Teacher Gift Ideas From Actual Teachers (Christmas & End Of Year)

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Want to know the gifts teachers really want? I asked my community and my teacher friends, and this list came straight from their answers.

Some of what came back was predictable. Some of it wasn’t, including a fairly consistent plea to stop with the mugs.

These work for Christmas, the end of the school year, Teacher Appreciation Week or World Teacher’s Day, whatever date that falls on in your part of the world.

What Not To Give A Teacher

Just as useful as knowing what teachers want is knowing what they end up with a cupboard full of.

• Mugs. This came up more than anything else. Most teachers have more mugs than shelf space, and a mug with “World’s Best Teacher” on it is the single most given gift there is. If you’re set on a mug, make it personalised with their actual name so at least it doesn’t vanish in the staff room.
• Anything scented. Candles, diffusers, hand creams and bath products are all fine in principle, but scent is personal and teachers receive a lot of it. Safer if you know what they like.
• Ornaments and knick-knacks. Classroom shelf space is finite and so is space at home. A decorative item has to be really good to earn its place.
• Chocolate, in bulk. The teacher community was split on this one. Some love it, some end up with twenty boxes in the last week of term. Fine as part of a hamper, less good as the whole gift.
• Anything that needs storing. Teachers move classrooms, share rooms and pack up every school year. A gift they have to find a home for is a job, not a present.

What always lands instead: a handwritten note from your child. Every single teacher who replied mentioned words in some form. It costs nothing and it’s the one they keep.

Inexpensive Teacher Gift Ideas

There are plenty of cheap teacher gifts that teachers will really love. It’s not the price that counts but the thought. And don’t forget to add a handwritten note expressing your thanks. Here are some inexpensive teacher gifts for end of year or Teacher Appreciation day.

Small Potted Plants 

Small, easy to care for plants are a great gift idea for teachers to either keep in their classroom or for home. Succulents are a hardy plant that is low maintenance, plus they look great! 

Alternatively, if your child’s teacher is not a green thumb, you can get some fabulous-looking artificial plants these days.

I have quite a few from Kmart and they are great for adding a touch of greenery without the worry of forgetting to water them! 

Especially in classrooms that are shut up over weekends and school break!

Bonus Tip: Marianne’s advice was to have your child decorate the pot, which turns a $5 succulent into something made by your kid. A permanent marker or some paint pens and ten minutes does it.

Journals & Notebooks

Teachers are always in need of quality notepads and journals to keep track of their lesson planning and ideas. A cute notepad makes a practical teacher gift but a generic basic planner might not get used.

For a more specialised gift idea, there are some amazing teacher planners available, such as the Erin Condren teacher lesson planner.

They also have a Teacher Record Book journal, which is a great way of keeping records of grades, assessments and interviews through the school year.

Or go with something completely unrelated to teaching and add a little fun to their spare time with a bucket list journal with experiences they want to try, books they want to read and more.

Check out the best planners for the new year.

Personalised Teacher Notes

This personalised teacher notepad is a simple way for them to send home a message to parents plus it makes it extra special when it is customised with their name.

Hand Cream

Long nights marking assignments or typing up lesson plans can be hard on the hands. Hydrating hand cream can help keep hands in top shape! 

Whiteboard markers are always in high demand! Even something as simple as a large hand sanitiser to keep in the classroom is a useful idea as part of a larger gift of classroom supplies. 

I’ve even heard teachers joke about boxes of tissues making great gifts… maybe as part of a bigger end-of-year gift.

Classroom Storage

Keeping a classroom organised can be a big task, especially if teaching early education, or high school art, where there are a lot of extra teaching resources, art supplies and learning tools to keep tidy.

Storage and organisation items can work great in the classroom, such as stackable trays, divided tubs or even a lazy Susan designed for storing stationery such as paints and pencils!

Here in Australia, again… Kmart has the goods! Or IKEA.

Food & Drink

The teacher community was divided on this teacher appreciation gift. Some love getting chocolate, while others prefer something more sentimental or functional. 

If you are wanting to put together last day of school gifts for teachers with food or drink, consider creating a teacher hamper.

Include a few different items such as chocolate, a bottle of their preferred style of wine (make sure they are a wine drinker first) and a few non-consumable items such as those listed above. 

You may like to add a novelty mug or glass… or both, like this fun set from Amazon.

There are lots of funny personalised drinkware options on Etsy too, and it gives you the chance to support a small business while getting something unique for your child’s teacher.

For male teachers, it may be a sampling of craft beers that are better included in their hamper or some quality coffee beans for the coffee drinkers. 

Either way, these items make great fillers for a teacher gift basket.

Organising Caddy

There’s no denying that life as a teacher means taking a lot of work to and from school and that isn’t always easy!

This Erin Condren foldable organizer is the perfect way for them to transport their work and essentials to the car and back to their teacher’s desk again. I actually have two of these in my home office and they are fabulous for crafters too!

Framed photos, small potted plants, wine, chocolates, Tupperware.

-Mrs F

Plasticwear 

This one made me giggle, but many teacher friends have told me how much they love getting Tupperware gifts. The Tupperware drink bottles are especially a great choice.

Alternatively, other good-quality kitchenware is an option too. Microwavable food containers are a winner for bringing yummy home-cooked lunches to school.

Class Gift From Students

A gift from their class is one a teacher will cherish more than any other.

• A framed photograph of the whole class
• A canvas signed with a small message from each student
• A booklet of reasons why they’re the best teacher, one page per student. This is the one Mr O still has on his desk years later.
• A word cloud canvas of kind words the kids use to describe their teacher

More ideas in my DIY class gifts for students, and handmade gifts kids can make if you’d rather they made something individually.

Gift Cards

While gift cards may not be the most creative teacher appreciation gifts, they are useful! The best gift cards for teachers are places they can buy supplies such as stationery and classroom essentials.

Somewhere unrelated to school supplies can be fun too though, such as a department store, a restaurant voucher or an experience gift card.

For teacher gift ideas in Australia, great options are Kmart, Officeworks, Target, Smiggle or JB Hifi.

For other parts of the world, Amazon gift cards are an easy online option and they also offer a range of other gift cards on their website too, like Apple, Starbucks and Google Play.

Coffee lovers will appreciate a Starbucks gift card or store gift cards to local supply stores.

Pamper Voucher

A lot of teachers love a pamper, and after a long school year of developing young minds, teachers deserve some self-care! This is one you might like to double-check before purchasing though, just to make sure your child’s teacher will actually use it.

A massage or pamper voucher to a local spa can be a great option for female teachers.

For male teachers, perhaps a grooming voucher to the local barber. This is a great option if your kid’s teacher has a beard or moustache he needs to keep tidy. Men need some pampering too! 

Potted succulent with a little sign saying ‘Thank you for helping me grow’. Word art/word cloud with all the words, feelings etc that the student (or class) have about the teacher. Personalised stamp or stickers. Notepaper –

-Mrs B

More Cheap Teacher Gifts From Amazon

Sticky Note & Page Marker Box Set

How Teachers Swear Adult Colouring book

Colourful Self-Inking Motivation School Grading Teacher Stamp Set

Unique Teacher Gift Ideas

Finding a unique gift is always a great option and with so many small businesses and handmade stores catering to the unique, this is easier than ever. Think outside the box and give something a little different.

Charity Gifts

For a unique teacher gift idea, why not consider supporting a charity you know they would love, in their name. This is a really thoughtful gift that helps others too. 

Here are a few charity gift ideas:

• Care-gifts
• World Wildlife Fund
• World Vision

Media Subscription

When you are busy lesson planning and marking, even during school holidays, it’s easy for teachers to struggle to find time for themselves.

A subscription to an audiobook service or music service may be a great reminder for them to take some me-time sometimes.  

Audible is a great option for listening to audiobooks in the car, doing housework or going for a walk. They have personal development books plus all the latest fiction releases too. 

Spotify, Apple Music or Amazon Music are music streaming services, which means no need to buy the latest CD releases. Plus, music can be a great classroom tool too if you are looking for a practical gift! 

Gifts For A Teacher With A Thing

Most teachers have one. A Harry Potter classroom, a Star Wars lanyard, a desk full of frog ornaments, a coffee obsession that everyone in the school knows about.

If your child’s teacher has a thing, that’s the easiest gift you’ll ever buy, because you already know what they like and almost nobody else pays attention to it.

How to work out what it is. Look around the classroom at pickup. Check what’s on their lanyard, their water bottle, their desk and the wall behind it. Ask your child, because kids notice this stuff and will tell you at length. If they’ve decorated the room in a theme, that’s your answer.

Then go one step past the obvious. Anyone can buy a Harry Potter mug. What lands is something specific enough that it proves you noticed.

• A Harry Potter teacher: a house-crest lanyard in their house, not a random one. A “Slytherin” or “Gryffindor” nameplate for the classroom door. Harry Potter LEGO. A set of themed bookends for the reading corner.
• A Marvel or Star Wars teacher: desk figurines, a themed pen pot, a set of character stickers for marking.
• A gardener: seeds for something they’ve mentioned, or a cutting from your own garden potted up by your child.
• A coffee person: a bag of beans from a local roaster rather than a supermarket, or a voucher for the cafe they actually go to.
• A reader: It’s pretty hard to guess what book they haven’t already got or read, so unless you’ve had a specific conversation, go for book adjacent gifts, or a bookshop voucher, which is the safest option.
• A traveller: something small from a place they’ve mentioned wanting to go, or a luggage tag if they’ve got a trip booked.
• A quokka fanatic, a sausage dog person, a bee lover, whatever the animal is: pins, stickers, a print, a pot decorated with it by your child. Etsy is good for this because someone has made a quokka version of nearly everything.

