a whole set they can use (like a bottle of vodka, some ginger beer and a copper cup for Moscow Mules).

Tea/Coffee

My youngest daughter goes to a pre-school that has 12 teachers so I’m always stuck on what to get. The last couple of times I’ve needed gifts I’ve gone to David’s Tea and bought a huge tea wheel that they can keep in their school kitchen. Also, if you’re local to Edmonton, my friend Mel of The Northern Table recently launched locally & ethically sourced teas, and they are packaged really beautifully. If you know the teacher is a coffee drinker, then I think a bag of locally roasted coffee beans or a sampler pack would be an awesome gift. 

(Side note, I’ve also done bottles of Essie nail polish for all 12 of the teachers and that went over well one year.)

Reusable Containers/Wraps

I recently got a pack of Goldilocks beeswax food wraps for my birthday and it was one of my favourite gifts. These wraps are gorgeous and would make really great teacher gifts, especially for a teacher who you know is environmentally conscious. Another idea is Stasher bags which are really nice reusable silicone bags. Most teachers I know have to bring their own lunch to school, so these would be a great addition to any lunch kit. I know you can order Stasher bags online, but locally I’ve also seen them at Bulk Barn and at Mountain Equipment Co-op. 

Gift Card to a Teacher Supply Store

Along the same lines as the school supplies, a gift card to a teacher supply store would mean that the teacher has to spend less out of her own pocket to buy the things she actually needs for her classroom. Locally, Education Station would be a great option. 

Nice notebooks/notecards

I’m a firm believer that you can’t have too many pretty notebooks. Stock your teacher up with a gorgeous hardcover notebook and a nice pen (or what about personalized pencils?), or a set of classy blank notecards. My favourite place to buy notebooks is Indigo and they often have accompanying sticky notes which is nice to include too. 

I hope that is helpful! If you have a great idea (or if you’re a teacher and have a fave gift), let me know in the comments below. 🙂