20 Simple and Free Gifts for Any Teacher

What do I give to my child’s teacher? As people of all walks of life traipse the store aisles this December looking for the perfect holiday gift, the teachers that give so much to your children occasionally enter your mind. Should you feel obligated to give a gift? By no means, no. But if you do decide to give to your child’s teacher, here are 10 free and 10 simple options for you and your child to show your appreciation:
The Simple Gifts:

1. Gift cards – The fastest growing gift of any and all populations is the gift card. Teachers love to shop online, go to bookstores, boutiques, and coffee shops.
2. Some connection your child and I share – My students know that I LOVE the Philadelphia Phillies, and the ones who also share that sentiment add to my “Phillies wall.” I have more than 50 items attached to the wall, and it keeps growing. Every teacher has something that they love, and if your child connects with them on it.
3. School insignia – However, students know that my biggest appreciation is attached to our school district and its student-athletes and student-performers. I will gladly wear the Cumberland Valley Eagle just about anytime and anywhere. I think I own 4 polo shirts, two jackets, a bag, and at least 8 t-shirts emblazoned with our team logo. Now I just need a tie.
4. Something personalized – I still have a bear that says “Mr. Miller, Greatest Teacher Ever” from signed by our class valedictorian with a heartfelt thank you note underneath. I reminisce about the impact on that young lady at least once every 2 weeks or so.
5. Something for the classroom – You’d be surprised how many times teachers look around their classroom and wish they had some of the simple things. Tissues. Markers. Glue sticks. Rulers. Boxes of pencils. Scotch tape. A portable file box. A label maker. Your child probably even knows something the teacher’s room could use.
6. Something to get our minds off the classroom – For all the great things that we’d love to use in the classroom, there’s always something we’d love to have to get our minds off of it! One gift I really enjoyed but didn’t think I would was a free rock climbing session at a local indoor wall climb. I liked it so much the first time I actually took my wife there on our first ever “activity date.” A student and their parents inspired that.
7. A photo journal / scrapbook – Like most teachers, my webpage is populated with many photos of the students in my classroom. One thing that I think any teacher would covet is to have that put on paper. There are so many websites that you can just upload photos to for a relatively inexpensive cost and will make a classroom yearbook that will last a lifetime.
8. An inspirational book – My favorite teacher book – Ron Clark’s The Essential 55 was a gift. He’s radically changed the way I teach, and that’s thank to a thoughtful student and parent.
9. Candy / snacks – I’m a sucker for chocolate, and just about every teacher is. In fact, I thing it’s the 2^nd question on our interview, and almost a rite of passage into the classroom.
10. Donation to our favorite charity – Every year my colleagues and I commit ourselves to a “Polar Plunge” to help raise money for the Special Olympics, and each year parents commit themselves to that cause as well. Last year I raised $1,300, and this year I’m looking to crack $1,500. We’ll do it!

The Free / Near Free Gifts:

1. Homemade baked goods from your child – I received 4 handmade bunches of cookies last year, and they were all absolutely delicious. My favorite was made by a 7^th grader who made mint Nutella cookies on her own. My wife and I later made them for our family.
2. Personal drawing / craft – Three of my all-time favorite gifts are the following: a student in my 1^st year of teaching who said she wanted to give me something special but didn’t have the money for any gift made a portrait of me with a protein shake, which she called the “Power Teacher 3,000 mix.” Another student draws all his teachers’ favorite cartoon characters, and I have my portrait of Brian from Family Guy. One other student drew me a series of stock cars on a race track, and even though I’m no race fan, they’re all around my teacher desk.
3. A copy of your child’s extracurricular schedule – Sometimes we just want to give back and we don’t know how. I often love to go to my students’ games and performances, but don’t remember to put it in the schedule. This always helps.
4. A funny photoshopped photo – There’s something sitting right next to the American flag on my desk that I always get a crack from – a photoshopped picture of Rocky Balboa, the fictional Philly fighter, and I duking it out. I also have a funny photoshopped version of a coworker and myself in “Classroom Crashers” (instead of Wedding Crashers) that is a fun thing to pull out when I reach that moment in the classroom where I just need a laugh to reinvigorate my day.
5. Something outside the box – You’d be surprised what students can do when you just ask them to be creative; What makes them better than adults is that we’ve already been conformed and packaged into our “box;” they, however, are brimming with fun ideas. Channel one.
6. A voice-captured holiday card – I still have a card that has the 7^th grade voices of the current senior class. I’ve had to change the battery a couple of times, but I still give it a listen at the beginning of the school year to reignite the passion for the classroom.
7. Promise to have our back – More than anything else on this list, so many teachers wish they just had the support of all the students’ parents that we teach. There are so many people gunning for us in the public sphere anymore; I know there are at least 10 parents of former students I could call up at any time to provide the support and action I would need, for just about anything. That is worth more than any gift card denomination!
8. Kind email to our supervisor – Likewise, I love when principals receive messages from parents so grateful for what we do. Principals often handle nothing but the dirty side of this business; I enjoy seeing the smile on their faces when they agree with the parent that there’s a great teacher leading that child into their bright future.
9. An IOU to volunteer your time in the classroom – I’ve had this a few times and have banked on it, once to have a parent come in and help me tutor low-level math students, and another who volunteered to come in at the end of the year to help me pack and move my classroom. It was so helpful.
10. Thank you note – Most of all, I just want something to add to what I call my “rainy day folder.” There are certain days where I wonder why I’m in this profession, and pulling out a variety of awards, both real and student- generated, as well as thank you notes, cards, photos, and reflections on students and years past all remind me that the greatest gift of all is sharing this educational experience in the classroom.