The Greatest Gifts Inside this eBook:
for Seasonal gift ideas to
honor teachers
throughout the school
Teachers year
Hands on kid-to-teacher
gift suggestions that will
teach kids how to have
and show their
appreciation
A teacher approved list
of the best and worst
gifts
A FREE VolunteerSpot eBook

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At VolunteerSpot, we believe
that volunteers should be
rewarded for stepping forward
and sharing their time and
talents with those in need. All
too often, volunteering means
putting up with a certain amount
A sincere THANK YOU to our VolunteerSpot of hassle or frustration – whether
parents and teachers for sharing your ideas and that is late night emails, reply-all
helping us craft this eBook. messages, reminder phone
calls, or searching for a parking
space. Our sponsors enable us
Please feel free to post it on your blog or email it to to provide FREE tools that
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© 2009 by VolunteerSpot DOING GOOD Just Got Easier!
Easier!
Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative
Commons License, Attribution 2.5.
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We LOVE Teachers!!
At VolunteerSpot, we LOVE
teachers! Teachers work hard all year for
our children and deserve our gratitude and
appreciation.
Simply saying THANK YOU in an email or
handwritten note is a kind recognition of
their hard work and a much welcomed
gesture.
For those of you wanting to go the extra
mile, we’ve put together this eBook with
Great Gift Ideas for Teachers.
We’ve included low‐cost and no‐cost
suggestions. We have ideas for individual
student/family gifts, as well as collective
classroom and school‐wide efforts.
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Teacher Appreciation
Throughout
the School Year
September:
Back to School (See our ideas) page 5
November:
Thanksgiving page 6
December:
Winter Holidays page 7
February:
Valentine’s Day page 8
May:
Teacher Appreciation Week page 9
June:
End of the Year page 10
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Back To School
Welcome a new teacher with a basket of classroom supplies. Ask each
family to donate one or two small items: pencils, markers, glue, stickers,
tissues, hand sanitizer, etc.
Help a teacher stock and organize his or her classroom.
Ask for gift card donations from office supply and craft
stores to help with classroom supplies.
Organize a reading circle and classroom helpers. Use
VolunteerSpot to coordinate volunteers ‐ each parent
helping once a month.
Share your special skills and traditions. Compile a list of
special skills, hobbies, or family traditions that parents
can share with the class throughout the year.
Put together a Wish Notebook with teacher surveys and
keep it in the office or library. The surveys should ask
teachers to name their favorite snack, restaurant,
flower, theatre, beverage, charity, author, etc. Parents
can look up gift ideas all year round.
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Show Thanks for Thanksgiving
Fall Wreath
Each student decorates a large colorful paper leaf and writes on the back, “I’m
thankful you are my teacher because _____.” Assemble them into a wreath and
present it to the teacher as a Fall decoration for classroom or home.
Graffiti Wall of Thanks
Teachers say their favorite gifts
involve hearing from the
students themselves. Get
permission to tape a large piece
of butcher paper on the wall
outside of each classroom. Have
the students write at least one
reason they are thankful for their
teacher. Artwork and tasteful
graffiti should be encouraged.
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Winter Holidays
Last year my class made a
collective donation in my
• Fill a basket with warm beverage name to my favorite local
packets: powdered cider, hot charity. It felt so good
chocolate, tea bags, and instant coffee knowing they were supported
pouches. Include a note: “You warm our in a year I couldn’t afford to
hearts! Thank you!” give much myself.
~ 4th grade teacher
Colorado Springs, CO
• Invite teachers to a “souper bowl”
special lunch and serve home‐made
soups from crock pots.
• Ask for teacher discounts and free
tickets to local holiday shows and
theater productions so they can have
special holiday fun with their families.
• Collect gift cards and coupons to local
grocery stores and retailers so teachers
can stretch their holiday entertaining
and shopping budgets.
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Valentines Day
Ideas
Make a list of all the students
in the class and give copies
to each student’s parents.
This assures that every child
in the class receives a
Ask each child to write “I love my
• valentine and saves the
teacher time.
teacher because…” on a small heart cut
from construction paper.
Ask each student to wear a red shirt to
•
school prior to Valentines Day, and
photograph the class holding a sign
reading: “We love our teacher!”
Ask each student to draw a heart and
•
sign their name on one t‐shirt, or a
poster, then present it to the teacher.
Organize Valentines Day activities for
•
the class so that the teacher is free to
take care of other things.
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Teacher Appreciation Week
Select a day during the week and ask each Arrange for a special treat in the
child and their parents to present their teacher’s lounge – a dessert bar, special
teacher with one flower on that day. lunch, or baked goods.
Teachers will go home with a beautiful
bouquet to remind them of how much they
Post decorative signs around the school
are appreciated.
expressing your appreciation.
Ask your local newspaper to donate one
Setup a carwash and have older kids
portion of a page to thank the teachers of
your school for all they do. provide the service to the teachers
during recess.
Ask local businesses to donate one free
meal, manicure, haircut, or personal
service, then give each teacher a ticket,
and hold a raffle!
National Teacher
Appreciation Week is
held during the first full
week of May each year.
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

