39 Teacher Birthday Gifts and Goodbye Gift Ideas

The beautifully whimsical drawings inside this book will move any educator to tears as it says ‘thank you’ on every single page, in a simple but heartfelt way.

If you know the teacher well, whether they’re a friend or they teach your children, you’ll have a good idea of what their rules are. This personalized poster print puts all the rules in one place so the kids can see them, with the teachers name written across the top.

A lot goes in to being an educator, so show one that you know what it takes with this fun mug which features a ‘nutritional’ label for one serving of awesome teacher.

The New Yorker is known for its witty column

Bonsai trees have a magical way of giving you a sense of calm and perspective when things in life are getting stressful. This is exactly what a teacher needs halfway through the day—a little dose of alm right there on the desktop. It’s Zen at-a-glance.

If they’re floundering under the stresses and strains of life, give them the tools to claim back control with a Panda Planner, which helps to build a positive mindset and reset negative thinking.

Live, laugh, love is a mantra often heard. Teachers live to teach, they (mostly) love their jobs, and thankfully this chalkboard coloring book will provide the much-needed laughs within its snarky pages.

Every profession has its go-to sayings, and this notebook sums up a sentiment that all teachers know and feel almost every day: Keep Calm and Pretend It’s On the Lesson Plan. Because every teacher understands that no plan, no matter how good, survives first contact with the students.

Teachers at every level write, write, write. All day and sometimes long into the night. That’s what makes this teacher gift especially nice. It’s a deluxe pen from Pilot that writes so smoothly and easily, the revisions and notes will just flow right onto the page.

When you get up every morning and you know there’s a classroom full of young minds waiting for you, counting on you to be there for them, it transforms you for life. It’s almost like having kids. This book is a collection of twenty four transformational stories from the front lines of teaching.

Sticky tape is an essential, but that doesn’t mean it has to be mundane. This little otter will happily recline all day on their desk while holding their roll of cellophane tape.

Teachers spend their working lives reading to their pupils, so give them an Audible subscription and have someone else do the reading for them, while they sit back and relax.

People that haven’t taught miss some really funny stuff in life. Teachers love to trade stories about the funny answers they get on tests—it’s how they pass the time in the teacher’s lounge. This book collects the funniest test answer fails and puts them all in one place.

Fans of photography will really love this Pop-Up note dispenser, which is based on an old instant camera and dispenses sticky notes instead of photos – a picture perfect teacher’s gift.

You can buy these little faux candle lanterns in Ikea, but many places have variations on the theme. Add a personal touch by adding one of these free printable labels.

It’s easy for kids to forget teachers are human, but as an adult, you need to remember that since they’re human, it’s a pretty good bet they love chocolate. This gift basket from Ghirardelli is loaded with premium chocolate that will make the cares of the classroom fade away.

Gift cards are always more than welcome, but if you want to add a more personal touch, follow these instructions for making a Target-themed holder that really stands out.

Teachers tend to begin their careers writing notes on every paper they grade, and finish their career stamping papers with encouraging messages. It’s not impersonal, it’s just more efficient. These self-inking recognition stamps will make things much easier the teacher who gets them.

Old school music fans will simply adore this Scotch Tape dispenser which is fashioned after an old fashioned record player, complete with turntable and needle arm on a woodgrain and white base.

Coffee is what keeps some teachers going day after day, so save them the grimace-worthy experience of drinking it cold with an insulated mug which keeps the heat in.

Instead of anything school related at all, this year get take the time to make that special teacher something pretty. This braided bracelet is stylish and remarkably easy, considering how cool it looks. This gift is just right for the female teacher with a little bit of class (ha!).

Send teacher off into summer time right with this cute homemade lemonade kit. It’s incredibly simple and easy. You’ll just need a lemon, sugar, a mason jar, and the downloadable/printable template to use as a label. It’s also a great idea if you have multiple teachers to give gifts to.

