Holiday Gift Picks: What Teachers Want

One of the first sets of gifts you might want to cross of your list is teacher gifts, since they are "due" a bit earlier than others (when my daughter was in preschool, school would end for the season as early as December 15th). Here are some of my favorite ideas. There are just a few, and I'll tell you why:

Personalized Teacher Notepads($19.50) by sarah + abraham. These were a hit with R's kindergarten teachers.


Designer Pens by Jonathan Adler (on sale for $10.99, normally $19) at The Company Store. The most stylish pen a teacher will receive all year, and it arrives in a gift-ready box, too.


Personalized Umbrella ($25) from Fill-R-Up. I don't know anyone who couldn't use an extra umbrella- do you? You choose the colors.

A Personalized Photo Collage ($4.99 at Shutterfly). I mentioned this one before; we made one for the children's inspiring preschool teacher who retired last year. It wasn't anything fancy or expensive, but it was heartfelt and meant a lot to her.


Which brings me to my next point. Ask any teacher what gifts mean the most to them, and they're sure to tell you it's the notes from parents and handmade gifts from the kids, not the "World's Best Teacher" mugs. Give them something that's heartfelt and you can't go wrong. Or, if you want to go the gift card route, I'd suggest skipping a very specific type of store (you don't know, for example, that a teacher really wants to shop at Sephora or H&M, do you?), and buying an Amazon.com gift card or American Express gift card instead. Sure, everyone would love to get cash, but giving paper bills can be awkward. An American Express gift card can be a more elegant way to give a teacher money to spend as he/she wishes.

But that's just my opinion. What do you all think?


Psst! Want more holiday gifts picks? We've got 'em! Visit these links:

2010 Gift Picks for Guys
2010 Toy Gift Picks
ALL of our holiday gifts picks (just keep scrolling down!)
ALL of our favorite all-time gift picks (yep, keep scrolling)