Gift Suggestions

I guess it depends- is it a home day care or business?? gift certificates to a learning store would be great .. that's usually what I give my kid's teachers. that way they can spend it on supplies in stead of having 40 new candles or bars of soap every Christmas...

Music CDs.. There are rock lullabys that are favorites amongst people in the entertainment world that have infants and young children.. silly songs CDS.. find out what they do have, and get them something to add to the collection.. in this hi tech world of video games and such, children still love to hear music and sing/dance along..

I just give gift cards. Target, Kohls, or in my case, a nail salon that I know she likes. I hate to be so impersonal but I know she loves it. There is also a great site that I use all the time www.winecountrygiftbaskets.com which has some neat stuff. Hope that helps.

I always go to TJMaxx and get a bunch of cool hats and scarves and mittens - who couldn't use those. And the nice thing about them is you have a little room to let them know you have a sense of their personal style...

Emily N.
Closet Smarts

Definitely Bath & Body works gift cards!! :-) You can make them for any amount you want and that way you won't get something someone doesn't like with the gift sets they offer.

Hi A.,
what about some coupons for the spa.....I think a facial would be a great gift!

In the past I have done a single serving package of microwave popcorn with a Block Buster gift card tied to it (this was before Netflix). Also a book mark with a gift card to a bookstore. That way everyone gets something equal in value but can personalize it to their taste.

ask the daycare provider what she needs and give her a price range you are willing to spend.S.

What about surprising them with a mini snack buffet? Carve a watermelon like a basket and fill with melon balls and other healthy fruit, a tray of cheese and whole grain crackers, oatmeal cookies, things like that. They will remember your generosity made with love!

go to a craft store or the christmas tree shop and buy some cute ornaments and get a marker that you could write on them with...from the craft store...a.c moore or michaels and put the year on it with there name. not expensive, yet personal.

good luck

My son's preschool teachers loved their gift cards to Borders. They buy all sorts of stuff for the classroom from there. I've also seen cactus plants, which is a little different.

I have gone to the dollar store and purchased Christmas mugs, and then made dry hot chocolate mix and poured some in decorative bags with mini marshmallows then put them in the mugs and tied the recipe with directions to the handle of the mug. It is a gift that isn't expensive because you can get the mugs cheap and the recipe below makes four servings of the mix.

Creamy hot chocolate mix:

3/4 cup powdered milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
mini Marshmallows

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Take the bittersweet chocolate and roughly chop it up to give a chunky but consistent size. Mix well with a wooden spoon and then store in a dry airtight container. To make the hot chocolate, simply add 1 cup of water per 1/2 cup of hot cocoa mix. Heat in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring with a whisk. Heat until hot, but do not boil, about 6 to 7 minutes.

T.

You could donate books to the classroom or gift cards to supply stores like Staples for teacher supplies. Also, I sell Tastefully Simple and I have some gift ideas that are great for teachers. I am buying some products for myself to give as gifts. Food is always great because once you eat it it's gone and they don't have tons of gifts they do not know what to do with. If you want more info, please send me a message.

You've been given some great ideas already. I'd like to add, that as an early childhood special ed teacher I absolutely adore receiving pictures of the children I work with. I keep an album of all the children I've worked with and I love to add to it! You can attach it to any type of gift card or other gift you give. Also, I'm a big fan of "functional homemade gifts" Tree ornaments decorated with handprint images, or calendars decorates with pictures the kids have made (drawings, photos, handprint pix...). Your children's teachers will appreciate anything, your generosity is a gift in and of itself. Good luck!

Hi A.

I'm not sure of your price point, but The Pampered Chef Round up from the Heart trivet is an awesome gift for teachers. It's a copper-plated trivet with a price point of $12 (before tax, s&H). The best part about this product is that $2.00 of every sale goes directly to America's Second Harvest (The Nation's food bank). So it really gives twice. They can be ordered online at www.pamperedchef.biz/alisonlarkin.

You could always them them a little party..if it is a small place speak to the other parents and do a potlcuk with nice desserts?

Book store gift cards are always welcome (as they can get anything with that at Barnes & Noble) gift cards really are liked..or a spa basket with lotions, mitts and bath oils??

