Did you know you can buy gift cards on TPT? Gift cards are perfect because they are always the right size and color. Buying a back-to-school gift for your child’s teacher can be especially difficult since you probably don’t know the new teacher well (or at all).
TPT gift cards to the rescue!
In this post, I will show you how to buy a TPT gift card and give some great ideas for presenting the gift card to the teacher.
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Reasons to buy a TPT gift card:
- It’s something they will use
- It fits every teacher
- It doesn’t expire
- TPT has hundreds of thousands of lessons, clip art, fonts, classroom decor, planners, and more. Shoppers can narrow their search by subject area, grade level, and/or product type.
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Buy a TPT gift card for:
- first-year teachers
- student teachers
- your child’s classroom teacher
- teachers who are starting in a new school
- teachers who are starting a new grade level or subject
- new homeschooling parents
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And some more off-beat ideas:
- Bunko prize (if the Bunko group has lots of teachers)
- Secret Santa gift
- New teacher shower (yes, this is a thing!)
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How to buy a TPT gift card:
Get started by clicking Gift Cards in the top-right corner, or by clicking this link.
Under the green TPT gift card image, look for “Two ways to share your gift.”
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OPTION 1: Send by email
Many people will choose to send the gift card directly to the recipient’s email. This is easy to do and works great if the recipient lives far away. Recipients will receive the gift card immediately, and they can use it right away. As with most digital gift cards, TPT gift cards can be redeemed at checkout.
To send your gift electronically, click “Send by Email” and scroll down a little to fill out the information. Be sure to leave a nice message in the message box!
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OPTION 2: Print from home
This option is great if you are want to give the card in-person. It works for someone you know personally as well as someone you don’t yet know well. Take a little extra time to improve the presentation. Sure, you could put your gift inside a greeting card, but if you really want to make an impression, these gift ideas are easy, inexpensive ways to show how much you care.
First, you’ll need to print the card from home. To do this go to this link, select your amount, and click “Print from Home.” Follow the prompts to purchase and download the gift card.
You can print the card as many times as necessary. It’s the code on the card that’s important for the buyer, not the card itself.
Print the TPT gift card on cardstock if you have it. Your printer settings give you the option to print in color (dark green) or grayscale. Grayscale is great if you are printing on colored cardstock. You may want to reduce the size of the gift card. I reduced the gift card in the photo to 25% of the original size, which made it slightly larger than a credit card.
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Fun ways to present your TPT gift card in-person
Now for the fun part!
Fill a mason jar or other container with school supplies you know the teacher will use. We are always in need of supplies! The honest truth is that the vast majority of teachers spend their own hard-earned money on supplies for their classrooms.
I filled the jar in the photo with some colorful flair pens, Sharpies, travel-size OTC meds (Tylenol, Advil, and Immodium), mints, hand sanitizer, and band-aids. Punch a hole in the top corner of the printed gift card and loop it through some pretty ribbon or–better yet–a cute lanyard for our teacher ID and keys. If you know the teacher’s school colors, look for ribbons or lanyards in those colors for an extra personal touch. Voila! An eye-catching gift card presentation for your favorite teacher!
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Variations:
I like using mason jars because they are clear, have many ways to reuse, and are not made of ocean-clogging plastic. You can use lots of other containers for your teacher survival kit. These items can be found at dollar stores, craft stores (Michael’s, Hobby Lobby), Amazon, drug stores, and big discount stores like Wal-Mart or Target.
- a tin box that has several cubbies and a lid
- a tumbler–We always need water at school! Chances are good that one of your FaceBook friends either makes or knows someone who makes personalized tumblers.
- desk organizer or pencil holder
- a small bucket–Dollar stores have some really cute tin buckets in various sizes, and they can double as pencil holders.
- small potted plant
- coffee mug
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Things You Might Want to Include with the TPT Gift Card:
What do teachers need often at school? Here’s a list of some ideas:
- chocolate
- mints
- band-aids (heel blisters and paper cuts are common for teachers!)
- safety pins
- OTC medications–Advil, Tylenol, Immodium
- lip balm
- lanyard (for teacher ID and keys)
- small hand sanitizer
- liquid hand soap–school soap is often watered-down
- Sharpies (we LOVE Sharpies!)
- flair pens (we LOVE flair pens!)
- colorful post-its
- baby wipes or sanitizing wipes
- small notebook for to-do lists
- pencils, pens
- dry-erase markers
- spot stain remover (such as Tide-To-Go)
- hair elastics and/or claw clips
- colorful erasers
- dental floss, travel toothbrush kit
- travel-size deodorant
- small liquor bottles (only if you know the teacher VERY well!)
- colorful scarf (for when we spill coffee on our shirts!)
- house slippers–our feet are tired, and house slippers are great for our conference periods and other times we are alone in our classrooms
- change–teachers’ lounges often have vending machines
- small snacks–cheese crackers, pretzels, granola bars, cookies, single-serve cereals (Remember that many schools are nut-free, so no peanut butter or other nut products)
- single-serving drink mix powders or liquids
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Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win one of five $10 TPT gift cards!
