Teacher Appreciation Gift

It is that time of the year again. Teacher appreciation. As a teacher myself I think teacher appreciation should be every day of the year, however the end of the year seems to be the time to give a gift to show that appreciation. But what to get your favorite teacher?

I am a firm believer in the student deciding on the gift for the teacher. It makes the gift personal and gives the student a sense of responsibility. With that in mind my son is only 5 years old so finding a gift that he picks and makes himself is a tricky task. We searched the internet for inspiration and came up with a combination of fun and personal ideas.

We created a vase from a basic glass vase and colored pencils. My son helped me organize the pattern of colors and I used hot glue to attach the pencils to the vase.

Then we made paper flowers from cardstock and pipe cleaners. I drew the flower shapes and he cut them out. You will need two of each shape (one for the front and one for the back). I asked him what he would like to say to Miss Janelle and wrote down his responses on the flowers (ie: you are wonderful, I love you, thank  you, and you are pretty). I made the stems from pipe cleaners by creating an infinity shape and twisting it around the stem portion. Then glue the stem in between the two flower shapes.

For an added touch he picked out the real flowers himself just to fill the vase.

I love how it turned out. It is beautiful, creative, personal, and Jackson was very proud to hand it to his teacher. I love to see joy in giving.