As a retired high school teacher I want to thank you for your thoughtfulness. Believe me it will be greatly appreciated. Just a thank you card will make a teacher's day. A tote bag is absolutely awesome, wow! Tissues for the classroom were a most welcome gift. Enjoy your holidays!

I asked my daughter who teaches kind. She said rather than to gift her she would appreciate healthy snacks for the kids that don't have a snack boy and girl gloves or mittens one or two pairs of undies for accidents socks for kids that got theirs wet on playground easy read books for their learning center just small books her room them is bee's they are called the busy bees so she appreciates anything bee themed to decorate or learn from. but the biggest gift you can give a teacher iis to volunteer your time whether it be a day a week everyday or ocassionally you would be surprised how much it means to have a helper in your class room she is blessed to have a 80 year old active woman that comes EVERYDAY she also has a 70something man that volunteers to the whole school so he comes and helps out ocasionally It is a blessing to her to have help so when she is teaching something to just a portion of class the volunteers help the other kids with their work. I will add anyone who volunteers is truly blessed with love and satisfaction of helping kids learn we all know that somekids do not get this at home. When my health is good enough I try to go vistit my daughter a few times a year and allways go to school a few times

Volunteering in the school is great, just expect the school to do a background check on you before you can actually volunteer. Most schools/districts have tightened their security procedures in recent years.

A tote bag would be great, as would stickers, colored pens, art supplies (craft foam, google eyes, magnetic strips, pipe cleaners, etc.) as most teachers buy these items out of their own money.

I would hesitate to send snacks for the students because of the rise in food allergies (nuts, milk, red food dye).

Gift cards are appreciated. But above all a heart felt letter thanking them for the work they have done with your student is great, people are quick to complain but slow to show appreciation.

If the link works, this is a cute idea for a teacher or friend. Wrapping paper and tape! The blogger shares a great little saying to put on a card.

http://itsalwayscrafttime.blogspot.c...gift-idea.html

The tote bag is awesome and the ideas have been good...as a retired teacher, I have to agree that you should check school policy. As a person with asthma, anything with scent was left in the staff room for someone else to take home. Sad. Body lotions, etc, are out for similar reasons. Cash was not allowed, but gift cards were. I loved getting gift cards to local sandwich shops, bookstores, coffee shops. Even a $5 gift card is good when you're a teacher. And when I retired, all the "teacher-y" stuff got left behind, so if you make a tote bag, I'd suggest anything other than "teacher-y' fabric. Just MHO.

thank you all for your suggestions. I wish I could afford to load up the tote bags, but I'm on a very limited budget, and I have 4 teachers to buy for (and that doesn't include the art teacher, music teacher, etc. - 2 teachers and 2 aides). I will definitely include a thank you note in each.

I second the notion of gift cards and appreciative letters. I don't think there is anything more special than a heart felt thank you for teachers. I saved the ones I received for years!

I love your idea. My wish list of small items would include hand sanitizer, Kleenex, lip balm, tape. Thanks for your thoughtfulness.

As a teacher, I appreciated the mom who gave me blank thank you cards as a gift. That was thoughtful.

My favorite gifts were books donated to the library in my honor.