13 Teacher Gift Ideas that are Unique and Creative ·

The scramble to find teacher gift ideas can always be a hassle, especially if you want to give a gift that isn’t the typical mug or box of chocolate. This guide shares teacher gift ideas that are unique and creative and gifts your child’s teacher is sure to love!!! If you want some more teacher gift ideas for the holidays, check out this list here.

Looking for unique and creative gift ideas for teachers? This list shares numerous unique gift ideas at various price points as well!

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission. You can read more in my disclosure policy.

I am a former teacher and have received my fair share of gifts from my students. The best gifts, honestly, are the ones that are intentional and thought out.

I would much rather get a well thought-out thank you letter than a coffee mug with candy stuffed inside. (Although, my husband would still appreciate all the candy!)

If I am being completely honest, the most “frustrating” thing about receiving gifts at the end of the year was actually not getting any recognition from a parent.

There are a few students I can think of that were SO difficult to work with. Like…sent me home in tears on a frequent basis. What’s interesting is the parents of those students were usually the least likely to thank me for my work with their child.

So all I am saying is, thank your child’s teacher! Especially if you have a kid that has required additional effort for their teacher, thank them! It doesn’t have to be with a gift. Y’all, a card! A card with a handwritten note works wonders!

Teacher Gift Ideas

I’ve decided to break this up by price point. That way, you can find something that is in the price range you want to spend. Most of these ideas are gifts I actually received from students and their parents or things I have purchased myself that I think would make great gifts.

Teacher Gift Ideas for $15

Let’s get started with the $15 Category and move up from there! Again, remember, it is more about the QUALITY and thought behind a gift to a teacher than the actual gift itself!

1. Hand Delivered Lunch

I have heard of parents emailing, swinging by in the morning, or calling to say “hey, I am headed to Chick-fil-a for lunch, what do you want?”

While this never personally happened to me, OMG would I have loved it! This is a great way to show appreciation for a teacher. We NEVER get to leave our work for lunch, so when we get a hot meal in our bellies…it makes us really happy!

2. Gift Card to a Restaurant

This is an easy one, and even better if you can find out their favorite local place, then get them a gift card there. It’s easy, requires hardly any time at all and you can pick up multiple at one time and have a gift ready to go for all your kid’s teachers.

3. Weekly Sticky Note Pad

We have to do lists that are a mile long. The weekly to-do list pictured below is one that I use and it is my favorite of all the weekly to-do list notepads I’ve tried. It has a sticky section at the top which makes it great for moving around. Plus, it is not too big which means it’s less room for teachers to add useless items to their to-do list.

A close up of a weekly to do list notepad.

The weekly sticky to-do list comes from Cultivate What Matters (I’ll talk more about them later!) and is a super affordable and practical gift to give a teacher.

4. Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Most things on TPT are around $6 to $8, so a $10 or $15 gift card is a perfect option and something practical your child’s teacher can use for their students.

5. Classroom Organization Ebook

This is an ebook all on Classroom Organization and Management I wrote for teachers. If your child’s teacher is a First Year Teacher or relatively new to the profession, this ebook is a great resource for them!

Screenshot of resources inside The Simply Organized Classroom Ebook

Teacher Gifts Ideas $25 and Under

6. Mercy Candle Co.

My favorite candle company is Mercy Candle Co. I love it so much that I have ordered them and have them shipped over to me while we lived in Germany and I just ordered a set of them with a coupon code so I would have candles waiting on me when we move home in a couple of months.

They make beautiful smelling candles that LAST!

Their candles aren’t cheap, but they smell delicious and give back to charities so I highly recommend grabbing some of these for the teachers in your child’s life!

You can also sign up for their email list because they do sells quite frequently.

7. Erin Condren Notepad

Part of being a teacher is being organized and managing all the things. Notepads and desk calendars are a great way for a teacher to stay organized. Even if the teacher doesn’t use it at school, it is a great resource to have at home.

I recommend a personalized Erin Condren notepad or the desk calendar.

