Ackkk! Building off of the other teacher gift ideas question, my 6 y.o. son has made his K teacher a pottery plate. He painted his own picture on it and worked for a couple of hours on it. On the top of it, he has written love you and then painted his name and her name and the year on the back of it. The pottery place is in the process of firing it. He is soooooo proud of it.
Teachers... Will this be considered a Knick knack? Do kids give this kind of thing all of the time so that teachers are sick of it? :-( Or will she like it because he put so much work into it? I am also getting her a $25 gift card.
Thanks everyone! I thought we had a good plan, but I started getting nervous when I saw notes about no knick knacks!
Knick knacks are fine if the kid made them... the gift is the thought and time the child put into it, not the actual item. I would be really touched if I received a gift like this.
I think its cute. But I'm a mom
I have a variety of knick knacks given to me by the kids I teach. They are very precious! One of them became a teacher with me and she was surprised and touched I hung onto a picture she drew me once! It said "#1 Gymnastics Teacher" on it and she had drawn me and her on it.
I am a teacher, and I love gifts that show the kid is involved in them.
I teach high school so I have never gotten a plate like your son has made, but it sounds wonderful. I am sure the teacher will love it!
oh, I would love it. Not a teacher but I work with kids as a therapist. I think its a wonderful gift.
As a former teacher, I can say that I would love something that a child worked on so hard. It's also useful so the practical side is great. Depending on the size, she can serve appetizers or cookies on it, that sort of thing.
What's not useful to teachers is are endless knick knacks for display only, especially all the stuff that says "#1 teacher" or has an "apple for the teacher" theme. It's a nice thought, but if you get 5 per year and teach for 10 years....well, you get the idea.
What I would say going forward is, don't push push push your kid to do this every year. If he's into it, fine. But don't get into the habit of trying to engage him or force the issue as school becomes more "old hat" to him or if he gets a teacher he's not nuts about. I think it's always appropriate for a child to write a thank you note - it's a useful skill and etiquette exercise anyway, and it's important to teach a child that he can always find something of value in what a teacher did all year.
$25 is a generous gift card, but don't bust your budget every year. As he gets older, your son will have teams of teachers, and it's going to get expensive if you try to duplicate that every year. Also, it's easy to overlook the "Specials" - art, music, phys ed, literacy, and so on.
So a lot of schools have an educational foundation to which parents can make donations. Even $5 in each teacher's name can add up, and then teachers can apply for mini-grants to fund programs outside the regular curriculum. Other schools have a classroom collection, allowing each family to give what they can afford, based on their income but also the number of kids they have in the school system. You just give what you want, no one knows the amount, and then the class parent in charge (or a small group) make the purchase of a larger item, which could be a large gift card or a gift. A teacher who receives 20 $10 gift cards winds up having to add her own money all the time to purchase anything of substance. Okay, $10 at a coffee shop works fine, but you have to know that the teacher drinks coffee and can get to that location during the summer (because she has no time during the school week). So you might consider something like that for next year.
I would love it! Especially as I am an Art Teacher at 4 schools! I would also think that a platter with all of the kids finger or thumb prints and names around the edges would be awesome!
I think that is a wonderful gift. Especially since he is so proud of it.
I am bummed I did not think of that! Turns out this is the first year my sons kindergarten teacher has taught. I got her an engraved picture frame for the class picture. But a hand done pottery plate would have been SO much better. Good thinking
That is so sweet and wonderful and I'm sure his teacher will absolutely LOVE it.
