VolunteerSpot's free eBook lists the Greatest Gifts for Teachers. Topics include seasonal gift ideas to honor teachers throughout the school year. Special ideas for saying Thank You during Teacher Appreciation Week. Gifts from older kids and for retiring teachers. And a list of teacher-reported most and least-favorite gifts. We’ve included low‐cost and no‐cost suggestions and ideas for individual student/family gifts, as well as collective classroom and school‐wide efforts. Use VolunteerSpot.com to give the gift of time and stretch budgets in a tough economy.

1. 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

2. VolunteerSpot
Philosophy
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 of hassle or frustration
– whether that is late night
emails, reply-all messages,
reminder phone calls, or
searching for a parking space.
Our sponsors enable us to
A sincere THANK YOU to our VolunteerSpot parents and teachers provide FREE signup sheets
for sharing your ideas and helping us craft this eBook. and scheduling tools that
simplify volunteering, powering
Please feel free to post it on your blog or email it to whomever you your good work in schools and
believe would benefit from reading it. clubs, in your congregation
THANK YOU! and neighborhoods. We can’t
find you a parking place, but
~ Team VolunteerSpot with VolunteerSpot, DOING
GOOD just got easier!
© 2011 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/

3. We LOVE our
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 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 j

4. 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!

5. 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 stores to help
with classroom supplies.
Organize a reading circle and classroom helpers. Use
VolunteerSpot to coordinate volunteers to help out 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 to stay in the office or
library with teacher surveys. 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!

6. Show Thanks for Thanksgiving
Thankful Faces of Thanksgiving
Paste a collage of the children’s faces on a traditional Thanksgiving scene and
have the children present it to their teacher.
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 j

7. 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 chocolate, charity. It felt so good
tea bags, and instant coffee pouches. knowing they were
Include a note: “You warm our hearts! supported in a year I
Thank you!” couldn’t afford to give
much myself.“
-- 4th grade teacher,
• Add a “teacher appreciation” section to Colorado Springs, CO
the school newsletter. This could include
quotes from students, poems, or special
thanks.
• 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.
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

8. Valentines Day
Ideas
Make a list of all the
students in the class and
give copies to each
student’s parents. This
• Ask each child to write “I love my teacher assures that every child in
because…” on a small heart cut from the class receives a
construction paper. valentine and saves the
teacher from having to take
care of it.
• 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!

9. Teacher Appreciation Week
Select a day during the week and ask each Arrange for a special treat in the teacher’s
child and their parents to present their lounge – a dessert bar, special lunch, or
teacher with one flower on that day. baked goods.
Teachers will go home with a beautiful
bouquet to remind them of how much they
Post signs around the school expressing
are appreciated.
your appreciation.
Ask your local newspaper to donate one
portion of a page to thank the teachers of Setup a carwash and have older kids
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 ju

10. End of the Year Appreciation
• Host a “teachers tailgate party” in June. Use Please visit our blog
VolunteerSpot to coordinate the event. (http://blog.volunteersp
ot.com) for more
volunteering
• Compile a photo album for the teacher using photos suggestions and to
share your project ideas
taken throughout the year. and stories.
• 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.
• Create 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 ju

11. 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 while the
teacher has been in service, as well
as photos of the teacher and her
former students.
Frame a photo of their first class and
their 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 ju

12. 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 for them. Print several on one page,
then laminate them if possible.
A poem of remembrance. Have your
student write an original poem for each of
their teachers that reminds them of
something interesting or funny that
happened in their class that year.
A “Commit‐Mint” Card. Have your student
make a simple card with the phrase “Thank
you for your commit‐mint” on it. Then tape
a small roll of mint flavored candy to it.
There are other candy puns that can also be
used.
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD ju

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

14. Teacher Gift Survey Results
Most Favorite Gifts Least Favorite Gifts
• A personal note from students • Coffee mugs Teachers always
appreciate the
• Classroom supplies • Candles thought behind the
gifts they receive, but
• Restaurant and retail gift cards • Candy the gifts listed here
are the ones teachers
• Movie tickets • Lotion most often receive
that they say are the
• The best way to find out what • Bath salts least useful.
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
The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot ,MN
Minneapolis, DOING GOOD just got easier!

15. Simplify ALL Parent Volunteering
Helping parents, teachers and volunteer
leaders coordinate activities and events
simply and easily all year round!
• Soccer Snacks
• Scout Campouts
• Walk‐a‐Thons & Fun Runs
• Swim Meets
• Sports Tournaments
• Vacation Bible School
• Girl Scout Cookie Booths
• Neighborhood Clean ups
• Coat, food and toy drives Volunteers signup on‐the‐go,
from their smartphones!
and more . . .
Class The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

16. Additional Resources
Click here for Sample Class Parent Letters:
www.budurl.com/BTSSampleLetters
See our other free eBooks with ideas and
best‐practices for:
• School Carnivals
• Teacher Gifts
• Family‐Friendly Volunteering
• Fundraising with Kids
• Bake Sales
• Talent Shows
and more . . .
www.VolunteerSpot.com/ebooks
Class Parent The Greatest Gifts for Teachers / VolunteerSpot , DOING GOOD just got easier!

17. We love to hear what you have
to say! If you:
Liked this eBook
Thank Shared this eBook with a friend
Used some of the ideas in this
You! eBook, or came up with some of
your own
Thank you for downloading this FREE Love volunteering
eBook from VolunteerSpot.
Want to be more involved with
your kids’ school
We take the hassle out of
volunteering and make it point-and- Want your kids to be involved
click simple to schedule all your with sharing, caring, and
volunteer activities with our FREE benefiting others
powerful real time calendar sign up
tool. …And much more,
Be sure to visit our blog to
post your comments and read
what other volunteers have to
say!
© 2011 by VolunteerSpot DOING GOOD Just Got Easier!
Copyright holder is licensing this under the Creative Commons License, Attribution 2.5.
http://blog.volunteerspot.com
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/