Of course, some of the best gifts for teachers are those that are homemade, and this DIY ruler chalkboard is a beautiful example, and even features a teacher’s favorite fruit.

This DIY idea is adorable. It’s a jar full of pens with flowers on the end, so when the jar is full, there’s a pretty bouquet on the desk, and when the kids have all the pens, the teacher will know exactly where they are with a single glance. No more pens that wander off forever. Well, fewer, at least!

On the other end of summer, teachers need a little boost to get ready for the year ahead. You can get this handy survival kit together whether you’re the parent of a child heading back to school, or you have a good friend who’s a teacher gearing up for the year.

Kids always wonder where teachers get the humongous tote bags they all seem to have. Here’s the modern answer: from people like you, reading lists like this. You know your teacher friend has to lug books and papers home every day, and a tote like this is the best way to do it.

Get together with your elementary school kid and make this classic chalkboard pot as a beginning of the year gift. It’ll be fun for both of you and the teacher will really love it. All you’ll need is an earthenware flower pot, art supplies, and a couple of hours to make it happen.

This mobile phone stand is perfect for facetime and watching movies or videos, and comes with an adjustable cradle for the perfect angle, and a hole to accommodate the charging cable.

Notes home take on a whole new meaning when they come on personalized stationary. They have more gravitas, more emotion, and more—dare we say—personality when the teacher’s name and a special logo are printed across the top. This is a great gift for teachers at the elementary school level.

If the staffroom coffee is a bit blah, invest in a Starbucks gift card, add it to one of their disposable cups, and attach this printable tag with a pretty ribbon.

You can create your own ‘fries’ box, complete with a fitting tribute label to fix to the front, and then fill it with their favorite snacks for a well-earned movie night.

Tote bags are always handy, especially for teachers who have to carry around books, papers, and confiscated electrical devices. Add this printable tag to make one extra special.

Save her from scrawling the same thing over and over again in red ink with this set of gorgeous wooden rubber stamps, which come with fun phrases which teachers commonly use.

Everyone should have a bucket list, and this cute idea plays on that as a way to make a teacher’s gift. Just print out the tag, fill the bucket with goodies, and give!

For a really inexpensive gift idea for anyone’s desk, buy some highlighter pens, wash out a jar, and print out one of these gorgeous labels to attach with some pretty ribbon or twine.

Teachers change the world one day at a time, one student at a time, one class at a time, one teachable moment at a time. They know this and their students know this, but for some reason, when those students become adults, some of them forget. This clipboard reminds everyone what’s what.

Sugary cakes are good, but you know what’s even better? A cake that’s made entirely of school supplies that will make any teacher’s life that much easier. Here’s how it’s done.

Practical gifts are always well received, and sticky Post-It notes are always in short supply. Make a pad personal by printing out and attaching one of these cute free labels.

The gentle trickle of water will soothe the nerves of the teachers and the students in the classroom, and help everyone do their assigned roles better. Or maybe the sound will just want to make everyone take more bathroom breaks. There’s one way to find out: give this to a teacher, and then ask.

Almost every teacher on earth takes their lunch to school four days out of five, which means they’ll need a trusty lunch bag. This snazzy neoprene bag has plenty of room for a full day of snacks, lunches, and more snacks. It’s also got a special water bottle holder so they can stay hydrated.

All that stress Monday to Friday can take its toll, leaving muscles tense and sore. The Zyllion Shiatsu massage pillow gets to grips with aching back, legs, and shoulders to make the weekends better.

When Christmas rolls around and you’re brainstorming things to give teacher, give this snazzy recipe book a try. It uses very basic materials you can either throw together at home or find anywhere, and won’t take more than a couple hours of your time.

We’re not saying give them money and be done with it, but let’s face facts: teacher are not paid well enough! So we’re saying wrap it in a bow and a tag with a very clever line on it. The teacher is guaranteed to appreciate it, and it shows them you’re grateful for everything they do.

