Gifts for the Class

• Help the teacher and his class, by giving a gift that benefits everyone. Your child's teacher may receive an abundance of holiday gifts he has no use for, but may spend hundreds of his own dollars each year buying school supplies. Grow the class library with a set of new books. Encourage responsibility, and with the school's permission, give a pet for the class to feed and love. Buy simple school supplies, or a gift certificate, for a financially strapped school. Classrooms need art supplies like markers and colored pencils, and health supplies like boxes of tissue and hand sanitizer. Ask the principal if there's a financial need you can fill in the teacher's name.
  
  

Gifts from the Class

• Surprise the teacher with a gift from the whole class. Plan and organize with the other parents in advance so that everyone contributes. Tell the teacher how wonderful he is with a thank-you book from the whole class. Each student writes a note sharing her favorite thing about the teacher, and each parent includes a thank-you note for him as well. Create a scrapbook with pictures and mementos from the school year so far. Have each child contribute something to the scrapbook. Get the class together for a special class picture, or use one that was already taken. Transfer the picture to a mug or calendar for the teacher. Give the teacher new cooking ideas by collecting a favorite recipe from each student for a class recipe book.
  
  

Gifts You Make

• Give a gift from the heart with a present your child makes. Help your child bake tasty desserts like cookies. Let your child decorate each cookie especially for his teacher. Create an ornament from items found around the house, or buy a plain ornament your child can decorate with puffy paints or glitter glue. Give artwork, such as a painting or drawing your child has created. Decorate a canvas tote bag to hold the teacher's supplies. Use puffy paints and foam stamps, or sew printed fabrics onto the tote. Include the teacher's name, and try to incorporate pictures that represent the teacher's interests or his favorite subject to teach.