My daughters just did some really nice gifts... they took small baby food jars, hot glued some little snowmen statues (from a craft store) to the bottom along with some fake tree branches with berries. Filled it with water and glitter, covered it and it made little snow globes.

How about some beautiful ornaments or a wreath they can hang?

Hi A.,
I am a teacher and I love things I can actually use. Think about their ages and what they would benefit from. Example... I love coffee gift baskets. A pound of good coffee, or a gift card to Dunkin Donuts, maybe a solid mug or travel mug, with a package of biscotti (spelling). Another good idea is a gift card to a large book store, they offer so much at those types of stores. Hope that helps. The ladies here have give some great advice. I hope you will be able to find what you need!! Smile.
My company has some great products that come in sets and small sizes. Check them out.
www.freshflowerglo.myarbonne.com
Friedrika

HI! You can always give supplies.. like colored paper, crayons, stickers foam stick ons. Things that the kids would love to play with and use all the time. I send my children to a home daycare and the teacher always appreciates the supplies. i always wrap all of them up and then the children can open them.

I try to do it more then just at Christmas time. For Valentines day I am going to send in Red paper, paper dollies, glue stick and glitter.

These go not have to be expensive.. You can buy a lot of the supplies at the $ store. If you don't have time to shop you can always give a staples gift card. Good luck

Hello A.: I have an online service called, Send Out Cards. It is a greeting card company that you can upload your own pictures and make cards (even with cute, thought bubbles with your own text in them). I believe this would be a great gift for a daycare, the daycare providers can take pictures of the kids and make REAL greeting cards out of them and send them to the parents on special holidays/occasions. There are different packages to pick from, but there is a one-time fee, then the recipient has a system license forever!
If you would like more info, please feel free to contact me.
To see how easy it works, visit my website and send a FREE card to anyone you choose.
Hope it helped,
C. V. MacDonald
Send Out Cards
email:____@____.com
website: www.sendoutcards.com/cmacdonald
###-###-####

There is always the option of handmade gifts, I actually sell hand crocheted items like scarves and hats. Also, hand stamped tile coasters for the tons of mugs that the teachers probably already have...
You can check out my website for more ideas...
www.PreciousBeginningsLLC.com

Hope this helps.
Take Care.
A.

I am a family child care provider and with working 12 hours a day caring for children plus my own, I know that I would LOVE anything that I really couldn't bring myself to purchase for myself. Gift certificates would be awesome......one to a book store would be great....for a bestseller to indulge in, or to a salon.....I'd love to have a manicure or even a pedicure!! One family last year gave me a gift certificate to a resturant and it was great to make time for my hubby and me.

How about a CVS/pharmacy gift card? Who can't find something there that they want or need? They could buy most of the ideas people mentioned -- school supplies, books, fragrances or bath products, cosmetics, etc.

A.,
I just bought my son's teachers small gift sets from Bath and Body works. They are also 4 women in his preschool that teach him.

A.:

In the past I have provided breakfast or lunch to my children's daycare. Roche Bros/Sudbury Farms have a nice set-up for either breakfast or lunch and will also deliver. I have also ordered and picked up lunch at Panera Bread and brought it to the daycare for lunch. Other ideas may include pizza or D'Angelo's...

I usually let the director know that I am doing this to find the most appropriate day when they are not too busy or shortstaffed and will be able to enjoy the food.

Happy holidays.

C. P

I work at the YMCA and I find that most of the toys or gifts are due for the boys they do not have any dolls or anything pretaining to girls things. Just think girls and give.

Wow! You are getting alot of wonderful ideas! I actually do at-home pampering parties with The Body Shop At Home. Yes, we do have stores in some of the malls and have now expanded into the home. We have some beautiful gift sets starting at $10 and up. They are all packaged very nicely. There is a good assortment for anyone on your list. Feel free to check them out on my website at:
www.thebodyshopathome.com/web/jcolecchi
I would love to help you with your holiday shopping!

Bath and Body Works is always great!! I know it could get pricey, but what I do is catch the semi annual sales throughout the year (I know they usually have one in June) and save the products until Christmas. Its a bit late for that now, but keep your eyes open for next year's gifts.

