Top Teacher Gifts to Show Your Appreciation This Season

Teachers put so much love and energy into what they do each day, so finding thoughtful gifts to show appreciation is a great way to give back! Whether you’re shopping for your child’s teacher, your administration team, a Secret Santa exchange, or your teacher bestie who helps you navigate the highs and lows of the school year, here are some ideas to make their holiday a bit brighter.

Don’t have time to read the blog? No worries—I’ve put together a super handy Teacher Gifts list on Amazon just for you!

_{This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through my Amazon links, I may earn a small commission.}

Sip-Worthy Gifts for Busy Teachers

It’s no secret that “emotional support drinks,” snacks, and sweets help a teacher through a long day. Here are some delicious food and drink gift ideas to keep your favorite teacher fueled and feeling loved.

Coffee just tastes better in these “can glasses” with bamboo lids, reusable straws, and a sweet message.

Your teacher will start the day in style with oatmeal, chia seed pudding, or a yogurt parfait in these vintage coffee mugs. The set of four includes bamboo lids and rose gold spoons.

An ever-popular Stanley in a chic color like Almond Rose will keep your teacher hydrated.

We all know the sadness of reaching for your coffee and realizing it went cold before you got halfway through. This mug warmer keeps coffee or tea hot all day!

Teacher Survival Kits and Other Basics

I can’t tell you how many times over the years I had to ask around for a small essential, like pain reliever for a headache, a safety pin for the blouse that popped a button before the first bell even rang, a Tide stick when I spilled lunch on myself, or a stick of gum for my coffee breath. Help your favorite teacher avoid the search by buying or assembling a teacher survival kit! The Mini Teacher Kit includes 14 items, or you can buy a cute bag and fill it yourself with hand-picked essentials from the travel section of your favorite store.

Consider a custom-made name plate for your favorite teacher to display on her desk. Although the image shows a full name, this item can be customized however you’d like!

Most teachers are required to wear an ID badge, so why not help them display it stylishly with a new lanyard?

Stylish Supplies: Desk Essentials to Brighten Their Day

For the stylish teacher on your list, consider grabbing desk supplies in their favorite color scheme. Not sure what their favorite color is? You can’t go wrong with neutrals!

Teachers can use these leather, heart-shaped corner bookmarks to mark their pages in teacher manuals or their latest fiction read at home.

Sticky notes don’t have to be boring or neon. Grab a pack of beautiful neutral tones.

Using a nice pen can make everyday tasks like grading and note-taking feel more enjoyable and effortless. With a 4.7 star rating, these soft-bodied pens will not disappoint.

Tried-and-True Tools: Practical Gifts Every Teacher Will Use

These items are nothing too unique, but they will surely make your teacher’s life easier! Having Flair pens and colored Sharpies ready means their grading and anchor charts will always look colorful and neat. The label maker makes it a snap for teachers to attach their names to all the supplies they purchased with their own money or to label things like book bins, letter tile organizers, and more. It allows you to print in a variety of fonts and even add symbols and frames.

Gift Cards: Simple, Easy, and Teacher-Approved

When it comes to gift cards, many people feel strongly about giving and receiving them! If you have a long list of folks to buy for, gift cards may be the easiest route. However, some people lament that they’re an impersonal gift. But don’t feel guilty giving gift cards this year– Here’s something that might surprise you: I surveyed teachers in my Instagram story and a whopping 95% answered that they would prefer a gift card over anything else!

If your holiday to-do list feels insurmountable, give yourself some grace and go ahead and order some gift cards. With almost 200 million Prime members in the US, Amazon gift cards are a safe bet. You can buy them in bulk to be delivered digitally and the process is a snap. Add all the teachers’ email addresses to the same order, choose the amount, choose the delivery date, write a quick message, and be done with it! Each recipient will receive their own personalized gift card via email.

Prefer to have a physical gift to hand your favorite teachers? You can also order actual Amazon gift cards with holiday-themed designs in any amount.

Feeling hesitant to give gift cards?

Gift cards don’t have to feel impersonal. You can support small local businesses by gifting your teacher with a gift card from a nearby establishment. If you’re not sure where your teacher lives, try to stick with businesses that are near enough to school that they can stop by on their way home. Some ideas include restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, bookstores, gift shops, movie theaters, and pet supply stores.

Looking for reading-related teacher gifts?

Browse last year’s gift guide, which included teacher tees and science of reading-based books and materials for your favorite reading teacher.

Ready to conquer your holiday gift list?

I hope this list gave you some inspiration for the teachers on your holiday shopping list! Keep Reading and Learning will be back to business with science of reading-related content next month. Want to make sure you don’t miss a blog? Sign up below to join the email list. In addition to receiving literacy-based blogs twice per month, you’ll also be the first to know about freebies, sales, and new products. But don’t worry– it’s all rolled into the twice-monthly emails. I’m grateful that you let me into your inbox and I promise I won’t overwhelm you!