10 Best Teacher Gifts Under $20

Teachers deserve the perfect gift! They won’t readily admit this, but it is the truth. I figure if a teacher survived a year with one of my four boys, they had earned a medal! As an elementary teacher, I also swore that after I received a gift certificate for a free cafeteria lunch as a gift from my district one year, I would do my best to bestow thoughtful, desirable gifts on the teachers in my life. To make the task of finding the perfect gift for the teacher in your life a bit easier, I’ve created this gift guide for The 10 Best Teacher Gifts Under $20.

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I recently asked upper elementary teachers in my Facebook groups, Fourth and Fifth Grade Chalk Talk and Ultimate Upper Elementary Teachers (by the way, you might love these groups…feel free to join up!) what gift under $20 they would most like to receive. Not surprisingly, many of the teachers named items they needed for their own classrooms.

Please note: I receive no compensation from any brands mentioned below. They are truly just the preferred brands of the many teachers I know!

Here are the top 10 teacher gifts for under $20:

Flair Pens — Without a doubt, Flair pens are the number one brand of teacher-preferred pen. I’m not sure what it is, but there is something about a Flair pen that just makes a teacher happy! Maybe it’s the nice assortment of colors, or it could be that they seem to last forever. Either way, there’s not a teacher out there who wouldn’t love this gift!

Post-It Notes — Teachers love Post-It Notes! They’re perfect for so many things in the classroom, from writing meeting reminders, to having students annotate text without actually writing in the textbook. Make this gift even brighter with a box of assorted, colorful sticky notes!

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups — It seems there is something about chocolate and peanut butter that helps a teacher get through the day. True confession: my desk drawer always held a container of these sweet pieces of heaven. The perfect medicine for a stressful day! One of the best teacher gifts out there!!

Electric Pencil Sharpener — Having an electric pencil sharpener on hand might seem like a luxury to some, but trust me, when you are in the middle of a busy morning trying to get set up for yet another set of required assessments, an electric pencil sharpener is a lifesaver!

Frixion Erasable Pens — I’m going to admit that I had never used these pens in the classroom. When I polled my teacher groups, however, there was a unanimous vote for these babies! Educators vouched for the smooth writing and that they truly are erasable!

“How Teachers Swear” Coloring Book — It’s not what it sounds like. It’s actually quite hilarious, and I can think of many colleagues who would love a copy of this book! Seriously, click through on this one and take a look at the pages. It’s worth a laugh!

Laminating Pouches — This is no joke. Teachers take their laminating seriously! Why? Well, when they are investing a lot of their own money to purchase and print games and activities, they want them to last. Laminating is the answer. With so many teachers owning a personal laminator today, these laminating pouches are the perfect gift! Many folks in my group listed this as their choice of teacher gifts!

Teacher I.D. Lanyard — So many teachers have to wear I.D. badges these days, so a pretty lanyard makes a lot of sense! This Vera Bradley lanyard is my pick! I love these colors!

Expo Markers — Wander into any classroom, and there’s about a 95% chance you will see a whiteboard of some sort. Many teachers buy whiteboard markers out of their own pocket, and Expo is the dry erase marker of choice for them. These markers last a long while, and just look at the beautiful assortment of colors! Teacher love!

Classroom Books — No teacher gift guide would be complete without the inclusion of books for the classroom library! Not sure what books to buy? Click through to see a nice collection of popular books geared to ages 9-12! I promise; this gift is a sure win!

Have you ever given (or received) the perfect teacher gift? I’d love to hear about it! Please share your best teacher gifts under $20 in the comments!

If you are looking for teacher gifts, then chances are you are a parent.  Here’s some great ideas for keeping kids busy and learning during the summer!