A teacher with 25 kids in class can get 25 mugs in December. That is the problem every parent searching for teacher Christmas gifts is quietly trying to avoid. The most saved pins solve it in two ways: either the gift gets used up (coffee, snacks, hand soap, candy), or it carries something no shop sells, like a child’s handwriting.
We went through the most saved boards of Christmas gifts for teachers and picked 25 Christmas gift ideas for teachers: classroom kits, gifts with a pun on the tag, things kids can make, treats from the kitchen, and a few small practical presents. All of them are original pins you can save.
Christmas teacher gift ideas for the classroom
1. A teacher survival kit
Teachers already use a plastic caddy like this one for supplies. Here it holds the four things on the checklist tag: supplies, sanitizers, caffeine and carbs. In practice that means Post-it notes, Sharpies, highlighters, wipes, hand sanitizer, a Coke Zero, M&M’s and a Hershey’s bar. The pin was made for the first day of school, but by December every one of those supplies has run out.
2. A teacher’s emergency stash
A clear compartment box, the type sold for beads or fishing tackle, with one kind of candy in each section: Reese’s cups, Twix, Hershey’s, Snickers, York peppermint patties. A black ribbon and a printed label, “Teacher’s emergency stash”, finish it. It fits in a desk drawer, and it can be refilled.
3. Chill pills
December is the month of school concerts, half days and over-excited children. Hence a mason jar of M&M’s with a label in the style of a prescription: “Chill Pills. Take one by mouth as needed to relieve stress, anxiety, or frustration.”
4. Rain or shine
Recess duty happens in the rain too. Hang a purple tag on the handle of a folding umbrella: “Rain or shine, you are the best teacher of all time. Thank you for teaching this little heart of mine.” It is one of the few Christmas presents for teachers on this list that isn’t food.
5. World’s greatest cup of coffee
The tag is Buddy from Elf shouting the line from the film, and the bag holds the coffee: a small bottle of Torani syrup (peppermint, gingerbread, chocolate milano, toasted marshmallow) and a couple of Starbucks Via instant packets. The pin links to an Etsy listing for the favors; the syrups and coffee themselves are easy to find in a supermarket.
Teacher Christmas gift ideas with a pun on the tag
6. We whisk you a merry Kissmas
Fill a balloon whisk with Hershey’s Kisses, slide it into a cellophane bag and tie it with curling ribbon. The tag reads “We whisk you a merry Kissmas!” and is a printable download. A red whisk for one teacher and a green one for the next keeps a stack of them looking festive.
7. For your mistle toes
One of the easy teacher Christmas gifts that takes five minutes. Tie a kraft paper tag to a bottle of nail polish with red and white twine, and write “for your mistle toes.” The pin comes from a set of printable nail-themed Christmas tags. A sparkly shade fits the season; a neutral one gets used after it.
8. A cup of sunshine
A drinking glass filled with yellow shredded paper and white daisies, holding a Sol de Janeiro body mist and an e.l.f. lip balm, with a tag that says “A cup of sunshine.” Everything in it is yellow or gold, which is the point: in the darkest weeks of the year it is a small bright thing on the desk.
Christmas gifts for teachers from kids
These are the teacher gifts from students that cost almost nothing and get kept. Most of them need an adult for one step only.
9. A thank you letter to fill in
A printable page from The Suburban Mom: “Thank you for being a great teacher! By: Kendal.” Below are prompts the child completes. “My teacher always says: be quiet!” “My favorite memory is going to the science center.” There’s a box at the side for a drawing of the teacher. It costs one sheet of paper and a few minutes of the child’s time.
10. A plate with the child’s writing
The instructions are right on the pin: buy plates from a dollar store, write on them with a Sharpie, then bake for 30 minutes at 150, and the writing is permanent. The pin doesn’t say which temperature scale, and Sharpie isn’t food-safe, so treat it as a decorative plate for a shelf rather than one for lunch.
11. Pressed flower lanterns
Small dried flowers are glued onto a clear jar with a brush and sealed with another coat, then twine is tied around the neck. With a battery tea light inside, the petals glow. Kids can do the pressing and arranging; the gluing goes faster with an adult.
