I would like to start thinking about a gift for my day care provider. She is WONDERFUL to all of my kids. When my husband was out of work, and we had to pull them out, we were all devestated. Then she filled their spots :(. Luckily, when school started, they opened back up so we got right back in!! YEA! And the kids are so happy now!! Well, only one is with her full-time and the other two only on no school days. Either way, she is amazing. I want to give her a meaningful gift for Christmas, and normally I'm good with this, but I am just trying to think of something really good. She has enough toys, stickers, stamps, etc for the kids. I know a few restaurants her and her husband love, but I'm thinking something homemade from the kids. I am considerging trying to get pictures of all of the day care kids and putting them on a mat and having each family take it from me one day to write on the mat....
How about a giftcard to a spa, so she can get some special pampering for herself--massage, facial, etc.
Many daycare providers work for a low hourly amount when you break down their cost, th enumber of hourse, etc. My daycare providers always appreciated CASH or giftcards greatly. You can be creative - a nice travel coffee mug and a giftcard to a local coffee shop - or tin of homemade cookies with a giftcard to a restaurant saying the sweets are for desert. My niece's (who is a teacher) favorite was a totebag, beach towel and a bookstore giftcard. Day care teachers are people who like the usual stuff once the kids have gone home - so stuff for the daycare wouldn't be top on my list.
been doing the home daycare thing for 8 years now.....& some of my fav gifts are fleeting: a bouquet of flowers, fresh-baked sweets. I don't want to have to store anything, I don't want to feel obligated to "keep" anything.
& gift certificates to restaurants/book stores are fun.....but I'd rather have the flowers or sweets!
I usually do a giftcard to a restaurant and a homemade treat. Last year I also got some wooden ornaments from Michael's and had the kids decorate them and that was part of her gift. I also have them make her cards for birthdays & christmas.
I am not sure of the site but, my husband works in the printing industry and they print books from Kodak. My hubby got books made for my mom, his mom, and they printed an extra one for me. It was under 100$ for all 3 to be printed and that was without a discount. Maybe you can snap some shots of the kids one afternoon or morning and get one made of all the children in the daycare?? Or just one of your children. You can put little notes or captions in the pics as well. You can have multiple pics on one page or just one large one. They are hard cover and look beautiful. The other suggestion would be to have each child make a card (if they are old enough) and make a nice treat in a tin?? No matter what I am sure she will be very happy with anything you give. Very thoughtful.
our daycare lady is from England and every christmas we got to a nearby British store and pick out an assortment of candies and crackers and other silly stuff and she loves it. Maybe there's something that your daycare lady really likes but doesnt get for herself? For me, it's a pedicure. I love getting pedicure gift certs because it's something I really like but cant justify paying for myself.
Personally I would get her a nice gift card from a store she likes or a spa. I wouldn't get or give her teacher type gifts. I 'm sure she has plenty of that.
She needs something she can use for herself when she has her own down time. Hope this helps.
What about a pillow, apron, tablecloth, other thing and get all the kids to do hand prints and their names on it?
If you can get the photos, that's a very sweet idea. Did something similar for my kids' godmother and she cried. Scrapbooks are nice, too. A photo collage from Walgreens that can be matted and framed at AC Moore (running a special this week). Crafts that your children make are also heartwarming. You could also bake a cake for her family or order a fruit basket from Edible Arrangements--Yum, Yum. Love those.
I think getting a picture of the kids together is a great idea. I was going to say put it in a larger frame, center the picture and have all of the kids write their name around the picture but I'm not sure the age of the children. If they are too young to write, you could have them all do their handprint around the picture.
