Holiday Teacher Gifts

Teacher gifts are a  perennial challenge.  Each school has its own unwritten norms and the only way to learn is watching.  First off is it a thing?  Our kids have had classes where no one gives teacher gifts, and ones where nearly everyone does.  The second issue is timing--end of year, holiday, or both?

Figuring out what to give is easier, but not without challenge.  We've had teachers with dietary issues, making baked goods iffy (not to mention that winter is the cold and flu season).  We want to be sensitive to varied religious backgrounds (but don't always know what they are).  There is the clutter factor--will the gift just become junk shortly after it is unwrapped?  Imagine if the teacher in question got 15 tchotchkes a year for fifteen years?  Would 225 mementos be appreciated?  Price comes into play, of course.  Last but not least, it is always nice if the kids can be involved. 

Given all that, this year we settled on bath salts.  We got a big bucket of Dead Sea bath salts from a local co-op, along with some one cup mason jars.  Here is Charlotte carefully measuring out the salt.  Ariadne helped screw on the lids.  Nova, Charlotte, and Solomon made decorative labels.  Done!  Only two salt spills and one melt down.      

Maybe next year we will add scent or color or something else to make the salts more personalized, (and the project more involved), but this year, this felt like plenty to do.