There's One Thing That All Teachers Want as a Gift This Year (2024)

After gift cards, personalized items came up the most often as a much-wanted gift. So teachers will delight in their very own stamps, created to look just like them, with their hairstyle, facial hair, glasses and other accessories. You can get them for male teachers and female teachers, and you can also personalize the text.

Lots of teachers say that what they want most, above gifts, are hand-written notes. But if your student finds it hard to get the words out, this journal helps them make it easy by offering fill-in-the-blanks that'll get the inspiration flowing. The class can even work on it together and make it a group gift.

Elementary school teachers in particular often have to decorate their rooms every year. Help them out with this sweet sign that comes in three designs, and can be personalized with their name.

When a classroom-app note just won't do, they'll appreciate having their own stack of personalized "From the Desk Of" notecards. This one comes with a choice of yellow, green or red apple, but if you don't want to go with the apple motif, you can opt for the No. 2 pencil design.

Perfect for a reading or English teacher, these name plates are made from repurposed Scrabble tiles. You can also add in an apple, star or heart embellishment in the beginning. It's a great just-a-little-something that won't take over their whole desk.

From lesson plans to to-do lists to whatever musings enter their heads, teachers can always stand to have a notebook on-hand. And, with a laser-engraved design, they'll always know which notebook is theirs. There are also many different designs and styles to choose from.

Not only do the colors on these journals pop, they're also refillable, so once your teacher runs out of lined paper, they can just get a new notebook insert and start fresh. You can add a monogram and even throw in a couple of refills for good measure.

Some teachers requested school merch or school-store swag as a gift; if that's not available, this is the next best thing. It comes in about a dozen colors and a couple different styles, and you can get it in sizes from XS to 2XL.

These stickers come in handy the same way that return address labels do. Teachers can stick them on notes home, on items like travel mugs or Tupperware they want to mark as theirs or as something they can add to graded papers to make students smile. The set comes with 100 stickers, which should keep them going for a while.

An Amazon gift card was far-and-away the most requested gift on our teachers' lists. And it makes sense: You're giving them what they want most — something they can pick out themselves. This one even comes in its own gift box, and all you have to do is add a thoughtful note.

After Amazon, Visa cards were the second most-often requested. Teachers liked how versatile they were, and noted that they'll almost certainly be re-used (and not re-gifted).

At DonorsChoose, teachers can set up funds for classroom projects of their choosing. Some might want to get active seating in their classrooms, others might be looking to buy a set of ukuleles while others might want a set of cursive writing workbooks. You can give directly to the project in any amount you'd like, and sometimes you can just give to the school or teacher in general. Many times during the year, someone sponsors a matching donation, so your money goes even further.

Not all the teachers on our list drank coffee, but the ones that did said that they always appreciated a gift card for their favorite brews. You can always get them a pretty cup or tumbler to go with it.

If you know your teacher's favorite restaurant, you can give them a gift certificate to dine out. If you don't, then it's dining in! You can get a GrubHub e-gift in any amount, and they can use it at a variety of participating restaurants.

From our survey, it seems a lot of teachers are going to be spending some time reading on their school breaks, and they want some new books to peruse. Some mentioned having loyalty to their local indie booksellers — so if they're on Bookshop, this is a great way to indulge their reading habits while supporting local businesses.

The same travel tumbler that was requested en masse by students last holiday season is also a hit with their teachers. And, with the ability to hold a whipping 40 oz of liquid, we get it. The insulation keeps beverages hot or cold, which is helpful for a teacher that has to stand up and talk in front of a class all day.

Teachers often asked for desk supplies and school supplies, especially for items that would help them when it comes to grading. These gel pens are easy to keep track of, with their unique floral patterns, and also write in pink, blue, orange and green, so they show up on tests and assignments.