Would love to get DD's 3 carers a xmas present as a group, but have no idea what. They are all in their 30's and not really girly girls if that info helps lol!

i was also wondering the same thing. was thinking about a basket of goodies like biscuits and chocolates. from somewhere like target.

will have to keep an eye on this thread

I just bought DS's carers (2 of them) a special mug each that says "Thank You Teacher" and a small box of Lindt balls which I popped into little christmas gift bags.

The mugs are from my local Post Office, but I also saw the same ones advertised in the "Wild" card shops.

They are really nice (not tacky LOL), and just a little "somthing" that they will appreciate.

Because my daughter's main carer went on maternity leave 3 weesk ago (and we bought her a present then), I'm just buying a box of sweets for the entire room. As there are a few floating carers, along with the regular ones, I'll just write to the room on the card. That way no-one misses out and they can all share the present.

Mine are so great, I buy them stuff through the year as well. However, I am going with a box/basket with bath bombs and little similar things, some biscuits (hopefully home made) and chocolates. Carers from different rooms interact with DD over the year and at different times so nice to thank everyone.

I am just going to do a largish box of chocs or nice biscuits for each room. I have 2 in childcare, so it works out cheaper this way and also makes sure all the staff who work in the room are included – we also have a few ‘floating’ staff at my centre.

Our DS's two main carers are getting Willow tree orniments. All the carers are getting magnetic photo christmas card of DS with a poem on the back and we will take a box or jumbo 1st class mangoes or cherries (Still working out which one) for the staff room in the last week to cover the other carers.

Cheers
Andrea

I'm getting DS's carers some of these recycleable shopping bags. pretty cute and the quality is good. they are huge bags and fit heaps... http://www.envirosax.com/pages/products.php?icat=1#14

Price isn't bad too at 5.95 each, cheaper if you buy a pack of 5.

We're doing food hampers - we are putting in a lot of small things that can be split easily - ie. small sachets of tea bags, small jars of coffee, lollies, biscuits, etc.

I got Jayde's 2 main carers a tube of Nutrimetics Shower Gel, and a loofah thing each, and a nice box of chockies for the rest to share

I too have been trying to decide what to get for my DS's carers.
I was going to get some cookie man biccies or chocolates for the whole centre workers could enjoy but have hit a snag.

Most of those pre made thingies can/may contain nuts or traces and I know that in my sons room there is a little girl who is highly allergic (anaphalaxic SP??) The staff cannot even have peanut butter or any nut products in the staff room.

Then i thought about home made stuff but i know a lot of people are wary of that because of the chance of food poisoning etc

I did think of maybe a ginger bread house??? a premade one (cos i am useless) but would need to make sure there was no trace of nuts with that too.

But, thanks to one of the PP's i think i have worked it out!! I nice big basket of cherries and other seasonal fruits.

That would be perfect cos the carer's are all different ages and I dont know them well enough to buy more personal things like body washes etc..

i was going to make some chocolates or shortbread for DD's carers (3 carers in her room) but have run out of time as her favourite one will be on leave the week before christmas.

so i ended up buying these great biscuits in a cylinder tin from target (about $7 each) and they look fantastic.

for the favourite teacher (who has really helped DD out a lot over the last 6 months) i got her some body wash & lotion from the body shop as well as ferrio rocho (you know what i mean) box of chocolates which are in the shape of a christmas tree.

i so hope they like them.

My brother is a teacher and it was always fantastic when he brought his presents home (when we were younger and we lived at home) as he didn;t eat chocolate (fitness fanatic) so mum and i would get stuck into them. Sorry the morale to the story is that if the carers don't like chocies or biscuits they can always share with their family.

my question is do you give the present to them or just leave it in a pile somewhere ?

Hi,

My son goes to daycare but has had the same carer throughout from the babies room, toddler room and now kindy room and he will have her next year in the preschool room aswell, so this year I bought her a 1/2 hour facial at the local 'day spa' that came with a box of soaps, massage spray and body butter for $52. I thought this was better than just food hampers this year because everyone gives food hampers. I did that last year along with all the other mums so she ended up with about 15 hampers.

I'm a childcare worker and we all love any form of chocolate and a special home made card.

I'm a kindy teacher & one year a parent got the teachers in our room a box of mangos to share. May sound odd, but healthier than chocolate and yummy too! Also loved getting massage certificates & anything pampering like body butter etc.

