Hi ladies! I'm the head room parent for my daughters kindergarten class this year and we will be celebrating the teachers birthday soon. I'm looking for some unique and creative ideas for a class gift that can be made by the students for the teacher. We've already pooled money and will be giving the teacher a gift certificate to her favorite store but I'd also really like to give her something more personal made by the students since it is their teacher ;) Any and all suggestions would be appreciated!
Thanks so much :)
Thank you for all the wonderful ideas!!! I ended up going with an idea I found online that was a little different but turned out really well, I think. I gave each teacher an umbrella. Who couldn't use an extra umbrella to throw in your bag or to keep in the car? The main gift we were giving the teachers were gift cards but I didn't want to just hand over the gift cards in an envelope so instead I had each of the students decorate a cut-out paper star. Then I took a picture of each student and attached it to the other side of the star. Each star along with the gift cards were hung on ribbons attached to the inside of the umbrella. When the teacher opened up the umbrella all of the stars with the kids drawings and their pictures along with the stars showered down onto the teacher.
Maybe the kids could all make one flower out of pipe cleaners and paper and then give her a bouquet of flowers.
Make a quilt with a square for each child. I know it sounds really complicate, but it's not as hard as it sounds. Get an inexpensive sheet (or sheets) and cut into blocks of the same size (8x8, 10x10, 12x12). Get some inexpensive fabric with a school theme from JoAnne's, Wal-Mart or Hancock's. Let each child color on it with crayons and write their names. Put each piece between paper towels and iron on low heat. The wax will come off but the color won't, so it will be washable.
If you have a parent that sews, or if you know a quilter in your area, have them put the squares together with the fabric you bought as the border and back.
So you would need: cheap sheet, cheap fabric and cheap batting, crayons, an iron, and someone who can sew. It doesn't need to be perfect. She will LOVE it.
I think this is just adorable: http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/colorful-crayon-letter-101... Each kid could contribute one of their crayons. Here is another atlernate version:
http://www.makeandtakes.com/crayons-shaped-into-letters-f...
When I taught 2nd grade, one of the best gifts I got was when, during my conference time, other staff in the school had my kids make a book. They pre-cut the pages (half of an 8.5 x 11) in different colors. Each page started with "I love Mrs. G because ___ " or "I love it when ___." The kids actually copied the sentence from the board, then finished the sentence with their own words. Then they illustrated their page. It was all bound together with ribbon and cute scrapbooking paper for the front and back cover. I still have it in a box somewhere. (Sucks kind of b/c it has my ex-husband's last name on it). In your kinder class, if I did this project, I would have it all printed out already "I love Mrs. Blank because ________." And have room for them to maybe draw a self portrait, or draw a picture of their teacher, plus somewhere for them to write their name. Or maybe if you did a bigger paged book they could do a hand-print in different colors on their page.
How about a t-shirt and you could get them all to put their hand-print and name on it?
How about some type of book where the students each create a page about how they feel about their teacher, then you assemble it. Like a scrapbook.
Check out Pinterest for some great ideas.
I was in my sons kindergarten class last week and noticed she has a chair cover on each little chair that has a pouch in the back. The desks dont have any storage space, so, one of her previous classes made chair covers with a pouch on the back as a class gift. The moms sewed them and the kids decorated them with hand prints, rubber stamps, and simple drawings.
They are very useful and I'm sure will be in her classroom for many many years.
http://www.ehow.com/how_###-###-####_make-chair-pocket-ki...
if you have a clay store near you find out if you can purchace and fire a plate. they might even help you at your school. or talk to the art teacher at the school if one is avalible. get a plate and have the students put hand prints with glaze on it. saying something like you have touched our lives. you could also do this with an apron, sign, pitcher, wreath (hands cut out) canvas or what ever else you can think of.
Bear in mind -- do you have class time to have the kids make something? If you don't, it has to be something they can do at home and bring in to school, where you will need to be present to collect the gifts. So keep it doable and simple and fast so that parents are willing to ensure the kids actually do it, if it must be done at home.
The book of pages with "I love it when Ms. K....." is great; you'll need to be prepared to bind it all together prettily. Be sure to use e-mail to let parents know what's expected! You also could ask for each child to make a thank you card at home -- just something simple with a piece of paper and markers. Then you can place all the cards in a small, attractive basket surrounding the gift certificate.
