How to make sure no school staff go unnoticed! Gifts that make an impact
When we send our children to school each day, we put them in the hands of so many loving and caring teachers and staff. They protect them, keep them safe, and are completely responsible for them as if each kid was their own child.
But beyond classroom teachers there is a whole crew of other adults making each day happen and keeping our children safe. Everyone from the school principal and secretary to the cafeteria workers and the nurse are an integral part of every elementary school.
But they often get forgotten.
When Christmastime comes or teacher appreciation rolls around, we tend to focus on gifting our love and appreciation to homeroom teachers. And yes, that’s important and warranted. But what about the rest? How can we make sure we pour out our thanks for all they do and let them know we see them behind the scenes?
Teacher appreciation and Christmas gifts for your child’s school staff that won’t break the bank.
Any purchases through our links help us buy gifts for teachers in the future. We have included links to Amazon and even to some of our own designs. Thank you for supporting us!
Principal
For Christmas this year, I brainstormed with my mom (retired teacher of 30+ years) how to turn the lyrics of Joy to the World into something cute and thoughtful for Jenn’s Christmas. What came of it was a really cute jingle called “You Rule the School” that we made into a printable and put into a ruler picture frame.
Don’t worry, we’re giving. You can get a free printable of the sign in the link above or in the complete school appreciation bundle at the end of this article.
Cafeteria Workers
This was a favorite design to make… partly because it was most challenging. Because to be very honest, they’re the people in the school we know the least.
We grabbed some stainless steel kitchen utensils that were only $1 each and made a cute kitchen bouquet so that each worker could take one of the whisks, spatulas, or ice cream scoops home.
- We “whisk” you a Merry Christmas (Or if not at the holidays: We “whisk” you have a great summer)
- We’re “flipping” out over all your do
- The “scoop” is, we’re thankful for you!
School Nurse & Counselors
Like our gifts for multiple teachers, we did a play on colors and gave them some Sharpies. Since green can be associated with feeling sick and blue with feeling sad, it made a cute way to give them pen bouquets.
- Thanks for making me not feel so “blue”
- You made me go from feeling “green” to amazing!
Teachers and Classroom Aides
Kids interact with their teachers and the aides more than other staff, so more personal gifts were required. We made a design that says “teachers make the world more colorful” and had it printed on bags, shirts, mugs, magnets, and more.
Jenn then personalized each one for her teachers. The magnets were our most favorite because they’re so practical and we could write with a metallic sharpie on the back so that in future years, the teacher would know who it’s from.
Related: Gifts when your child has multiple teachers
Grab your own “teachers make the world more colorful” merchandise
All of these items can be colored with Sharpies. However for the mug to work, you’ll need to get oil based markers for it to not wash off. (Plus we have wrapping paper too if you already have a gift but like this idea)
The whole school staff
We made a card that went with a bouqet of goodies. For the actual gifts, we focused on what inexpensive things we could do in a bouquet that would serve the whole school as needed. Most people like mints or candy canes if at Christmastime. And a good hot tea is appreciated by so many so we focused on phrases and tags around that theme.
- You’ve “mint” so much to our family
- Thank you for doing all you “cane” for me
- Thank you for being “TEA-riffic”
They’re also inexpensive purchases to get boxes of tea and mints. Just make sure the tea you grab comes individually wrapped.
- Bigelow teas come in the perfect individually wrapped packages (Plus, you could get Constant Comment flavor tea and make a joke about them fielding your constant comments and questions. It’s a black tea… so caffeine too… and typically is around$9 for 20 bags so that’s an inexpensive way to bless 20 people.)
- Consider putting the candy canes in a mug decorated by your child.
Kara is an author and advocate for positive, grace-filled parenting. She is homeschooler to her 6 children living on a farm in New England. She believes in creative educational approaches to help kids dive deeper into a rich learning experience and has her degree in Secondary Education & Adolescent Childhood Development. She is passionate about connecting with and helping other parents on their journey to raise awesome kids!