It’s hard not to think of Laura Ingalls Wilder when we see a teacher’s nameplate like this. It conjure up images of the perfect little schoolhouse up on the hill, and the selfless and dedicated teachers who teach every grade and every subject. A simpler gift for teachers who long for a simpler time.

Here’s another touch of Zen for the desktop: an all-natural Himalayan salt crystal candle holder. After the kids go away in the afternoon, the weary teacher can pop a tea light in this holder, which then emits a soothing glow and start to purify the surrounding air.

Help them take a load off with this comfy office chair, which features a mesh back (so they can keep their cool), padded seat, 360 degree swivel, and pneumatic height adjustment.

With options for both men and women, you can ensure that they look their best in the classroom and the staffroom with a monthly subscription to clothing experts, Stitch Fix.

Treat her to a home pedicure with this simple gift idea which could include nail polish, files, clippers, and even some luxurious intensive foot cream for those hard working tootsies.

With just a few supplies you can create this fruity apple tote bag that’s big on glitter but small on price, and because it’s homemade it’ll be that bit more special, too.

5-4-3-2-1! School’s out for the Summer! Teachers will love this creative countdown clock they can display in their classroom. We thing starting after Spring Break is appropriate, because if we’re honest, that’s what everyone is thinking about for the last half of April and the entire month of May.

Where there’s teachers, there’s books, and where there’s books there are turned down pages. Save this travesty from happening with one of these printable bookmarks which say thank you to your child’s teacher.

These glitter mason jars are gorgeous and super easy to make, too. They’ll look great on a desk for holding all those pens, pencils, and other scholarly items.

Like writers, teachers can never have too many notebooks, but rather than wrap one up, why not print out this pretty tag and attach it to the front with ribbon and a pen?

Most teachers wear lanyards, so make sure they have one they’re proud to wear by choosing two coordinating ribbons (in their favorite colors, perhaps?) and following these simple instructions.

These dish towels are much too nice to be used in the classroom, so make sure they take them home for the holidays to add a little festive cheer to their kitchen.

‘Fake it til you make it’ could well apply to teachers when their lessons go off on a tangent, and this mug lets them celebrate their faux pas with a shot of coffee.

Kids in the classroom can be…gross. Help keep the classroom free of all kinds of bugs and germs with a 3 pack of Clorox disinfecting wipes, which kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses.

The coolest teachers were always the ones with the electric pencil sharpeners up on their desks. Make the teacher in your life that cool teacher. This gift will not only make them beloved of their students, but also cut down on a lot of extra classroom noise.

Give their teacher the gift of privacy with this cross-cut shredder which will obliterate any sensitive documents, as well as the doodles they might not want the world to see.

If work keeps her on her toes all day, make sure they’re well looked after with a pair of Tree Loungers, the incredibly comfortable shoe that’s made from the eucalyptus tree.

Whether it’s for keeping special pieces of artwork safe, or covering notices to make them last, this laminator will do the trick for any document up to 9 inches wide.

Gifts for teachers are the perfect opportunity to provide a little light relief, and if yours likes dogs, this tee will be the perfect offering, because who doesn’t love canines on bikes?

We all need to be environmentally aware if we’re to save the planet, so start by giving someone a subscription to zero-waste cleaning products which arrive in glass and as paper refills.

Available in a HUGE range of colors, this set of pencils (from 6 to 100) will be personalized with up to 25 characters to make them totally unique to him or her.

Whether he’s an intrepid explorer or an armchair traveller, this incredible book will take him on 500 of the world’s most incredible journeys, from Tanzania to Transylvania, and movie locations to museums.

Sometimes a sugar rush is the only thing which helps them get through the day, so ensure they have enough with a subscription which sees artisan candies delivered every single month.

Everything’s better with color, which makes this set of felt tip pens such a great teacher’s gift as even the sternest of notes in a pupil’s book is softened with a rainbow.

