Gifts for preschool and daycare teachers: what they actually use

Preschool teachers go through a lot of glue sticks. They wash their hands dozens of times a day and talk over a room of four year olds for hours. Their coffee goes cold. The best gifts for preschool and daycare teachers fix one of those problems, or come with a note from your child.

This guide takes the teacher’s view: small gifts they’ll use, classroom supplies, group gifts and free ones. It also covers how much to spend, who else to include at daycare and when to give.

The short answer

A gift card plus a note or drawing from your child. The card lets the teacher buy what they need. The note is the part they keep.

Gift cards that suit a preschool teacher:

• Target or Amazon, for classroom supplies and everything else.
• A coffee shop near the school.
• Teachers Pay Teachers, the site where teachers buy printable lessons and activities. Its gift cards come by email or print at home, start at $10 and never expire.
• A local bookstore, for the class library.

Small gifts just for the teacher

These are for the teacher, not the classroom. Each one solves a problem that comes with the job.

Hands get washed before snack, after the bathroom, after the sand table and after every runny nose. By December they’re cracked. Pick an unscented cream, because a scented one ends up on every child the teacher helps with a coat.

Classroom supplies that run out

Many preschool teachers top up their room with their own money, and the supply cupboard is usually thin by winter break. Ask whether the class has a wish list first. If it doesn’t, these get used up in every preschool room.

A book for the class library lasts longer than any of them. Write your child’s name and the year inside the cover, and the teacher will read it to every class after yours. Our preschool books list has more ideas.

Group gifts from the class

When every family puts in a little, the class can buy something the teacher would never buy for themselves. One parent collects the money and another buys the gift. Every child signs or scribbles on one big card.

A Time Timer stays on the wall for years. It’s the physical version of the free visual timer many teachers already run on the classroom screen. A laminator gets used every week for name cards, picture schedules and classroom job charts. Teachers often pay for one themselves or queue for the one in the office.

And a pooled gift card counts as a group gift. Often the best one.

Free gifts teachers keep

Not every family has money to spare in December, and teachers know it. These cost nothing, or close to it.

• A drawing from your child. Write a sentence they tell you underneath, word for word, and add the date.
• A note from you that names something specific. Mention the song your child sings at home or the friend they made. Or the day they stopped crying at drop off.
• A copy of that note sent to the director. Praise from families rarely reaches the office, and it counts at review time.
• A handprint salt dough ornament. The recipe is in our Christmas activities for preschoolers.
• Your time. Offer to cut out laminated cards at home or read a story to the class. Helping at the party counts too.

What to skip

Teachers are glad of anything a child hands them. Some gifts still end up in a cupboard.

• Mugs. Most teachers already have a shelf of them.
• Scented candles, lotions and sprays. Scent is personal, and many teachers get several each December.
• Homemade treats, unless you know the teacher. They may have allergies or dietary rules you don’t know about.
• Teacher themed decor. A sign that says “best teacher ever” has nowhere to go.
• Anything that needs looking after, like a plant or a class pet.

How much to spend on a preschool teacher gift

There’s no rule. From one family, $10 to $25 is a comfortable range. A $10 gift card with a good note is welcome. For a group gift, $5 to $10 per family adds up quickly. Spend what fits your budget. The note matters more.

Some public pre-K and Head Start programs limit what staff can accept. If your child’s program is part of a school district, ask the office before giving anything large.

Daycare teachers: who to include

At daycare, your child probably sees more than one adult a day. Shifts mean the person at drop off isn’t always the one at pickup, and babies and toddlers move rooms during the year. Think about:

• The lead teacher and the assistant teacher in your child’s room. Give them the same thing. Assistants are easy to forget, and they do as much of the daily care.
• The staff who open in the morning and close in the evening.
• Floaters who cover breaks, if your child knows them by name.
• The cook, if the center cooks its own meals.
• The director. A card is enough.

A group gift from the room covers the lead and the assistant at once. Some families give each of them a gift card, then drop off a box of coffee or snacks for the staff room.

When to give a preschool teacher a gift

• Christmas and the winter holidays: the last week before winter break. Not every teacher celebrates Christmas, so “happy holidays” on the card is safe.
• Teacher Appreciation Week: the first full week of May in the US.
• The end of the year: the last week of school, or the week your child moves up to the next room. A note about the whole year counts most here.

You don’t need to give at all three. Give something small at Christmas and save the long note for the end of the year.

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