12 Brilliant Teacher Gift Ideas, Suggested By Teachers
As the end of the school year approaches, or at Christmas, it is usual to give a small gift to your kid's teacher and and classroom assistants, particularly when the child is in primary school. By secondary school this usually stops here in the UK.
I am never sure quite what to give as a teacher gift, so I decided to ask my friends who were teachers for some ideas for what they would like and what they really didn't appreciate.
This was gold!
Teachers themselves know what they appreciate, and what they really don't want, so here is what they told me.
First and foremost, these gifts should always be something small. An overly-expensive gift is embarrassing for the teacher and the student.
If you are on a tight budget even these small gifts can start to get quite expensive, when you could be required to buy gifts for a teacher and up to two classroom assistants per child. That really starts to add up, especially if you have two or more children. Teachers do understand this - they know if you have a big family and if money is tight.
All of the teachers and assistants I have spoken to, tell me that they much prefer a small gift, maybe something they will enjoy then use up such as chocolates, biscuits or even a bottle of wine.
Many say that they actually find large, ostentatious gifts quite embarrassing.
Teachers also really don't like (and some positively loathe) those ‘World’s Best Teacher’ type of knick-knacks such as mugs, plaques and models of apples wearing morterboards. Avoid - there is a reason why so many of these types of things turn up in charity shops.....
Best Teacher Gift Ideas for 2026
So here are the absolute best ideas for what to give a teacher at the end of the school year, or for Christmas, all confirmed by actual teachers!
- Chocolates
- Candles
- Homemade Biscuits or Cakes
- Coffee Mugs
- Coffee
- Flowers and Plants
- Stationary
- Gift Cards
- Toiletries
- Wine
- For The Music Teacher
- A Hand Made Card
Image Credit: ©eParenting
It may seem a bit corny, but chocolates are always a winner, trust me.
After a stressful year, a little bit of indulgence will be really appreciated, and they can be shared with their colleagues, other members of staff and their family. They are easy to find and a box of chocs is easy to wrap too.
Win-win.
Candles are a tricky one this, and the teaching staff that I spoke to were divided on the subject. Some love candles, some hate them, some can be badly allergic to some fragrances.
Teachers, I am told, get gifted a lot of candles. Especially female teachers.
So, unless you know that a particular teacher is really mad about candles, it might be best to avoid these, as they will probably have at least ten given to them each year.
Image Credit: Annie Spratt
All the teachers that I asked said that it is the homemade gifts that are the most memorable and are the ones that they love the best.
Home-made biscuits or cakes, especially if the child has helped to make them go down really well as a year end or Christmas gift. Either cake or biccies are good and have the advantage that like chocolates, they can also be shared with the other members staff such as administrators who tend not to get given gifts.
Mugs were another suggestion that divided the teachers that I asked.
For example, I was told by one friend who works as a teaching assistant that teachers are always breaking or losing coffee mugs. They usually have to supply their own for work and it is nice to have spares for visitors as well.
Then again others have told me that they get inundated with mugs and have enough to last them a lifetime!
If your child's teacher has a large number of mugs on their desk being used as pencil pots, you can safely assume that they have more than enough.....
Bonus points if every single one says "World's Best Teacher". Teachers mostly don't like these very teacher-specific knick-knacks. If you you want to confirm this, visit your local charity shop and see just how many end up on the shelves there.
However, lots of teachers would love something to go in all those mugs. Something caffeinated, obviously, not more pencils!
Although there may not be time to drink more than a hastily-made cup of instant coffee during break time, they may really appreciate a quality cup of Joe at home. If you aren't sure about the type of coffee the teacher likes, a selection box or coffee gift card could be just the thing to perk them up.
Image Credit: Alexandra Seinet
Flowers and plants are really appreciated and are apparently rarely given, according to the school staff I spoke to. Neither plants nor flowers not need to be expensive and even better these could be home grown or propagated.
If the kids have decorated the pot that a palnt is gifted in it creates a more personal, festive touch. Again this is one of the things that a teacher really appreciates.
Stationary supplies, I'm told, are very much appreciated, particularly for teachers of older children. They often end up needing to ‘lend’ pens and pencils to students who have forgotten them, so to have some to hand would be really helpful.
Also, reward stickers are the sort of thing teachers may have to supply themselves, so those would be a good gift too.
Notebooks and planners might sound a little ordinary, but they also can be a much-appreciated gift for a teacher.
Teachers love gift cards, they tell me. They can choose whatever they want to get or need.
So how about a gift card for a small treat such as a manicure or coffee? A card for a trip to a local cinema or theatre could work well to. And as you can now get a gift card for almost all your favourite online stores, why not give one of those?
Or maybe a group of you could get together to buy a larger gift such as a decent sized gift certificate for a store or a local restaurant.
However I would recommend that you avoid those gift cards that you can use at dozens of different retailers. They look like a good idea if you don't know the recipient that well, but they can really make the person using the card go in circles to actually redeem the card.
Also, most have an expiry date and many can only be used to buy something up to the value of the card, meaning the recipient cannot use it as part payment for an item. You teacher probably doesn't need to do extra maths problems in the school holidays!
Pampering products such as bath oil or bubble bath go down well, (according to my female teaching assistant friends) especially if it has words like 'relaxation' or 'de-stressing' on it!
They also love hand cream - primary school teachers especially may have to wash their hands lot.
However they do get given a lot of soap apparently, so steer clear of that. Remember too, that almost no-one uses talc these days, so no re-gifting that toiletries set from an ancient great-aunt either.
Yes! This was the most common suggestion I got for truly appreciated gifts.
Most of my teacher friends LOVE it when they get wine as a gift, but the main complaint that I hear is that mostly only the male teachers get given bottles of wine, so I'm told.
By the end of term teachers of all genders feel like they really need a glass of wine - often in conjunction with that relaxing bubble bath.
If you want a present for the music teacher, how about a baton? They break them all the time and they only cost from couple of pounds each!
Every single teacher that I spoke to loved to recieve a hand-made card from a pupil. A heart-felt note of appreciation written inside can be the most treasured gift that any teacher recieves.
Teachers really, really appreciate it when a child makes the effort to make them a gift or card such as these easy and unusual DIY teacher gift ideas for kids of all ages. Why not have a go at one of these unique and special gifts to make.