The Best Holiday Gifts to Give Teachers This Year

The last few years have been rough, especially for teachers. From learning how to teach remotely to navigating COVID-19 protocols, educators have shouldered the pandemic’s burden often without complaint. To show the teachers and school staff members you know your appreciation, send them a gift for the holidays. This list has you covered whether you want to buy a present on your own or pitch in with the full class.

Gifts for under $25

Adorable office supplies

Price: $3 and up

Teachers’ desks are their domain, so help them doll it up with adorable Kawaii Pen Shop office supplies. Cute cat pens, decorative washi tape, Shiba Inu dog sticky notes and sushi-shaped erasers are just a few of the many reasonably priced options that are sure to make the educators you know smile.

Buy Now: Kawaii Pen Shop office supplies

Baggu reusable tote bags

Price: $12

Whether carting supplies, lugging papers or loading up on books, teachers tend to tote a lot of things with them from home to school and back home again. Help them do it in style with these handy Baggu reusable, foldable bags.

Buy Now: Baggu reusable tote bags

Bookshop.org gift card

Price: $10 and up

Gift cards may have a bad reputation for being a little impersonal, but it’s hard to think of a better present for those you don’t know that well. Giving Bookshop.org gift cards is the perfect way to tell teachers thank you, while letting them buy the books they really want.

Buy Now: Bookshop.org gift card

Gifts from $25-$50

D.S. & Durga Big Sur After Rain hand sanitizer

Price: $30

Teachers spend a lot of time in classrooms with their students and the many, many germs they carry. This hand sanitizer spray will get their hands clean and smelling really good too.

Buy Now: D.S. & Durga Big Sur After Rain hand sanitizer spray

Carter Move Mug

Price: $30

Teachers get to school early and often stay late, meaning they likely need a coffee or tea break to get through their busy day. Carter Move Mugs are minimalist, personalizable travel tumblers that are the perfect gift for teachers because they’re designed to keep coffee hot until they have time to drink it.

Buy Now: Carter Move Mug

Compartes Chocolates gift set

Price: $49.95

Show teachers your appreciation in one of the most time-honored ways possible—with chocolate. (Hey, it works for Valentine’s Day!) The Compartes chocolate collection showcases some of the brand’s best-selling flavors, including cookies and cream, strawberry shortcake and even donuts and coffee.

Buy Now: Compartes Chocolates gift set

Phaidon books

Price: $12.95 and up

These gorgeous books from Phaidon are fun and informative to read, but also look great on a shelf or coffee table. They cover topics across the food, art, science, plant, and design worlds, including Annie Liebowitz’s latest art-filled retrospective, a cookbook of Middle Eastern sweets, a Nike lookbook and much more.

Buy Now: Phaidon books

Gifts for $50+

DoorDash or GrubHub gift cards

Price: Varying amounts

If you suspect your teacher is too tired to cook at the end of a long day, DoorDash or GrubHub gift cards can be game changers. These food delivery apps connect hungry diners with all types of restaurants and purveyors, making it easy to satisfy any craving.

Buy Now: DoorDash or GrubHub gift cards

Milk Bar sampler gift box

Price: $54

Any school staff member with a sweet tooth will appreciate this goodie-filled box from the Milk Bar. The sampler pack includes Vanilla and Chocolate B’Day Cake Truffles, a variety of the bakery’s cookies and a slice of the ooey-gooey Milk Bar Pie. What’s not to love?

Buy Now: Milk Bar gift box

Omsom’s Try ’Em All bundle

Price: $70

Send a teacher on a round-the-world tour, one meal at a time with this saucy sampler pack from Omsom. These sauce packs feature flavors from Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, among other countries, offering a flavor-packed pantry shortcut perfect for food-loving teachers who are short on time.

Buy Now: Omsom Try ‘Em All bundle

The Sill subscriptions

Price: Starts at $50 a month

Plants can brighten anyone’s day. But why not put a smile on teachers’ faces every month with plant delivery from The Sill, which offers subscriptions big and small. Of course, whether they want to keep their new greenery, which comes in chic planters, at school or home is entirely up to them.

Buy Now: The Sill subscription boxes

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

Price: $189

Show teachers you care about them and their eyesight with the latest version of Amazon’s popular easier-on-the-eyes e-reader. This one features a larger screen, dark mode and water resistant technology, making it perfect for reading in the tub after a long day at work.

Buy Now: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite