Parent Christmas Gift Ideas

Teachers and classrooms are always so busy the last days before break. There are so many things to finish and wrap up, one of them being holiday gifts for parents.  Here are a few easy parent Christmas gift ideas that students can make for Mom and Dad, along with some free printable gift tags and ideas for those special parent helpers.

Parent Christmas Gift Ideas for Students

Making gifts with candles is always a great way to go.  I found everything we need to make these simple snowman candles at Dollar Tree.  Paint the candle lid to look like a hat by adding a squirt of black paint to liquid school glue or Mod Podge.  Cut small carrot shapes out of orange craft foam. Tacky glue works well, but you can also use a hot glue gun to attach them. Make the eyes and a mouth with  black 3D or puff paint.  We used felt scraps and mini-poms to decorate the hat.

I’ve made these tissue paper holiday candles many times with my students over the years. They are easy to make, and turn out so cute! The tiny little pictures you have left from picture day are the perfect size for this project, too.

To make these holiday candles, use tissue paper squares and school glue or Mod Podge to cover the candle.  Glue on the student’s picture the same way adding a top coat to seal the edges.  Students used glitter glue from Dollar Tree to add a border around their picture. Once everything is dry, tie a ribbon around the top. I recycled all of the glass lids rather than have students put them on the candles.

Easy to Make Ornaments

As a parent, I always loved Christmas gifts that had my child’s picture on them.  To this day I have a collection of ornaments for each of my three children they made all through elementary school.  These puzzle piece ornaments are keepers.  They are inexpensive to make and always a big hit!

When making these puzzle wreath ornaments I like to use left over, missing a few pieces type puzzles.  You can find jigsaw puzzles at any thrift store as well as the dollar store. To make these little keepsakes I give each student a handful of puzzle pieces.  They then use school glue to glue them onto 3-4 inch wide circles cut out of old file folders or card stock.  I prep the circles, as well as cut a 1.5 in. round hole in the middle beforehand to save time.  After gluing on the puzzle pieces, students paint their “wreaths” green, tape or hot glue gun a ribbon hanger to the back and glue on red mini-poms, sequins, or I’ve even used red hots candy to make the holly. Tape student pictures to the back and voila! Keepsake cuteness!

These  shredded paper Christmas ornaments, by Simply Kinder are fun and inexpensive to make.  You can find the plastic ornaments and small bottles of acrylic paint at Walmart and everything else you need at the dollar store.  I love the thumbprint light strands! You can read all about how to make these adorable ornaments at Simply Kinder.

These silhouette ornaments from Learning in Wonderland have to be my all-time favorite parent gift.  You can see how to make these clever keepsakes at Learning in Wonderland.  These would make great gifts for grandparents too!

These crayon Christmas ornaments use things you probably already have in your classroom, craft sticks and crayons!

These ornaments would also make a nice back to school gift for parents, too.

Head over to Teach A Roo for the link to download the printables to make this craft.

Parent Christmas Gift Ideas for Teachers

We all have those special parents that we wouldn’t make it a minute without.  The ones who help out when you need them, volunteer in the classroom or from home, and the ones you just want to let know how much you appreciate all they do.  These are some quick and easy to make gifts to say thank you.

To make this helping hands thank you gift, place a pair of gloves, a travel size hand cream, and a candy cane in a small plastic Cello bag.  You can find the Cello bags at Dollar Tree, usually in the wedding section, along with the lotion and gloves.  I found the black and pink candy canes at Walmart.  Download the free printable holiday gift tag to staple to the top of the bag.

How brilliant is this as a parent gift?

I love this idea!  You can read more about how to put this holiday paper goods gift together and download the free printable gift tag from Teaching Maddeness. 

Need something fun to wrap your parent gifts? We make these Gingerbread House Gift Bags out of lunch sacks from the dollar store.

I hope you’ve found some helpful parent Christmas gift ideas as you wrap things up before break.  Be sure to check out my post and all the freebies there, 10 Easy Ideas for The Days Before Christmas Break to help you keep your class focused, still learning and most of all, having fun!

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Happy teaching and warmest holiday wishes to you and yours!