Gift guide · 12 ideas
Teacher gifts
Thank-yous for Christmas and the last day of school that a teacher will still be using in February.
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By the end of the year, most teachers could open a store with the ornaments, apple-shaped trinkets and ‘best teacher’ mugs they’ve been given. The gifts that get used fit the job: something warm for recess duty, pens that make a pile of marking less of a chore, a water bottle big enough for a day of talking.
Most ideas come with our pick from one of our top lists, and most were under $30 when we checked, a comfortable amount for one family. The last two are class gifts, with one parent collecting a few dollars from each family. Nearly all of it suits educational assistants and the school office just as well.
A travel mug for morning duty
For the teacher out on morning duty before the first bell, whose coffee has to last until recess. The lid works with one thumb, leaving the other hand free for the door and the clipboard.
Contigo West Loop 3.0 Autoseal Travel Mug (473 mL, 16 oz)
$20–$30
Contigo’s Autoseal lid seals itself between sips, so the mug can roll around a bag or the car without spilling, and a button locks it shut. It holds 473 mL (16 oz), fits most car cup holders and has a hook inside the lid for a tea bag.
What owners say: Coffee stays hot for a long time and nothing leaks or spills, owners say, and they like the lock button; it travels well and cleans easily.
A closer look: Press the button to drink and let go to seal, then lock it before it goes in a bag. The lid opens right up for cleaning and goes on the dishwasher’s top rack, but the steel body is washed by hand.
- Hot up to 11 hours
- Push-button lid that locks
- Tea-bag hook in the lid
Rechargeable hand warmers
Recess duty in January means half an hour standing still in the cold. A pair of rechargeable warmers, one for each coat pocket, beats a box of disposable packets.
KQPZ A402 Magnetic Rechargeable Hand Warmers (2-pack)
$20–$30
Two plain warmers that hold together on magnets or split between two pockets, with four heat steps, 40, 45, 50 and 55°C, each reached in about three seconds, and a small digital display of the temperature and the battery left.
What owners say: Warm and fairly quick to heat, owners say, with a size that suits any pocket, and some found them charged and ready on arrival. How well they hold up over time divides them.
A closer look: One two-headed cable charges both at once in about four hours, or one alone in three, from a single USB plug. The body is aluminum and fire-resistant ABS, and each warmer comes with a lanyard for hanging it from a wrist.
- 4 heat settings, 40–55°C
- 4–9 hours a charge
- Digital temperature and battery display
Fineliner pens
Marking goes faster with a pen that glides instead of scratching. Ten colours mean one for corrections, one for praise and a few spare for the students who always borrow.
STAEDTLER triplus Fineliners (10 colours, 0.3 mm)
$10–$20
Ten colours in one 0.3 mm width, for notes, planners and colour-coded journals, in a triangular barrel that rests easily between the fingers. Staedtler’s Dry Safe ink can be left uncapped for days without drying out, so a pen left open on the desk still writes the next morning.
What owners say: Owners love the bright colours and how smoothly they write, with no bleeding through the page or smearing, and find the ink lasts.
A closer look: The ink is water-based, so it’s for writing and colouring rather than painting over, and it washes out of most fabrics if a pen meets a sleeve. Staedtler makes them airplane-safe, with pressure equalization so they don’t leak on a flight, and the barrels are 97% recycled plastic.
- 10 colours, 0.3 mm line
- Water-based ink
- Left uncapped for days
An insulated water bottle
Teachers talk for most of the day and rarely get the chance to refill. A bottle this big, filled at home in the morning, lasts the whole school day on the corner of the desk.
IRON °FLASK Wide Mouth Bottle with Straw Lid, 1.2 L (40 oz)
$20–$30
Plenty of water in one bottle: 1.2 L (40 oz) in sweat-free double-wall steel, kept cold for up to 24 hours, enough for a long shift or a hot day in the yard without a refill. The straw lid hangs from a carabiner loop.
What owners say: By owners’ reports the water stays cold through the day, and the look and size win them over, though some say the lid leaked or the bottle didn’t last.
