What Teachers Really Want: A Holiday Gift Guide

Teachers don’t really have time to make a special Holiday wish list and if they did, they would probably feel awkward sending that home along with the letter about the upcoming holiday party.  So we thought we would make one for them!   If you have planned to buy a gift for a teacher this year, (and we are not judging if you don’t), we hope this list written by a real teacher instructed to not hold back, will help!

• Amazon Wish List Items: Okay we did say they probably don’t have time to make a holiday list, but many teachers do keep a running “Classroom Wishlist” on Amazon for themselves.  Just ask them if they have one and if they will share it with you.  I promise they won’t say no!  If they do not have a wish list, an Amazon gift card is the next best thing.

• Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Cards:  Every year teachers spend their own hard-earned money on Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) to purchase downloadable instructional materials to make the lessons they teach more diverse, up to date, engaging and fun! In fact, according to their website, “more than 2 out of 3 teachers in the U.S. have used a resource on TPT.”  You cannot go wrong with a gift card from this website!  Just make sure you have the teacher’s email address you are purchasing for and follow this link https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Gift-Card .

• Felt Tip Marker Pens:  I’m not sure what it is about these things, but they are magical and among the most coveted by teachers to use for grading papers and making notes. Our favorite brand of these pens is Paper Mate and they can be purchased in a variety of colors and quantities, but this option has a great variety of both: Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens
• Plug-Ins:  Everyone likes for their home to smell nice, and teachers want their classrooms to as well!  However, keeping a classroom smelling like pumpkin spice or fresh linen can be challenging when 20-30 sweaty kids come in after P.E. or recess!  Help a teacher out and buy them a nice plug-in along with refills for each season if you wish!  The students also love it! Win-Win!

Of course teacher’s do not expect gifts and always appreciate whatever they receive, but one can only have so many coffee mugs, tumblers and useless trinkets that say something about being a teacher (ouch! yes, we went there).  Take our advice and get them something they will appreciate and be able to use.