Gift ideas for CCD teacher?

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Hi everyone - I’m looking for an appropriate end-of-year gift for my kids’ kindergarten CCD teacher. I don’t know her that well, so I’m not sure what her interests are. Any suggestions? Thanks!
 
I am a CCD teacher. My recommendation is to avoid tchotchkes and brick-a-brack. No candles, no homemade stuff, no little trinkets that say “#1 teacher.”

Instead give the teacher a gift card to a local store or restaurant. Even if it’s a $5 Starbucks card or a $5 gift card to Wal Mart. Doesn’t have to be a lot, just something they can spend as they like.

If you want to get them something religious, have a Mass said for them, send a donation to a religious community and give the teacher a card letting her/him know.
 
Great ideas, thanks! I’m not into tchotchkes either, so that makes total sense.
 
monicatholic said:
i’d rather walk on nails than get another willow tree figurine.
willowtree.info/product/just-for-you
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Ha ha ha! I know what you mean. I don’t know why people think I look like a collector of WT stuff. I am so NOT into that. Fortunately, the girl who does my hair decorates her house in primitive/Americana… and she is the recipient of a lot of WTs… every time someone gives me one! She loves them.
 
hey, i saw a vehicle in ann arbor today with the license plate 1KE. do you live/ around ann arbor?
 
One of my CCD students gave me a little porcelain box to keep a rosary in. Which was lovely. What I really would want, however, is for my CCD students to enroll in our very excellent and affordable parish school so that I wouldn’t have to try to cram all the knowledge they need to prepare for 2 sacraments (Penance & Communion) into one paltry hour a week for 30 measly weeks. I do my best, but it’s virtually impossible to give them the knowledge they need, especially if their parents aren’t helping at home.

I’m just saying…
 
When I taught CCD last year for the first time in many years, I did not realize that CCD teachers got gifts at the end of the year! Among the gifts I received were a couple of gift certificates from Borders’s Books. I used them to purchase Scott Hahn’s new Bible Dictionary. Gift certificates are a good idea.
 
I asked this question of the catechists, universally, they really have enough devotional items like rosaries and holy pictures, and their preferences in spiritual books are very personal. What they all ask for is classroom resources they can use with and for their students. A lot of these can be found very inexpensively at the dollar store, or a bit more at the office supply or teacher’s store.

Nametags

stickers, if you can find religious ones, so much the better

hall passes to the boys and girls rooms

little award, congratulations or encouragement post-it notes in pads, with space for personal message

prize ribbons - 1st 2nd 3rd place, “You are a winner” and other encouraging messages

flashcards like friendly defenders or saint cards

any booklets, pamphlets or other resource material on saints that is kid-friendly

if you want to browse the religious book store, reproducible black line masters of bible and related topics from the Sunday School or Catholic school section

billboards or wall art with religious or bible themes

die cut shapes like cross, angels, stars, that can be used in class projects

craft supplies or craft kits, like the foamy kits to make crosses, now that hobby stores have VBS featured is a good time to shop

I was just given a set of Crayola twistables crayons, which I had never seen before, the other teacher said they last for years

rubber stamps with religious pictures

battery powered candles (most schools won’t let us use the real thing)

If you can find one inexpensive at the gift store, a small standing crucifix to use in the classroom, most catechists share a space and like to have a bag or box with a portable prayer altar, the candle and cross work well here

last year I got 4 place mats from the dollar store in liturgical colors so I can change my little prayer table with the seasons

a folding stand to hold a small bible or prayer book

calendars with religious themes, we use the pictures in the classroom.
 
I teach two CCD classes and I was thrilled with the movie gift cards one of the families gave me (In addition to the candy and flowers they gave me–they were incredibly generous). I also got several candles. What I really appreciated were the notes from the parents thanking me for teaching their child. Those notes and the kind words from the parents mean more than any gift.

I think a gift card to a bookstore, Target or even Starbucks would be a well received gift. I usually give a Target gift card to my girls’ CCD teachers.
 
chocolate
flowers
chocolate
spiritual boquet
chocolate
your sincere prayers
chocolate
 
I’ve had several parents give me garden plants and house plants. I love them! Everytime I go to water the plants, I think of the child who gave it to me.
 
1ke said:
I am a CCD teacher. My recommendation is to avoid tchotchkes and brick-a-brack. No candles, no homemade stuff, no little trinkets that say “#1 teacher.”
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I, on the other hand, love that stuff. 🙂
Instead give the teacher a gift card to a local store or restaurant. Even if it’s a $5 Starbucks card or a $5 gift card to Wal Mart. Doesn’t have to be a lot, just something they can spend as they like.
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This is also a great idea. Put enough cash in it so that she can take a friend to lunch with it.
If you want to get them something religious, have a Mass said for them, send a donation to a religious community and give the teacher a card letting her/him know.
Click to expand...
This is also a very nice idea. 🙂
 
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