Teacher Thank You Gifts

Finding the perfect gift for anyone can be tough and its often easy to fall back on the old favourites like chocolate, bath treats or a gift card. Homemade gifts from children are obviously lovely but you might want to stick to a card as although teachers are wonderful at accepting gifts from students there are only so many cupcakes and homemade cookies you can eat before they go off.

Zero Waste Gifts

Obviously, at Babame we think that a great gift is one that as good for the planet as it is for the recipient. With that in mind, we have compiled a few lovely gifts from students that teachers can put to good use and are either good for reducing waste or have been made from recycled materials.

• Reusable coffee cups. Ok, so you can definitely have too many mugs that say great teacher but a really nice insulated reusable cup like the U-Konserve Insulated Mug would make a very thoughtful gift for a teacher who rarely gets to finish a drink while it's hot. You could even club together with other parents and get a gift certificate from a local coffee shop to pop inside and treat them to plastic-free takeaway coffee.
• A Punc water bottle also makes a great gift and could be a good choice for male teacher gifts who might be trickier to buy for. Not just great for school these reusable stainless steel water bottles are perfect for the gym, days out with the family or making sure you stay hydrated on the daily commute.
• Or if you know they get lots of bottles of wine why not treat them to a set of recycled wine glasses. The fair trade wine glasses have been hand blown into a mould by expert glass workers in Bolivia. They are made from 100% recycled glass, which gives them a lovely colour and they are dishwasher safe making them a great gift for wine lovers.
• If your teacher brings food to school with them or is a fan of outdoor adventures during the holidays, then the Boc n Roll sandwich wraps make great Christmas gifts for teachers and would make lovely gift wrapping for some homemade cookies or mince pies. Plus they are an easy zero waste switch.
• A reusable shopping bag makes a lovely inexpensive gift and can be used to carry home their Christmas presents and bring marking to and from school the rest of the year. And if you wanted to buy something else they would also make a lovely gift bag.
• Stationery gifts. Chances are teachers will receive a lot of pens and post-it notes nkukus brass bookmarks are simply gorgeous. They are full of character, fairly traded and perfect for marking a page in a book or register. The giant paper clips also make a fun but a practical gift as would a somewhat unusual elephant dung notebook.
• A present made from recycled crayons. Our range of fair trade gifts made from pencils make the perfect quirky teacher gifts for children to give. You could choose a fun necklace to jazz up a work outfit, a coaster to put one of their best teacher mugs on or pen pot to classroom supplies tidy or brighten up their desk at home. The crayons photo frame is also really lovely and could easy become a personalised teacher gift with a photo, picture or note from your child.

Teacher Christmas Gifts

As holiday time approaches you'll likely be looking for Christmas gift ideas for all sorts of people including teachers. While handmade Christmas cards from the children are always going to go down well we have lots of other lovely ideas that are a bit different to dry erase markers or Pinterest projects with scrapbook paper and pipe cleaners that you probably don't have time for.

The Nkuku Tiny Kiko Frames are super cute, handmade and fairly traded. They make lovely Christmas decorations or can be hung on a wall and come in a set of four which could be split between teachers. These would also make lovely alternative gift tags. Then you just need to get the glue or pens out and you have a lovely personalised gift that won't take up too much space and will last for years.

Socks! Everyone wears them and they are a classic Christmas gift for anyone that's hard to buy for. These bamboo socks by Thought clothing are super soft, luxurious to wear and come in lots of great patterns. The ideal gift that is practical, usable and in this case eco-friendly too.

Clubbing together with other parents and making a gift basket is also a lovely way to make sure your child's class teacher doesn't get multiple best teacher Christmas presents. If you know the teacher well a few bath treats might be a winner, some fair trade chocolate is always going to go down well, a bottle of something if you know they drink and any money left over can be turned into a gift certificate.

A lovely idea if you do this would be to get a mason jar and fill it with little notes from all the children because when all is said and done its not the monetary value but the acknowledgement that all their hard work is appreciated that really counts.