A closer look: Full, it’s heavy, so it suits the workbench, the yard or the car more than a small bag. The wide mouth lets a bottle brush reach the bottom, which matters on a bottle that never goes in the dishwasher.
- 1.2 L (40 oz) capacity
- Cold up to 24 hours
- Wide mouth for ice
A wind-resistant umbrella
Bus duty and fire drills carry on in the rain. A compact umbrella that lives in a desk drawer means nobody dashes across the yard holding a binder over their head.
TUMELLA Windproof Travel Umbrella
$20–$30
Nine fibreglass ribs and a vented double canopy, tested in a university wind tunnel at over 110 km/h (70 mph), TUMELLA says; one button opens and closes it, and it folds to 29 cm (11.5 in) for a car door pocket or a glove compartment.
What owners say: Owners like the colours and patterns and find it covers more than most compacts; how it copes with wind, how easy it is to use and its weight all split opinion.
A closer look: Small enough to forget about until the rain starts, it can stay at the bottom of a work bag or backpack. Point the tip away from people before pressing the button, as the spring opens it fast. To close it, press the button to drop the canopy, then push the shaft down until it clicks.
- 29 cm (11.5 in) folded
- Opens and closes automatically
- Vented double canopy
A rechargeable milk frother
Staff room coffee is rarely anything to look forward to. A little wand that froths milk in seconds turns it into something better, and it’s small enough for a desk drawer next to their mug.
CIRCLE JOY Rechargeable Milk Frother with Stand (black)
$10–$20
A slim rechargeable wand with a double-ring whisk that turns warm milk into dense foam in seconds, with hardly any splashing. It stands upright on its own steel stand by the coffee maker, so it’s always within reach.
What owners say: Owners find it froths well and feels well made at a fair price, the battery holds up well between charges, and it rinses clean in seconds; they like the steel stand too, and nobody raises a recurring fault.
A closer look: For the thickest foam, tilt the cup a little and keep the whisk near the top of warm milk. To clean it, dip the whisk in warm water and run it for a couple of seconds, then stand it back up to dry. The USB cable is in the box but the plug isn’t, so charge it from a phone charger.
- USB rechargeable
- Steel stand included
- Hardly any splashing
A label maker
Book bins, cubbies, supply drawers: classrooms run on labels. A label maker with a proper keyboard turns an evening of careful handwriting into a few minutes of printing.
Brother P-touch PT-N20 Label Maker
$20–$30
Brother’s colourful everyday machine: type on a full QWERTY keyboard, check the label on the preview screen and print one or two lines, with 250 symbols and 15 frames to dress it up. Its 12 mm Btag tape comes in 17 colours and patterns.
What owners say: Print quality and how easily the tape loads win owners over, and they like it for crafts; the one thing they keep raising is that it arrives without batteries or an adapter.
A closer look: Btag tape isn’t laminated, so it suits folders, shelves and school supplies indoors more than tools in a damp garage. Brother’s own cassettes hold 4 m (13 ft), and the starter tape in the box is a short 2 m (6.6 ft), so it’s worth ordering a refill at the same time.
- QWERTY keyboard
- 12 mm (1/2 in) labels
- Tape in 17 colours
A scented candle
One for home rather than the classroom, where candles usually aren’t allowed. A crackling wooden wick suits the first quiet evening of winter break.
WoodWick Medium Hourglass Candle, Vanilla Bean (275 g)
$30–$50
Light it and the flat wooden wick crackles softly, like a small fire across the room, while vanilla with sugar cookie and graham cracker drifts out of the hourglass jar. It’s a warm, easy scent in WoodWick’s everyday size, with a wooden lid to keep dust off between evenings.
What owners say: Owners love the warm vanilla and the comforting crackle, and say it burns for days on end, longer than other candles.
A closer look: A wooden wick wants a little more care than a cotton one: break off the blackened tip before each lighting so the flame catches cleanly and the crackle stays steady. At about 11.5 cm (4.5 in) tall, it sits happily on a bedside table, a bathroom shelf or a desk.