Ok... even though this is my children's first year of daycare I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't even think about presents

We wrote cards for all the teachers & I probably would have dropped off some of the christmas cooking for their staffroom but I had no idea that people did actual presents.

Well, I guess I'll make the baking stuff into a little hamper with lots of ribbon to jazz it up!

I got each main carer in my girls room a really nice decoration for their Christmas tree.

For support staff I got a huge box of shortbread for everyone to share.

I recommend getting a specific gift for the main teachers - I strongly recommend a gift vochuer unless you know there personality VERY well (LOL any of the parents out there from my work???? LOL!. My reason for this is those of us that work in LDC have very poor wages.
But you can also buy something like chocolate/biscuits to share between the floating staff that care for your child. Because it's important to recognise their input as well. But also understand the main carers put in a lot more specific work with your child.

Thank you to the families who acknowledge the hard work that we do

Jacinta

A really nice ornament for the Xmas tree. Myer has some really nice ones for $10 and Target even had some nice ones for around $6.

I have bought about 2kg of cherries and 6 nectarines to put into a nice basket. It is going to daycare tomorrow! There is quite a few floaters in my DS's room so it is for all of them. I am making some fudge for the 3 main carers to give to them next week on the last day.
The cherries go tomorrow cos my son is only there one day a week and they close on the day he goes next week.

Just a thought though for those buying christmas ornaments etc... dont forget that not all people celebrate christmas so even though they say they love it etc it may not get used or wil be passed on to someone else. Seeing as I dont know what my sons carer's beliefs/religion/whatever are I didnt go the ornament way, even though it was tempting cos there are some gorgeous things out there!

My friend is a CCworker and when i told her what i was doing she thought it was a great idea. :biggrin:

Ok, being a childcarer, I can let you know what I have received in the past:
Chocolates (To share with the others) - VERY POPULAR! (Enjoyed by all as well!!!)
Toffees (To share with the others)
Wine (yes, someone got us wine to share at our Christmas Party)
Baked goods (My personal favourite)
Sometimes parents have 'alot' of time and money to buy individual gifts for us, I have recieved a 'santa' letter opener, a few mugs, a photo frame and 'bath smellys' (ie any nice smelly stuff that goes into the bath, eg bath bombs, bubble bath etc)
Hope this gives you some ideas.

eta: I forgot one we got to share last year (This one was appreciated with all the chocolates and bikkies we got)
We got a big basket of cherries. - Sorry, I should look at the PP...
I also agree with a PP, we don't earn alot of money (which is stupid, we are, after all, looking after the next generation.)
So gift vouchers would be nice. (That is, if people can afford them)

Well, i took the big basket of cherries (and a few nectarines) and they loved it! Put it in the staff room and nibbled on them all day! lol
I got sooo many thanks when i picked up DS.

I got DS's two main carers a gift voucher from The Body Shop and the other three ladies a box of chocolates each.

I know this may not suit everyone, and may only be affordable if you are buying for only 1 or 2 people, but how about a movie ticket??????? I'm a carer (family day care) and I would love something like that.

Just a thought!

Chocks.

I don't know where to start in buying for them.... DD1 has 2 main carers, plus 2 casuals, DD2 has 2 main carers plus 1 casual.

I don't want to leave anyone out. I thought of a gift voucher for the main carers, but what limit do you put on it? Also i though of a voucher for the local BWS store lol, only because i've bumped into them there lol.

What sort of vouchers would you buy, target? body shop? myers? big w etc,

I bought a large box of Cadbury Roses for the centre, and Zhanyah's favourite teacher got her own box of chocolates and a magnet with Zhanyah on it

I also bought two presents for her best friends

Mel xx

DD has 2 carers in her room so i bought a mug gift pack for each carer (they are really cute packs from Target) and a box of chocolates for everyone to share.

Well after spending much time and thought as to what to get everyone at my DD's Daycare centre this is what I ended up with.

Main Kindy teacher gift set Cleanser, Moisturiser & eye cream, also got this for the center manager as she looks after DD a lot through the day and over the years. For the other girls a hand cream each and a big box of Cadbury Indulgence Biscuits to share in the tea room. All the gifts will be wrapped beautifully so everyone feels special.

Oh I also am getting Xmas Santas for all of DD's friends in her room.