Deciding what present to buy for your child’s teacher at Christmas can be difficult. Striking the balance between showing your appreciation and not going overboard. So, how much is too much? And do they really need another ‘world’s best teacher’ mug?

To help you out, we’ve been chatting to our teacher friends, and within the Parent Hub team, to find out what their best gifts have been over the years.

“The best Christmas gift I received was a Christmas tie. My classes used to go bonkers when I bust that out. I also got an electric pencil sharpener one year. That was great – saved me loads of time and I could use it as a reward for good behaviour. Kids would actually choose to stay in at break time just to sharpen pencils!!!” Steven, Parent Hub

“My best Christmas present was a homemade bookmark that came with a letter from a parent saying what a difference she could see in her daughter the first term of being in my class. It doesn’t get much better than that!” Danielle, former IT Teacher

“I wouldn’t say I’ve had any bad Christmas gifts, mainly I receive the usual – chocolates, flowers, candles which are all nice.  The gifts that are most memorable are more personal; like homemade sloe gin, photos of the class, etc. For me the best presents are always thank you cards or even scribbled notes as they mean the most.” Julie, Maths teacher

“I am partial to some special Christmas chocolates at Christmas time and have been lucky enough to have some lovely bottles of wine from parents. One of my favourite gifts was a personalised tote bag…came in really handy for carrying home all my marking and books. I also love pictures and cards made by the kids.” Vanessa, Primary Teacher

So the message seems to be that the handmade and personal are the favourites among the teachers we’ve spoken to. To help you out with any last minute shopping for teachers we’ve rounded up some of the top gifts available this year.

We love these good value stocking filler from the Literary Gift Company, great finds for the English teacher in your life.

https://www.theliterarygiftcompany.com/collections/stocking-fillers
Need some more ideas? A great round up of teacher friendly gifts available at John Lewis.
https://m.johnlewis.com/b/gifts/for-teachers/_/N-2qi9
Some quirky gifts which can be personalised to show that extra bit of thought for your teacher this Christmas.
http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/themes/thank-you-gifts-for-teachers
What better way to celebrate Christmas than with a novelty tie, check out this range from Tie Planet
https://www.tiesplanet.com/ties-c1/novelty-ties-c12/christmas-t48
Inspired by Steven’s favourite gift? Ryman have some great electric sharpeners
http://www.ryman.co.uk/ryman-rocket-automatic-pencil-sharpener
Getting personal have some lovely tote bags that you can personalise for your favourite teacher
https://www.gettingpersonal.co.uk/gifts/personalised-tote-bag-teacher.htm

We’d love to know more about your Christmas gift inspiration, get in touch on twitter @parenthub_uk