End of the Year Appreciation
Please visit our blog
Host a “teachers tailgate party” in June. Use
• for more volunteering
VolunteerSpot to coordinate the event. suggestions and to
share your project
ideas and stories.
Compile a photo album for the teacher using photos
•
taken throughout the year.
Help the kids produce a “what I’ll remember about
•
this year” video for their classroom teacher.
Compile a collection of quotes about teachers from
•
students and famous people.
Assemble a Summer Fun basket filled with books,
•
magazines, sunscreen, a beach towel and hat, etc.
Have the class decorate a large flower pot and fill it
•
with a beautiful plant. Add a note ‐ ‘Thanks for
helping us grow this year!’
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Gifts for long-time or retiring
teachers
Create a video or timeline containing
clips from newspapers or magazines
about events that were happening in
the world each year the teacher has
been in service. Include photos of
the teacher with former students.
Frame a photo of the teacher’s first
class and last class together. (Most
schools keep archived copies of
yearbooks.)
Locate past students. Ask them to
write notes or come and speak about
the teacher and how (s)he impacted
their lives.
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Gift Ideas for Middle and High
School Teachers
Bookmark your appreciation. Have your child design a simple bookmark on a computer using a graphics
or word processing program. The bookmark should have a clever message that expresses gratitude and
appreciation for each of their teachers and/or subjects. Be sure the student artist is identified on the
back of the bookmark so that the teacher will always remember who made it. Print several on one page,
then laminate them if possible.
Poetry Slam. Students write an original
poem for each of their teachers about
something interesting or funny that
happened in their class that year.
Perform and record them for posterity.
Video Cool. Students put together an
animated slide show or short video
complementing the teacher and his or her
class. Add a sound track and student art
to make it even more fun and
memorable.
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Collective Gifts
Teachers appreciate gifts
of Time and Treats
because of the thought
behind them. Sometimes,
organizing these activities
VolunteerSpot’s free and easy online scheduler makes it a snap
can seem overwhelming so
to coordinate a group gift from class parents or the broader
they don’t happen.
PTA community. Each parent signs up to contribute a little bit of
time or effort, and collectively the teachers get a HUGELY
rewarding experience.
With just a few simple
clicks, VolunteerSpot can Paperwork Parents: Take turns making copies and grading
help you coordinate just papers to give the teacher a free evening.
about any teacher
Recess or Lunch Monitors: Parents create a supervision
appreciation event – and
schedule and give their child’s teacher well‐deserved quiet
it’s free!
time several days a week.
Get Started NOW!
Meals Circle: Create a meals calendar with each family
www.Volunteerspot.com volunteering to bring lunch or dinner once a week.
Classroom Helpers: Signup to read, help with science
experiments, and tutor kids needing extra help.
Breakroom Treats: Parents signup to drop off homemade
baked goods, flowers, special coffee and other tasty treats
throughout the year.
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

Teacher Gift Survey Results
Most Favorite Gifts Least Favorite Gifts
Coffee mugs
A personal note from students •
• Teachers always
appreciate the thought
Candles
•
Classroom supplies
• behind the gifts they
receive, but the gifts
Candy
•
Restaurant and retail gift cards
• listed here are the ones
teachers most often
Lotion
•
Movie tickets
• receive that they say
are the least useful.
The best way to find out what
• Bath salts
•
teacher might want is to ASK!
The best gift ever was a handwritten letter
(on crinkled notebook paper) from a little girl.
The note said all kinds of things about how
she knows I love her and the class because I
am caring and helpful, etc...it was perfect.
Neither money nor chocolate could ever top
that.
~ 3rd grade teacher
Minneapolis, MN
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

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© 2009 by VolunteerSpot DOING GOOD Just Got Easier!
Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution 2.5.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/