Give a gift that keeps on giving with a box of supplies teachers can always use and these free teacher appreciation printables.
The printables even come with a shopping list of teacher supplies, with room to add your own ideas too. Easy peasy!
I have good news and I have bad news.
The bad news is that I completely lost track of time and missed the deadline to purchase our kids school sponsored teacher appreciation gift. 🤦♀️
The good news is that I ended up creating a fun teacher appreciation printable and gift. And now I get to share it with you. Yay!
Let’s get real.
There are many thankless got jobs out there. But being a teacher is definitely near the top of the list. I really don’t know how my kids’ teachers do it.
I love my kids, but if I’m being completely honest…they drive me batty sometimes. And I only have three kids with me, not the 20, 30, and 40 that are in most classrooms.
Seriously…teachers are my heroes.
Free Teacher Appreciation Printables
Now, last Christmas I reached out to my sister, who is an elementary school teacher, and shared a way to make gift cards special for teachers.
But with teacher appreciation week approaching I wanted to do something more personal, while also making sure that it’s useful too.
So, we came up with the idea of providing extra classroom supplies. Because there are never enough supplies.
My sister gave me a great list to start things off, and I designed the printables. A pretty awesome team, right?
Supplies That Teachers Pretty Much Always Need
In addition to the list of supplies that my sister gave me, I also looked back at the school supply lists that are sent out at the beginning of the school year.
Between both of those lists, and a few other things I’ve heard over the years, here are some items that teachers pretty much always need:
- Whiteboard markers
- Ink pens
- Tissues
- Hand lotion
- Sharpies
- Paper clips
- Sticky notes
- Pencils
- Card stock
- Ziplock bags
- Glue sticks
- Paper towels
- Hand sanitizer
- Sanitizing wipes
The best thing is, these don’t have to cost a fortune. Seriously, I just went to the local Dollar Tree and got pretty much everything you see in our gift. Yes…including the box, twine, and tissue paper.
And to make it even easier for you, the printable gift tag includes a page with the shopping list. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.
Putting Together the Supplies Box with the Teacher Appreciation Printables
After buying all your supplies, this gift only takes a few minutes to put together.
What You’ll Need
- A variety of teacher supplies from the included shopping list
- Tissue paper
- A box or gift bag to hold everything
- Twine, ribbon, or string
- Scissors
- Hole punch
- Paper trimmer or cutting machine
- Card stock or matte photo paper (see my recommendations here)
- Teacher supplies gift printable tag, (get a free copy at the end of the post)
Printing Out the Labels:
- Make sure your printer is equipped with the right paper. I recommend bright white card stock for these tags, but if you really want the best quality, photo paper is amazing.
- Print out the labels using “best” or photo quality. This is different for every printer, so just make sure to check your settings.
Side note: if you have a printer that defaults to 2-sided printing, make sure to uncheck that box. Not that I know anything about that 👀 🤦♀️
Cutting the Teacher Appreciation Printables
These tags are about the easiest things in the world to cut since they’re squares. Feel free to use sharp scissors or a paper trimmer.
Or, if you have a Cricut, you’re in luck! I designed these teacher appreciation printables to fit within the Cricut design space Print and Cut feature.
So, if you’ve got a Cricut, go ahead and use it.
That said, you will have to convert the PDF to a PNG first, but it’s super easy. Instructions are included with the file, but you can also watch this video that shows how to prepare a PDF for Cricut Print and Cut.
You can also have the Cricut machine cut out the holes for threading the twine, too. Just add 1/4 inch circles in each of the top corners, or in the middle of the tag.
Note: Don’t be like me and forget to punch holes for the twine. Ooops! A little double sided tape did the trick for us, but it would have stayed attached better threaded through with the twine.
Assembling the Gift
Once you have everything purchased and cut, it’s time to get it all assembled.
- I like to do a dry run first so I know that everything fits properly. While you do this, it’s good to have the kids sign the card somewhere.
- Then, take everything out one more time and double check for price stickers.
- Add a little tissue paper and put everything back in the box or bag.
- Wrap some twine around the box (or through the handles of a gift bag), and add the tag.
- Tie it all in a pretty bow, and you’re done. 🙌
Get Your Free Printable Teacher Supplies Tag Here
You know, sometimes last minute gifts can be pretty awesome. Our kids told me that their teachers both loved their supply boxes.
They may not be quite as versatile as gift cards, but at least these teacher supply boxes and teacher appreciation printables are useful.
And as a fun little bonus, these gift tags and shopping list are free for subscribers. Just add your name and email address to the form below, and I’ll send it right to your inbox.
Don’t want to subscribe? You can also grab a copy for a small price in my shop.
What are you doing for Teacher Appreciation Day?
Are there any other supplies you think teachers would love?
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