Thank You Teacher Gifts to Keep
Can you imagine being a teacher for a couple of years? Let's say you teach just one particularly great bunch, 25 strong, or whatever the optimum class number is these days is. You teach the junior infants through to senior infants and you all get along famously.
It comes time for them to carry on up the ranks. They get another teacher and they all want to give you 'thank you teacher' presents to show their appreciation. Great. So maybe you'll receive a few packets of your favourite sweets, flowers and a plant or two, a bunch of 'thank you teacher' mugs saying as much and a tonne of other suitably inscribed notebooks, pencil cases, aprons, t-shirts, pens, scented candles and a heap of flowery dust collectors... personally handmade cards and art (actually lovely). This is great.
This is all well and fine. The problem lies in the fact that as a teacher you will probably teach more than one class simultaneously and many of them will want to thank you with a little gift at the end of the year, year on year... What happens to all the gifts? The poor teachers. What a dilemma. The impact on the environment. Another dilemma. How do we mitigate the situation?
If it were me, I would appreciate little pieces of art and handmade cards from the children. They would be easy to store or photograph and recycle to minimise the environmental impact. Perhaps if each mug and candle holder didn't actually have 'Thank You Teacher' on it there would be a bigger chance of the gifts being used or re-gifted even.
Suggested Gifts for Teachers
What if gifts for teachers were perishable such as plants and flowers or edible items such as sweets and chocolate?
At least the teachers homes wouldn't eventually become graveyards to thank you gifts for teacher and they could share their bounty with family and the children themselves..
Or perhaps if the teachers were to come together, perhaps some do already, to organise a way to curb the enthusiasm of gift givers by arranging a different way to say thank you to each other.. such as a games day or a little party where the idea was to do something like say a poem, sing a song, paint a picture, read a story, tell a joke, call out or read out a favourite recipe etc..
Gifts With Sustainable Packaging.
Handmade gifts are sustainable first of all based on the fact that they are made in a slow process and in low quantities. There is minimal negative impact on the environment. There is much less waste. When the necessity arises for a thank you gift we have great and relevant gifts at Parade Handmade. Handmade thank you cards made in slow vintage style and appearance. They work for obvious reasons and are environmentally friendly offering plastic free packaging and Free gift wrapping with a thin pleated tissue paper wrap which is bound with ribbon or string.
Bookmarks are relevant and a teacher will always have a use for one more. Happily they don't actually say 'Thank You Teacher'. Ditsy Designs has many different themes from cats, dogs, fish and hares to the more fanciful designs such as mermaids, fairies and unicorns. There are even coffee and cake or floral bookmarks too. Super choice with so much colour and they are small enough to keep. There are cute fridge magnets and bag charms too which can be used to identify and adorn bags, jackets, phones and other items.
We have beautiful little pottery vases and ramekins from Kurilla Pottery which can all be recycled eventually. They could easily enhance the home meanwhile as they join the decor unobtrusively but in an artistic way.
It is always handy for a teacher to have an arsenal of pretty stationery for little thank yous, birthday wishes and various times that spring up suddenly. Beautiful art card packs are a perfect gift to fit that bill. You have quite a few styles to choose from at at that price that's not 'cheap' but not 'too much' either. Cards From Ireland by Jane Dunn have beautiful cards with imagery inspired by the Irish landscape and environment. There a packs of beautiful wild flowers and garden flowers too. Places of scenic beauty such as Belmullet Harbour or Croagh Patrick. We can bundle any selection for you in a pleated tissue wrap so you can choose any combination and even mix and match creators to get a personalised selection.
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