12. Clay pot Christmas trees
Turn a small terracotta pot upside down, paint it green and cover it with colored dots for ornaments. Glue a wooden star on top and thread a loop of ribbon through the drainage hole, and it hangs on a tree. Projects with Kids has the full tutorial.
13. Gifts toddlers can make
The youngest children need something that works with a finger or a palm. This pin collects ideas: mugs with painted hearts and the child’s first letter, handprint tea towels, salt dough ornaments with drawn faces, a heart-shaped keychain and a decorated photo frame. Write the child’s name and the year on the back, because a preschool teacher may get several of these.
14. A chocolate flower bouquet
Each flower is a ring of foil-wrapped chocolates around one in the middle, fixed to a skewer with a green paper leaf. Put a bunch of them in a yellow mason jar and the whole bouquet is edible. The pin is from Tikkido, which has the steps.
Homemade teacher Christmas gifts from the kitchen
15. Homemade coffee syrups
Sugar and water simmered with a flavor: the four bottles here are labeled warm spice, peppermint, caramel and maple vanilla. Pour them into glass bottles with pour spouts and chalkboard labels. Nellie Bellie has the recipes. Add a note to keep them in the fridge.
16. Maple vanilla candied pecans
The recipe is printed on the pin. Toss 2 cups of pecans with ¼ cup maple syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon cinnamon and a pinch of salt, spread them on a baking sheet and roast at 325°F for 20 minutes. Once cool, they go into small jars. Check the class allergy list before you bring nuts into school.
17. A snowman pretzel jar
A mason jar full of white yogurt-covered pretzels becomes a snowman with three black buttons glued to the glass, a red yarn scarf around the neck and a chalkboard tag that says “Merry Christmas.” The pin links to free printables for ten teacher gifts like this one.
18. A hot cocoa kit
Glass tubes filled one ingredient at a time: cocoa mix, mini marshmallows, crushed peppermint, chocolate chips, small cookies, a candy cane. Three tubes tied together with a striped ribbon and a sprig of fake holly make one gift.
19. A bread and butter basket
Bread and butter, dressed up: a loaf wrapped in a white tea towel, plus three small jars of flavored butter: roasted red pepper, garlic herb and orange cranberry. It is a gift for a teacher’s family dinner over the break, and the tag reads “Winter Wishes”.
Best teacher Christmas gifts for everyday use
20. Vaporizing shower cubes
Blue cubes made with Vicks VapoRub. Dropped on the shower floor, they release a menthol steam. Teachers catch every cold in the building, so this is a gift with a clear purpose. The full recipe is on The Homespun Hydrangea.
21. Tree-shaped candle and cutting board
A green ceramic dish in the shape of a Christmas tree, filled with a white candle, sits on a cutting board engraved with the family name, together with a striped tea towel and a wooden spoon. It is one of the pricier gifts here, so it suits a group gift from several families.
22. A kitchen sink gift bag
A clear bag with handles holds a smiling green Christmas-tree sponge, a bottle of Mrs. Meyer’s Iowa pine dish soap and a plaid tea towel, signed on the tag “Love, the Browns”. Every item in it gets used up, so nothing ends up in the cupboard with the other mugs.
23. A honey bear mug
Give this one in the first week of December, when the coughing in class starts. The glass mug holds what a sore throat needs: a honey bear, organic tea bags, wrapped honey drops, a packet of tissues and a lip balm.
24. Hand soap and tea towels
It takes two minutes at the store and looks like more effort than that: a bottle of Method foaming hand soap in holly berry, wrapped with two striped tea towels and a green ribbon.
25. Reindeer candy bags
Clear bags of Reese’s cups, Rolos and Hershey’s Kisses, each twisted at the top under a pair of kraft paper antlers, with googly eyes and a red pompom nose stuck on the bag. Kids can cut the antlers themselves, which makes it a good class project: one afternoon, and every teacher in the building gets one, including the librarian and the bus driver.
