It’s that time of year where we show our teachers how much we love them! The last two school years have been especially tough on them during covid while they’ve had to continually switch gears on a dime. Going to remote learning, then switching to hybrid learning then to in-person learning can throw even the most sane person for a loop. Add that with stress they feel from their communities and parents, and you make the perfect recipe for a teacher that is dire need of a gift. (Or a STIFF drink!) And for fuck’s sake, don’t give them another coffee mug! They probably acquired 42 in just their first year of teaching alone. Below are some simple ideas that I ensure your teachers will love!

Summer Items: Get them things they can enjoy over the summer! In the main photo above, you can see what I got for my daughter’s teacher last year. I got the bucket and the water bottle from Walmart, and everything else was from Target.

Inside the beach bucket I put in two large beach towels, (one for her and for her husband to use), beach towel clips, (you put them in the sand and they hold the towels down so they don’t blow away or whip around in the sand), Australian Gold spray sunscreen with bronzer, Banana Boat aloe lotion, Trail Mix in a couple flavors, Batiste Dry Shampoo, Burt’s Bees chapstick, and a wet bag. I like the beach wet bags because they have many functions. While they’re intended to hold wet swimsuits, I also use mine to protect my phone and use as my wallet so I don’t have to keep track of those things inside my beach bag.

You can also replace the bucket and use a beach bag or a small Igloo cooler. I just liked the print of the bucket.

Supplies they will need for the following school year. My friend Jenny and I were laughing because we are board members for our kids’ PTO and on our PTO site, we have a list of all the teachers and their “favorite things.” These lists are purely for parents to utilize during Teacher Appreciation Week or Christmas. And many of the teachers asked for “Flair Pens.” Jenny and I thought those were just pens with some fucking pizazz. They aren’t. They are in fact a certain type of pen that the teachers enjoy writing with. You can find some here. Anyhow, get a cute container or organizer to hold all the office supplies in and fill it with flair pens, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, sharpies, lotion, dry-erase markers, sticky notes, stickers, etc.

Gift Cards! Never under-estimate a teacher’s love of gift cards. If your child’s school is like ours where they list the staff members favorite things on their school website, then it’s easy to figure out the restaurants and shops your teacher frequents. If that isn’t a resource your school provides, then Target, Amazon, and Starbucks gift cards are always a hit. You can get creative and make cut-out flowers and tape different gift cards to each one to make a gift card bouquet even. Last year for my preschooler’s teachers, I just sent out an email to all the parents asking for money to put towards one large gift card. Some parents won’t donate a penny, so don’t fret, because others will be more generous. Then you can do a substantial gift card for $100-$200 (or more if your parents are tight-wads) to Amazon or Target or even just get a Visa gift card. Teachers aren’t paid crap, so show them the love!

Below is a photo of Christmas gifts I gave a couple years ago. I am throwing it in this post just because I LOVE these pencil bags that say “Best Teacher Ever” on them. They’re so cute and come in a pack of 8 for $21 on Amazon! I filled them with bath and body products from Ulta, but you can use them to hold gift cards or smaller office supplies and they make a fucking adorable presentation.