Saturday, November 21, 2009

Gifts to Give To Teachers Part 3

Part 3 of my Teacher Gift Guide! Hopefully you can get lots of ideas for that special teacher in your life. Or other people who might like these ideas!


Little Vintage Violet: a collage kitBarbed lotus
13. Kits
Since food often isn't eaten in time, why not give a food making kit? Give the main ingredients for a favourite recipe, for example, biscuits or pasta. Include the recipe, and if required, a biscuit cutter.
You could also make up movie watching kits, relaxation kits, craft making kits, anything your imagination comes up with.

You could also make a Breakfast Basket, a Gardening Basket, etc.
RetroGrandma
14. Make a hollow book
There are instructions online for how to make a hollow book. It's rarely given, is fun, and you could pick an old book cover that suits the teacher. If you're the parent, your child can help with a lot of the gluing! Or, you can buy them online for reasonable prices.

SewFabulousCraft
15. A recipe booklet or poetry anthology
Write out your favourite recipes and present them nicely. Or write out/print out lots of your favourite poems. You could theme it, such as 'My favourite...' or 'Recipes that could be made in class' 'recipes for a quick dinner' 'recipes for tasty lunches for teachers' anything that would be useful. 'Relaxing poems' 'Poems to read to classes', etc. I recommend you make it in a way that he or she can add to it later with their own recipes or poems.

EmsyJane
16. Hand, feet or eye wheatbags

You can buy these or make them. You just microwave for a few minutes, then put it in your bed, or in your pocket. May not be useful for an Australian Christmas, but I'm sure it'd be used once winter comes around! (Unless you're in Queensland where you might be out of luck for this one!)
I *love* mine. In fact mine (much bigger than the ones I pictured) is sitting on my lap right now. It's good for backaches, cramps and so on as well. You can find the instructions all over the internet, and buy them online or at craft fairs.

LeakyLounge
17. A Photoshop Adventure

Are you a creative student or parent? Get (good) photos of your teacher, and photoshop them into a travel (or fantasy!) adventure. Make it look like they've travelled all over the world or through time. Put them in some sort of novelty situation. And print it nicely. You don't need to frame it. This would give a kick to the teacher, and shows off your talents. If they taught you creative writing, you could write a story to go with it! Or, make them the star of a movie!

Enrique
18. C.Ds
Many teachers love music. Find an appropriate cd and give it to them. Relaxation c.ds are also good, and usually anything upbeat or classical is great. Or recommend something that you love that they might also.

What's Eating Yin?Bellissima Minerals
19. Samplers
Does your teacher like to cook? Provide them with small sample bags of lots of different spices that they may not have tried before. Or tealeaf or coffee samples! (if they drink tea and coffee). Or soap samples for fancy soaps.

Mywoodentoys
20. A 'Dime Store Game'.
You can make them yourself, and they look quite awesome. Also very small so they won't take up much room.

Handsonlearningfun
Alice The Camel from Feltboard Fun
21. Classroom resources
Look up teaching resources online, and then make some of them for him or her, or buy some. Some good ones are maths or literacy games- they can often be made just with a computer printer and a laminator. What would be fantastic is if you could add to what they taught you or your child this year. An example a lecturer gave (not in regard to presents) was when he was teaching Germany between the wars, he bought a lot of Deutschmarks on Ebay, that showed the inflated prices. This allowed the class to remember things a lot more than if he'd just told them. They could pass them around, have a look, and exclaim over it. Props. Teachers would love relevant props! If your class was learning about the economy and had a 'shop' simulation- get or make some play money. If you do a lot of acting in class, get some props for that. Some hats or something. Feel free to discuss more thoughts about this with me! Or buy or make some maths equipment, a small board game, posters for the class, anything at all that could be used! Have a look at the things you did this year, and then see if you can improve it somehow for next year's students.

Griffies Growth
22. Add to the Reading Corner, home corner or give to the class pet
Does your classroom have a reading corner? (Yes, even high schools have reading corners here! Or they SHOULD). Buy some small beanbags or comfy cushions. When I was prac teaching one of the beanbags was broken and needed to be replaced. It was shaped like a flower. Or buy some books for the classroom library shelf. Second hand would be fine. Is there a class pet? Buy it an ornament, some food, a toy. Is it a class for younger kids? Is there a 'home corner'? Add to it! Donate small food packets (eg the tiny cereal packets for travelling), dress up clothes, waldorf toys, plastic foods...
AGlimpseofReality

23. Earrings, necklaces, hats etc

Does your teacher wear jewellery? Have you seen her out and about wearing them if not in the classroom? Does your teacher wear a hat? These can be nice gifts for males or females. Just make sure it's non allergenic. Ask students if she wears gold or silver more often. Many teachers like wearing bright and colourful things in class. Or novelty earrings. Many young male teachers I know enjoy wearing caps when not in class. Ties might also go into this category, if the male teacher wears them. If your teacher has long hair, how about some nice hair things?

LilacAve
24. Things to make the class less stinky.

... kids smell. Buy your teacher some sort of way to freshen the air. Reed diffusers are a good one (as long as no one has allergies!). There are also more natural ways to do it. I suggest you look it up! It's good to have a wide base as well, so that it will be less likely to spill.

2 comments:

  1. Nice ideas. I especially like the last one, at first I thought it was a wine bottle. At my school parents would give wine, but I went to a 90% Italian decent school. My mom would give wine to the bus drivers, pretty funny:P

    I also like the food kits!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It actually used to be a mini wine bottle!

    ReplyDelete

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