- Crackling wooden wick
- Burns up to 60 hours
- Wooden lid keeps dust off
A heated throw
For evenings on the couch with a stack of marking, a soft throw that’s warm within minutes. A Christmas thank-you that gets used well into March.
Bedsure Heated Throw with Preheat, Grey
$50–$75
Made to switch on and forget: flannel on top and sherpa underneath, six heat levels, a timer from one to ten hours, and a preheat button that runs it at full heat for two hours and then gentler for six, with nothing else to set.
What owners say: Owners say it gets warm fast and feels soft and cuddly, and they like the automatic shut-off and how easy the controls are. Size is the one point that divides them.
A closer look: Press preheat as you sit down and leave the controller alone for the evening; for a shorter sit, pick a level and a timer instead. It draws 100 W from a standard outlet, far less than a space heater.
- 6 heat settings
- 1 to 10 hour timer
- Preheat button, nothing to set
A sunrise alarm clock
Teachers are often up before six, and from November it’s still dark. A clock that brightens slowly before the alarm makes those mornings a little gentler.
JALL Full-Screen Sunrise Alarm Clock (K8)
$30–$50
The whole round front lights up, so the sunrise fills more of the room than a small lamp would, and it adds an FM radio, a Bluetooth speaker and two alarms for weekdays and weekends.
What owners say: Owners find the wake-up light bright enough to get them going and far better than a plain alarm, and it sets up quickly for a clock with so many features. Reliability, how readable the display is and how loud it gets each split opinion.
A closer look: Wake to a radio station or one of the nature sounds, and set the snooze anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. At night the L0 setting blacks the screen out completely, handy for anyone who can’t sleep with a glowing clock in view.
- FM radio and Bluetooth speaker
- Sunrise over 10–60 minutes
- Sets time from your phone
A foot massager
A class gift for the teacher who’s on their feet from the first bell to the last, with a few dollars from each family. Something warm to rest their feet on once the marking’s done.
Nekteck Shiatsu Foot Massager with Heat (NK-FM-100)
$50–$75
Six massage heads carry 54 rotating nodes that knead the soles, and the heat switches on and off as you like. It’s open on top, so any size of foot fits, and the buttons can be pressed with a toe, so there’s no bending down.
What owners say: Owners find it relaxing and say their feet feel much better for it, and the warmth goes down well. Durability is the complaint, with some units failing within days or months.
A closer look: It works the soles only, with no squeeze around the top of the foot, which suits anyone who finds air compression too much. Being low and flat, it slides under a desk or the couch when it’s not in use, and the built-in handle carries it to the next room.
- Takes any foot size
- Toe-touch buttons
- Six heads, 54 nodes
An e-reader
From the whole class for the last day of school: the books they finally get time for over the summer, in one slim reader that can go to the beach.
Kobo Clara BW eReader
$150–$200
The main alternative to a Kindle, from Toronto-based Kobo: a 6-inch waterproof reader with adjustable warm light that borrows ebooks from the public library right on the device, through OverDrive, which Kindles can’t do in Canada. It’s made partly from recycled and ocean-bound plastic.
What owners say: Owners like that it works right out of the box, slips into a deep pocket or a small purse and lasts a long time on a charge; how quickly it responds to a tap divides them.
A closer look: EPUB, PDF and MOBI files copy across from a computer over the USB cable, so books bought elsewhere sit beside anything from Kobo’s own store. Audiobooks take far more room, so the 16GB that holds about 12,000 ebooks fits only about 75 of them.
- Waterproof, with warm light
- Plays Bluetooth audiobooks
- Library ebooks through OverDrive
Tips for teacher gifts
- A note from your child about what they enjoyed this year is often the part a teacher keeps, so tuck one in with the gift.
- Check with the school before going bigger: some school boards limit the gifts staff may accept.
- Charge anything rechargeable, like the hand warmers or the frother, and put six AAA batteries in the label maker before wrapping, so it all works the moment it’s opened.
Photos are illustrative, some computer-generated. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. It costs you nothing extra. How we pick · How this works.
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