A.,
I sell Tupperware and they have a great canister set on sale till Friday! You can break it up to give each of his teachers one and put little treats in it! You can use the rest of them for your or your husbands co-workers, mail people and so on! Visit my site at www.my2.tupperware.com/alisonmello and you can order it right from there! It is guaranteed to be in for christmas! Good luck and I hope this will help you!

Hey A., I am a teacher and I have always appreciated thoughtful gifts that allow me to give back to my students- a gift card from a teacher supply store like UP With Learning would be a great gift they could use to get some supplies or special things for the classroom. Also GC for book stores are great too! God Bless

As a preschool teacher I would say that all teachers need and appreciate good hand sanitizers and moisturizing creams. You can get yummy smelling ones at bath and body or the body shop. It's a good, inexpensive gift that will be used!

I give gift certificates to Michael's or Joanns craft store. Maybe even put together a basket of pom poms, ribbons, google eyes...

For personal gifts, all women love purses! Small ones with chapstick and stuff would be nice :)

If gift certificates seem too expensive - what we did at my daughter's nursery school was to all chip in together and get a nice restuarant certificate for each teacher. We gave $5 a teacher, or even $10 (what you would spend anyway), and then we were able to get a really good amount on each certificate. If you know the other moms, some of them might be up for this suggestion.

My son goes to daycare as a gift i normally give a dunkin donuts gift card for the teachers so they can pick up some coffee and donuts to share with all the workers.....They normally love it !!!!!!!!!!

As a friend to many daycare teachers, and as a teacher myself, I suggest you avoid treats, mugs,"stinky stuff", and "cute" things your child makes (e.g. handprints on sweatshirts). Here's why: The teachers are typically dealing with the same over-abundance of holiday calories as the rest of us and their lounges are likely to be filled with chocolates and cookies and all the yummies that pack on holiday pounds. They have more coffee cups than a hallmark store, I promise. I don't know a teacher who doesn't have a small collection of mugs saying "World's Best Teacher" or "A+ Teacher" or something like that. "Stinky stuff" (lotions, soaps and body sprays) are not always welcome because what smells delicious to your nose may stink to theirs. Unless you know their favorite scent, stay away. (I am allergic to anything with a rose scent, and yet many of my students think this is lovely. I have bags of 'tea rose' and 'plumeria' stuff stashed in the cellar.) Your child's loving hand-crafted gifts are always appreciated, but your child's teacher probably has a dozen or more similar drying in the classroom. The truth is, it's YOUR child, and although you think his/her 3 inch handprint is exceptionally adorable, these teachers see tiny hands every day and your child's is not so exceptional. Save your homemade efforts for family members and let the teachers fill their homes with gifts from their own children/neices/etc.

Give the teacher something that is exclusively for her/him to enjoy. Some of the most appreciated things are usually: movie passes (AAA has them for a good price), a gift card to a local mall (American Express produces cards for all Simon Malls) or a favorite restaurant (places like www.dinegift.com offer gift cards that are good at many different places). One Mom gave gift certificates for massages at a local spa (pricey?), and another gave certificates for pedicures. Some of the more creative parents have put together gift baskets containing things like: A bowl, microwave popcorn, and a gift certificate to a local movie rental place (e.g. Blockbuster). And then there's my personal favorite gift to give or receive: A favorite book and/or a gift certificate to Barnes & Noble. (Teachers who read will choose a book for themselves, and those who don't will choose something for their classrooms.) Most teachers have limited budgets for classroom materials so any gift certificate that allows them to choose craft materials (Michaels, AC Moore, etc.) allows them to carry out the curriculum they find interesting, and provides a better place for your child. That's my two cents!

One year my son had alot of teachers so I made a big basket with a few differant flavors of dunkin donut coffee bags along with a coffee mug for each teacher. He then got to help them pick which one they would like. I picked a few differant flavors of coffee so they could each pick the flavor they liked. He had eight teachers.

Hi - as a teacher I have to say I love gift certificates! Great ones are Barnes and Noble (they can even buy books for the class), Staples, craft store, dunkin, etc. Mostly, they will appreciate anything from you - I always thought it was so thoughtful. You can have your 2 year make them bookmarks to go with the book store gift cert. Good luck! J.