What is an appropriate gift for my son's day care providers?

Question

My son goes to a wonderful daycare and I would like to show my thanks to his three providers. I don't have a lot of money to spend on each but would like to give something personal.

Answer 1

First of all a Big Thank You on behalf of all the child care providers everywhere! We are so often forgotten at Christmas and even a small gift of appreciation is valued so dearly.
We love & care for your children & a thank you gift is so nice to recieve.

May I suggest one of the following:
candles
gift certificates (even a small amount will do nicely) for anything from book stores, restaurants, Wal-Mart etc...
gloves or mittens
a card your child made for her (always sweet)
candy or cookies
Movie tickets
earrings
cute socks
stationary & stamps
cozy throw blanket
magazine subscription

Remember your Girl Scout & Boy Scout leaders, Sports Coaches, Sunday School teachers and other influencial volunteers in your child's life too! You will be blessed!

Merry Christmas!

Answer 2

When i worked in daycare, the parents in the class each chipped in between $10 and $25 dollars. The class parents then went out and got us gifts. At that center they did "5 days of Christmas" the week before christmas. One day we each got a candle. The next a small vase filled with holiday candies, another day was hand cream (washing hands all the time can be very drying for childcare providers), another day was something personal (i was pregnant at the time so i got a subscription to Parenting magazine), and the last day was a $25 gift card to the mall.

Just some ideas. Glad you love your daycare enough to provide something thoughtful for them.

Happy Holidays.


EDIT: Steer away from bath and body works type scented things. You do not know what they may or may not be allergic to. Best bet is to stick with sensitive skin type things.

Answer 3

I worked at a daycare facility for 5 years and over the years I received many meaniful gifts from some of the children. Hopefully this will help:

a mug with a packet of cocoa and a candy cane inside
5 dollar gift card to starbucks or other food place
a christmas ornament
caramel apples
I loved the gifts that I new the kids helped make. Those were always special

Answer 4

Here a couple of suggestions:

Sending in Pizza for lunch is a great idea--be sure to send soda too--and to let them know a day in advance so they don't bring their lunch (most of my child's worker's brown bag it)--don't count on having pizza for the kids--some parents may not like that--their kids having pizza--who knows--make it special just for the workers!

As for me, here's what I am doing:

The Dollar Tree has really nice glass ornaments--they look like $5 ornaments at least. I have ten workers to buys for so it can get expensive fast! You can also buy 3 gifts bag for $1 there. So I spent less than $15 on all their gifts! And it looks liek I spnet way more. Then, I'm also making cookies over the weekend to send. I send my gifts in the middle of the month so that the gifts are enjoyed and appreciated before all the other gifts start coming in.

I am going to send the ornaments and cookies this next week (the 11th) and if I have any extra money the next week, I think I may try to send pizza for lunch. I probably can't afford both, but we'll see.

Also---as an aside--I try to send the slice and bake cookies to the teachers about once a month just to be nice---it's cheap, they appreciate it and you can't be TOO nice to your child care providers!

GOOD LUCK!

Answer 5

For gift ideas:

~ Have, or help, your child make a card.
~ Bake something delicious with your child, attach the recipe if a special one, and make the pretty plate it comes on part of the gift itself.
~ A bookmark, ornament, or other craft item created by your child
~ A book for your school's library, dedicated to your child's teacher. If possible, choose a book in an area about which the teacher is passionate.
~ Small luxuries, like candles, bath salts, soaps, and stationery
~ A photo album, scrap book, or picture frame
~ Items the teacher can use to decorate her classroom, including posters and assorted markers.


For a truly fabulous teacher, write a letter to the principal and school committee with a couple of specific examples to illustrate the teacher in action. Make a copy for the teacher. So often, all that reaches supervisors' ears from classroom parents is concerns, grievances, and complaints. Nothing is more powerful than concrete positive feedback written in a letter. Like the letters of recommendation we all still cling to from college, make your letter part of the teacher's scrapbook for a career fully realized.

Answer 6

I usually go the Bath and Body Works and get them each a bottle of bath gel and a new bath sponge. They love it. It is something they can use and it is a little more creative than a coffee mug or an ornament.

Answer 7

Have your son help make a poster. Use construction paper, let him color and add stickers and such to it, then take some finger paint put his hands in it, and press his hands onto the paper leaving behind his hand print, let it dry, laminate it or use clear contact paper to seal it.--frame it if you want (when my kids do these we give them away as placemats--but you can use them however you want to).

Answer 8

We found out what they liked and we went with gift cards.

Starbucks and Dick Sporting Goods...you can adjust the dollar amount based on what you can spend.

Answer 9

bake something and put it on a decorative platter they can keep.

give each of them a gift card

Answer 10

Have your son help you make cookies or chocolate dipped pretzels. It makes it special.