A word of caution on this one. The more specific you go, the more you need to be right. If you’re guessing at a fandom, or you’re not sure whether they like the thing or just got given a lot of it (this happens constantly, and it’s how teachers end up with forty owl ornaments), go with something practical instead.

One of the teachers who replied to me made this exact point about mugs: it only takes a couple of years of people assuming before you’ve got a cupboard full.

And if you’re not sure but you know the theme, a gift card to somewhere that sells it lets them pick. Less personal, but it doesn’t end up in a drawer.

Jewellery 

Jewellery is a tricky one, simply because we all have such unique tastes. Avoid this one unless you are confident you know what your child’s teacher loves.

A pair of beautiful handmade earrings from a local business could be perfect. Or maybe a statement necklace from Etsy.

Cufflinks are an option for men who are required to dress more formally for school. You can add a bit of fun with personalised cufflinks.

I’m not a teacher but one of the kids came home after giving their teacher a gift that they said was the best ever. We do charity gifts. We mix it up each year as to which charity we give to on behalf of teacher. I figure teachers get a whole load of things from students and this is just something a little different.

-Aussie mum

Male Teacher Gifts

While many of the presents for teachers already mentioned are great male teacher gifts, here are a few options that are more specifically aimed at men:

Personalised Mug 

For the coffee-loving teacher, who’s sick of his favourite mug going missing in the staff room, why not get him something personalised?

Either a traditional ceramic mug or a personalised travel mug that he can use to and from work too would be a great option. 

There are plenty of services available for personalised products, like Etsy, Vistaprint or a local engraving service if your travel mug is stainless steel. Now all you need is a fun slogan like:

“Mr Jones is the world’s coolest teacher” 

“Mr Brown deserves an A+ in teaching!”

In fact, personalised gifts make great teacher gifts overall just to avoid things going walkabout from their classroom by mistake. No more missing coffee mugs or favourite pens.

Sports Tickets

Female teachers may love this gift just as much, but why not get your favourite teacher tickets to their favourite sports team?

With this teacher appreciation gift, something that can be redeemed on multiple dates may be a safe option… unless you plan to ask for your teacher’s availability first. 

You could coordinate this gift with other parents who want to contribute and make it a season pass or VIP membership.

DIY Teacher Gifts

Handmade gifts make sentimental gift ideas for teachers, especially if they are DIY gifts for teachers from students. If your children are younger, you may need to help them with coming up with ideas and creating something special.

Their teacher has no doubt already received enough drawings from her class to wallpaper her house so make it something a bit fancier! 

Sometimes handmade gifts are the best gifts for teachers, so long as they are something extra special!

Handmade Wall Art

Bright-coloured wall art is a great way to dress up a classroom and there are so many DIY options for creating wall art that looks fabulous! 

For a more sentimental option, we created this handmade teacher canvas in a previous year and it still hangs in the teacher’s classroom.  I have also included a gift idea for assistant teachers too.

Homemade Food Gifts

A beautifully presented home-baked gift can be a lovely option, especially if you are looking for a budget-friendly gift idea too. A yummy slice in a gift box or some homemade jam perhaps. Check out my recipes for more ideas.

Be mindful of potential allergies your teacher may have. 

Another option is a mason jar recipe gift where you add all the dry ingredients and the recipe instructions and they just need to mix in the wet ingredients when they are ready to bake. These look really fab with a ribbon and gift tag added. 

Gifts For The School

If you want to give a gift that is a teacher appreciation gift for the whole school, including support staff, teaching staff, the principal and everyone else involved in the running of the education facility, some creative gift ideas will work.

A plaque in honour of all the staff would be an idea.

Or investing in resources the school can use on behalf of students, such as stocking the school library, putting in new garden beds or small maintenance jobs.

You could also send in some platters or desserts for the teaching staff to share over lunch as a special thank you gift for teachers and support staff.

What About Gifts For Non-School Teachers?

Many kids (and adults) have more than one teacher shaping their minds and abilities each year. Swimming and sports coaches, dance teachers, music teachers… just to name a few.

For specialty teachers, you may be able to gift them something relevant to their type of teaching. Sports accessories, art supplies, novelty music-themed gifts, a high-quality microfibre towel…

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While some extra consideration may be needed to find the perfect gift, the teaching gifts in this list will hopefully have something for everyone. In the end, giving thanks for their hard work teaching our kids is what is most important!