Gift for Daycare Teacher

There are some cute Christmas necklaces on Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14367999

It seems so impersonal, but gift cards really are well appreciated. The fact is, day care teachers have horrible salaries, and anything that helps them enjoy a night out for dinner, or a special drink in the morning...maybe a new sweater or something is really wonderful. Baked goods are nice, but be cautious about too many "personal" type things like smelly lotions or candles, pictures of your child on a mug etc. While it seems like a great idea, we teachers get those things a lot, and fragrance is a very personal choice. Something cute like a movie basket, with popcorn, some candies, a cute popcorn bowl, and a gift certificate to blockbuster (even add a pizza place if you want to) is super fun, and thoughtful. Good luck!! ~A.~

I used to be a daycare teacher. My favorite gifts were the hand lotions b/c after washing my hands a million and 1 times a day, my skin got very dry. $5 gift cards to starbucks are also well appreciated. I enjoyed getting a FEW sweets, but not a lot. Most kids gave me chocoaltes (especially when I was pregnant), but I had so many that I ended up throwing some out and giving some away to family. Or some cute little Christmas decorations would be nice.

I second the baked goodies and gift card!! =)

I make personalized picture frames. They are decopaged with the color scheme you pick out, then I personalize and I made one recently that is perfect for a teacher. Let me know if you're interested. Just personal message me. I also make personalized planners and I just got some new ones for 2009.

All my friends who are teachers LOVE gift cards. I usually try to do something personal (small gift or some baked goodies) with the giftcard to make it more special.

Hi M.,

I work for Nana Puddins. We specialize in custom embroidery. What about a personalized canvas bag or a custom towel? We can do any theme, and color...visit our website, www.nanapuddins.com for more and if you can think of anything else we can make it for you.

Have a great day!
J. T.

I agree with the gift card idea. As a teacher I received numerous gifts each year, some better than others. While I appreciated the thought, I usually ended up with a bunch of things I could not use.

One thing I didn't like is the amount of chocolate and sweets that were given to us. Parents sometimes spent a lot of money on the treats and I ended up giving them away because I could not eat all that candy; and sometimes it had nuts and I was allergic.

Gift cards make alll those uncomfortable problems go away.

You can't go wrong with a Starbucks gift card.

I second the gift card. I taught for 8 years and I have an entire cabinet of coffee mugs, and I don't even drink coffee or hot chocolate or anything that requires a mug! I usually use them to hold pens on my desk and such, but you only need so many of those. Also, Starbucks is good if the teacher drinks coffee. Again, I'm not a coffee drinker, so I usually gave them to my brother-in-law, a huge Starbucks fan. I liked the ones to Chili's or other restaurant ones that can be used a multiple places, a nearby movie theater, a nearby nail salon, or even Target / Walmart / Kohls type place. I've gotten the movie basket listed below with popcorn, candy, soda, blockbuster gift card which I loved! Personally, I loved candles and lotions and such. Fragrance can be difficult to determine what the person likes, so I usually give vanilla because that seems to be a safe one most people like. I was never wild about the homebaked stuff. I'm such a picky eater that most of it I didn't like (I don't even like the stuff I bake :). My husband loved those gifts though. I did like them when they came on a cute serving dish or tin I could use once the stuff was gone. I also loved any kind of holiday decor I could use at home. Anyway, I usually budget about $10 for a teacher's gift, but I have 3 to buy for. When it was just my son's babysitter when he was a toddler, I did about $25.

One thing my sister does which would be a good idea for future gifts, she sends her daughter's teacher a questionaire at the start of the year about the teacher's favorite candy, store, fragrance, color, etc. so she can get her small things all year. I may try that next year.

I have some gift baskets for $10 that include a bar of soap (handmade), a small guest size cutsie soap and a bath salt. Also, you can get 15% off and a free bath salt for your first order. You can see them here at http://www.havenssweetscents.webs.com. I make everything myself. Everything is all natural too with the exception of the fragrance oils but they are skin safe. Rosemary Peppermint is the overall favorite of everyone who has tried my soaps. Just a suggestion.

H.