Teacher Appreciation Ideas

I had to laugh this morning. I woke up to an email from my friend, AM, that she had posted to my Facebook page. It said, "Pam....I know I can count on you for ideas, so link me up!" Yes, it is true. I've been bookmarking and jotting down Teacher Appreciation ideas since before Christmas and sending them to Morgan's room mom. Morgan's room mom is AWESOME! Sends monthly emails with updates, took donations at the beginning of the year and shows us how she is spending the money, asks for ideas, and uses them! If I ever chose to be a room mom when I have the boys in school, I aspire to be her.

Some ideas for Teacher Appreciation week that don't require creativity.

1. Buy her a cup of her favorite coffee/latte.  To take a step further (we did this for the teacher's birthday) include doughnuts for the students and teacher.
2. Bring her in lunch. No teacher will object to that. Find out their tastes, restrictions. and favorites. One of the moms owns a deli shop. Sometimes when she brings her daughter lunch, she brings the teacher lunch too. I know I would  not object to any food from that deli, it is YUMMY!
3. Find out her all-time favorite treat. Maybe it is chocolate? Our teacher loves dark chocolate. Another teacher loves a specialty chocolate with raspberries from a local candy shoppe.
   
4. You can't go wrong by giving flowers either. Visit your Farmer's Market or your own garden. The children and I clipped roses yesterday and this morning they are beautiful and sweet smelling. In 2nd grade I visited the Farmer's Market for Gerbera Daisies and had each student hand to the teacher as they walked into class. Then another mom and I went in and and put them in a vase for the teacher as she started class. I got this idea from another mom who did it on the 1st grade teacher's birthday.

All these things can be done throughout the week. However, if you want to make something for her I have some more ideas. Bear with me...I'm going to try and figure out how to post pictures and links. Obviously, it didn't work yesterday. I'm sure you all know how to cut and paste though.

• Flower pens. You've all seen them, maybe in the drs. office. I saw the idea 8 years ago in our office, bought the materials and finally made one this year. Buy your supplies at any craft store or repurpose ones you have around the home. We used an empty soup can, sprayed adhesive on it and slapped one of million sheets of scrapbook paper I have on it. Then Bridget picked out some ric-rak and punched out flowers. We used some glitter glue, Stickles (love that stuff!) and stickers to decorate the can.  We also added a bumblebee, because that is the class mascot.  For the flowers glue (hot glue is best) the tops of the flowers into the pens. After it dries apply florist tape to the pen in a spiral motion.  This will be the stem of the flower. Our tape was sticky on both sides so I applied cornstarch (tad bit) so it wouldn't be sticky to the touch. We did this project days before Bridget's teacher's birthday. Something we learned is that the edges of the tape was peeling up, so we applied some adhesive to keep it from pulling up. We had everything on hand, except the flowers ( I trashed the ones we bought years ago). Also, you'll have plenty of florist tape left over to make plenty more!
  

• This is idea I came across awhile back. Simple, easy, and inexpensive. Great idea if you are doing something everyday. Plus, every teacher needs hand sanitizer. I got this idea from Just a Girl   
• Another place to look is at the Tip Junkie Blog. Scroll all the way down for tons of ideas to fit your needs.
• I saw this one at the 2Peas gallery. Cute and well-done. Teacher's Survival Kit by JoSchmo
• ETA: Personalized Plates by Sugar and Spice Mommy. Wouldn't these be great to use the teacher's monogram and put some brownies or cookies on top? She's also doing a giveaway. Stop by and visit and maybe you could win a plate for your teacher. 
• Last, but not least....visit my friend Clair. She makes the most wonderful, gorgeous handmade cards. She does custom orders too. We did legal -sized cards this year. Her cards come in all different sizes and shapes. I just ordered 20 cards (10 for B's teacher and 10 for Mo's teacher). You can see some of the cards HERE. I spoke to her back before Christmas for this order. They are going to be end-of-the-year gifts. I may be too lazy to make my own cards, BUT at least I'm organized to order them. ;) I ordered these last year for Ms. R and she LOVED them. Teachers love them for teacher birthdays and parent thank yous.

One last idea, if you are being charitable. Visit DonorsChoose   A gift of one dollar can help a teacher in need. All money goes back to a teacher to buy supplies. You can also donate books.