Christmas Gifts for Parent Volunteers
What Teachers Should Give to their Volunteers this Christmas
Dec 12, 2008
Teachers love their parent volunteers. These volunteers help in invaluable ways by cutting down on the amount of busy work teachers have to do on a daily basis. Preparing materials for lesson plans, making copies, and even reading with students are some of the jobs that parent volunteers do on a sometimes daily basis. Saying thank you to these wonderful helpers is important, but think carefully about what you give them this year.
Gifting Baked Goods
Parent volunteers will be the first to tell you that they do what they do for the kids, and not for gifts. They love helping and being involved in their children's academic lives. Giving a thoughtful homemade baked gift can be an appropriate way to say thank you without going too far.
Some ideas include:
- a plate of various cookies
- a loaf of homemade bread
- a plate of brownies
- another homemade goodie
These simple baked gifts are a great way to say thank you, and be gentle on your pocket book at the same time. Gifting a single cookie to each student is an extension of this baked gift idea that will say Merry Christmas to your students without costing a lot of money.
Giving Gift Certificates
Gift certificates can be a good gift if done properly. Be sure to not spend too much on a gift certificate, limiting it to $10-$15 per volunteer. This may get expensive if you have many parents who volunteer, but can be a nice way to say thank you for all the help they provide. Options for gift certificates can include:
- coffee shops
- book stores
- hallmark stores
- other specialty stores
Be careful with gift cards, as the longer the recipient holds onto them without using it, the less money it will contain. Each card has different penalty fees, most not starting to take money off until after a year. Also, if a store is in danger of going out of business, that card will no longer have any value, so keep that in mind when choosing a store.
Giving Candles
Although teachers are often on the receiving end of candle gifts at Christmas, giving them to your parent volunteers can be a wonderful way to thank them for their time. This can be done for relatively little money if you shop carefully, with some candles costing as little as a dollar and still looking and smelling wonderful. If you happen to receive a dozen candles or more every year at Christmas, saving some of these to re-gift as parent volunteer thank you gifts is a frugal idea as well.
When deciding what to give to your parent volunteers this Christmas, think simple and thoughtful. Parents may be offended if you give something that is too nice, as they are not helping in order to receive a gift. Some parents may rather not receive anything, and if this is the case, a simple card saying thank you from your heart can be an appropriate gift.
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