As the school year winds down, you aren't the only parent scrambling to find new ways to thank their child's teacher for a great year in the classroom.

Here's the good news: You don't have to be Martha Stewart to create a memorable gift with your child. And if you don't want to make a homemade creation, you can still give a gift to remember by pooling resources with other parents. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Pot a plant, buy some paint and have your child decorate the pot with handprints. Make a card in the shape of a seed packet, write a note thanking the teacher for helping your child grow and stake it into the soil.
• Display a banner outside the school saying thanks to the teachers.
• Give a night at the movies by filling a tub of unpopped popcorn with snacks and gift cards for video or DVD rentals.
• Work with the students to create a class scrapbook or thank you book.
• Ask local businesses to donate gift certificates to give to teachers. Teachers will especially appreciate gift certificates from educational supply stores, bookstores or restaurants.
• Create a billboard or poster for the class with the signatures and notes from students to their teacher.
• Give your teacher at day at the seaside or poolside with a beach bag packed with sunglasses, flip-flops and a towel. Don't forget the paperback novels!
• Give a gift certificate good for “One day of cutting out art projects' from Jane's Mom.”
• Create a goodie basket with small packages of coffee, tea, crackers and cookies or a teacher survival pack with packages of note cards, colored pens, stickers and Post-it notes.
• Donate a book to the school library in honor of the teacher.
• Make a donation in honor of the teacher to the PTA, a school foundation or a children's charity.

Psst...Here's What Teachers Say They Want

Don't underestimate the value of praise--especially, if it's public praise--one Oregon teacher told GreatSchools.

"A supportive, positive letter, with a copy to the teacher's admininstrator and /or school board would be a wonderful gift," the teacher wrote. "And don't forget those marvelous 'Letters to the Editor' in newspapers."

This teacher also suggested that parents can tap their own skills to make a special contribution to the classroom: "One of the best gifts that I ever received as an educator was the donation of a parent's carpentry skills to put a door on an ugly sink cupboard for my classroom."

Show Your Parent Power
Joining with other parents in your child's class or school allows families to spend whatever they're comfortable giving. It's also a good way for parents of middle- and high-school students -- who have many teachers-- to show their appreciation.

You can organize parents to decorate the staff lounge and bring in flowers and food to surprise the teachers. Or you can make a donation in honor of a teacher to your parent organization or school foundation. Consider buying your gifts through scrip organizations that allow you to buy and send a percentage of the profits back to the school of your choice. If your school isn't already raising money with scrip, consider starting a scrip program now. Through a scrip program, parents who buy from participating retailers see a portion of the money go back to the school. Parent groups can work with merchants directly or through a scrip broker who does the coordinating in return for a portion of the profits.

Honor All Teachers
Why not honor your child's teacher by honoring all teachers? At DonorsChoose, you can recognize someone special by adopting a project in his honor, or give a DonorsChoose gift certificate to your teacher so she can designate a project of her choice. Or perhaps your teacher is one of the 8,142 teachers whose request for funding is posted on the DonorsChoose Web site, in which case you could donate directly to her project. For example, you could donate funds for age-appropriate reading books for students in a low-income school in California, requested by a second-grade Teach for America teacher in a low-income school in California, or multisensory math materials wanted by a special education teacher in Louisiana for her multi-age class of students with various disabilities, ranging from autism to Down Syndrome.

Additional Resources

Teachers and readers offer more gift suggestions in Bright Ideas from Our Readers: Gifts for the Teacher.

Escrip is a large purveyor of online scrip.

March 2006