Nature is a great stress reliever, but it’s not always practical to get out among the trees with a classroom of kids. Bring the outside in with one of these fabulous Bonsai trees, instead.

Sometimes it’s better to DIY than wait for the janitor to work his way through his list of jobs, and this handy compact toolkit will make sure they’re well equipped.

Whatever their tastes, you can say thank you with a Harry and David gift box; chocolates, fruit, wine, and even delicious baked goods can all be delivered in a beautifully presented hamper.

If she’s the kind of teacher who encourages Yuletide attire in the last days before school’s out, this Pugly Christmas Sweater will win the contest, hands down.

Help them make the most of their leisure time with a CityPASS, which gives them access to some of their city’s most famous and interesting attractions, like zoos, aquariums, museums, and more.

This printer will make classroom project light-years easier. A teacher can take photos on a phone, print them up via the Bluetooth wireless connection, and hand them out to students so they can put them on posters or displays. A teacher can also take shots of classroom activities and send them home at the end of the day.

Ten transparent storage boxes with locking lids that I don’t have to pay for or beg off a colleague? Yes, please! Teachers are always looking for ways to get better organized in their classrooms, and these plastic shoe-box sized containers do the trick.

What it do, playa? Run a pigeon to the homies and let’s roll deep! Teachers tend to be pretty hip, but you can’t blame them if they can’t keep up with every passing trend. They already kept up with phrases like bitchin, gnarly, and the bomb. Give them this book and they’ll be spittin’ hot fire in no time.

An ideal gift for a math teacher at any level. Elementary, middle, and high school teachers can keep this on their desk for kids to try to solve when they’re done with classwork. For college professors, this gift makes the perfect office conversation piece.

Even teachers who say they absolutely do not want classroom supplies as gifts will gladly accept a pack of Sharpies any day of the year. The pens are the go-to workhorse of teachers at all levels, from pre-k all the way through graduate school.

Touch of teacher Zen, part three: yoga. Teachers work hard all day, and sometimes stay past dinner for afternoon activities and lesson planning. They need an easy, portable, healthy way to de-stress at the end of the day, and for that, nothing beats yoga.

Teachers send notes home all the time, even in the day of instant email communication. The thoughtful teachers send handwritten notes home on special cards—or they would if they had an endless supply. Give a teacher that supply, so they can reach out in the way they really want to.

This gift is for the awesome English Lit teacher in your life who gave taught you to trust your instincts, speak your mind, and explore the amazing world of books. Maybe this teacher even taught you to write, which gave you confidence across all other subjects—this gift is for that teacher.

And now for something practical: caffeine. If there’s a teacher out there who doesn’t drink at least two cups of coffee before lunch, we bet they’re drinking caffeinated soda. But seriously, this gourmet coffee sampler will make any lover of the dark, bitter brew very happy indeed.

Teacher’s moment of Zen, part four: the Buddha. The Buddha is all about being in the moment. Not stressing about the past, not worrying about the future. We all know teachers need a whole lot of that in order to do what they do, day in and day out. Give them some peace. Give them a Buddha candle.

Let’s do as the kids say these days, and get real: this is probably the only gift on this list a teacher really wants. That’s why we saved it for last, because it is, in fact, the best gift on this…nope. We can’t. Teachers can’t play favorites and neither can we (but it’s the best gift on the list).

It’s going to happen. They’re going to need pencils. No matter how many they bring, somehow, someone will always come up to the desk and ask. Set the teacher in your life up right with this cute and clever little pencil holder. They might not come back, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

This sweet teacher’s gift idea uses store bought items such an oven mitt, cookie mix, and utensils, but comes with an adorable homemade vibe thanks to the free printable label attached.

Grab a gable box, some ribbon, a supply of cookies and this free printable tag and you’ll have all the ingredients to make this super cute gift that’ll make a teacher’s day.

Who knew an old soup can could look so cool? This DIY shows you how to partially paint some wooden rulers before adding them to the outside for a totally wicked pen holder.