Screen shot of Erin Condren notepads and desk calendars

They are both super practical and pretty product any teacher will love. Be sure to pay attention to the color theme in their classroom to help you pick out the best one for them.

8. A Meal Planning Service

I love this option because teachers are busy and getting a meal on the table after a long day of teaching can be a hassle.

Prep Dish is an online subscription service that sends weekly meal plans and grocery lists. This is a GREAT thing for teachers because most nights we are exhausted from school and the last thing we want to do is think about cooking.

Screen shot of Classroom Organization challenge resources. Text overlay: Spring Clean Your Classroom. Click to join.

Prep Dish allows it’s users to purchase all the ingredients and spend a few hours on the weekend prepping all the meals, so that they are ready to go on the night of.

Containers for food prepared for the week inside of a refrigerator.

9. Books for the Classroom Library

Teachers are always looking for new books! You can head to my Amazon Page to see some of my top recommended books for the classroom and for teacher education.

Children's books sitting on a whiteboard ledge. There is a rocking chair to the left of the white board.

Alternatively, you can check out this list from Vera of Diverse books for the classroom.

Wrap two or three books up in a bow and be ready to see one happy teacher!

Teacher Gifts Ideas Around $50

10. PowerSheets Goal Planning Journal

Earlier I mentioned Cultivate What Matters and their weekly to-do list notepad. They also create a goal planning journal called PowerSheets. This is one of my favorite and most used tools I use every single day.

I talk about it allllll the time because this journal has been so impactful in helping me reach my goals. You can see all the places I talk about PowerSheets here:

This planner is a great resource for teachers (or yourself ;)!) because it allows you to set practical goals and then helps you break down the steps to make them succeed. I wish I would have had this resource as a teacher because it would have been a powerful tool to help me stay on track with things I wanted to accomplish each year personally and with my students.

Purchase a set of PowerSheets here.

11. Diffuser and Oils

Essential Oils are all the rage right now and they make a great, and practical, gift for teachers. Especially those middle school teachers! It’s no secret that the classroom is FULL OF GERMS! Ugh!

Essential Oils are a great way to help fight the crud that seems to surface in the fall and spring every school year. Plus, it can help the classroom smell much better.

My favorite place to order oils from is Rocky Mountain Oils, and my go to blend is lemon + peppermint + lavender! A great blend for the classroom- keep things calm, but also prevents icky seasonal allergies!

I’d also recommend getting the teacher a diffuser as well, unless you know they already have one. I use this Essential Oil diffuser and have been really happy with it for the price.

12. Jewelry

One year a student got me a pair of Kendra Scott earrings and I still wear them to this day! Jewelry can be kind of a hard thing to gift, but if you pay attention to what your child’s teacher wears, you should be able to get an idea of what her style is.

I love the company, Noonday, as it is a company that produces ethically made jewelry (that is CUTE!) and provides fair wages for the women in third world countries creating the jewelry!

13. Erin Condren Teacher Planner

I have LOVED all of my Teacher Planners from Erin Condren. A good teacher planner makes all the difference and the Erin Condren is my personal favorite!

Erin Condren planner with a cup of water and jar of flair pens.

There are a ton of options to choose from and also the ability to gift a gift certificate so your child’s teacher can personalize it to their needs.

In Conclusion

The most important thing that comes to giving a gift to your child’s teacher is that you put some thought into it. Even if it is “just a card,” a card with a heartfelt thank you means the world to teachers.

Here is a quick recap of all the teacher gift ideas listed in this post:

Hand Delivered Lunch
Gift Card to a Restaurant
Weekly Sticky Notepad
Classroom Organization eBook
Candle (my favorite is Mercy Candle Co.)
Erin Condren Notepad
Erin Condren Desktop Calendar
Meal Planning Service like Prep Dish
Books for the Classroom Library
PowerSheets Goal Planning Journal
Essential Oils and a diffuser to go with it
Jewelry
Erin Condren Teacher Planner

What do you think? What would you add to this list? Let me know in the comments below or come find me on facebook or instagram and let me know!

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Until next time,

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13 Teacher Gift Ideas that are Unique and Creative

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission. You can read more in my disclosure policy.