Paras make our world go round. Seriously though, they do the most and don’t get enough credit for their hard work. I always try to make it a point to give my para professional a gift or gesture of appreciation every other month. Maybe it’s something small like writing them a thank you card or bringing in their favorite Starbucks drink one day. Regardless of how you show them you appreciate them, the bottom line is to make sure they know they are valued. Below I have listed 9 different gift ideas for your para professional!
1. Team Shirts
This is a good one for starting out the school year. I like to pick a fun shirt that we can wear on Fridays and order one for each of them. My favorite online shops to get teacher tees are Lipstick and Littles, Teach Create Motivate, and Shop Callie Danielle!
2. Buy Them Lunch
Enchilada day is pretty much famous in my school district. It’s a hot commodity! On Enchilada day, I would often buy my paras their enchiladas as a small way to say thank you. Another day you could consider buying their lunch would be on their birthday.
3. Write A Thank You Card
A small gesture that goes a long way. As someone who THRIVES off of words of affirmation, this is a really good way to make sure someone feels appreciated. It’s a great reason to keep a stash of thank you cards in your desk! It doesn’t have to be fancy either. You could even use a sticky note to get your appreciation point across.
4. Print Positive Compliments
If you also are lucky enough to have amazing paras like I do, you might get complimented often. You might hear something along the lines of “Sally does a wonderful job with my son” or “Mary is such a natural with that student”. I heard these comment all the time from parents and administration! It wasn’t until later that I started printing those compliments on paper and taping it to their cabinets so they could read what are saying and thinking too!
5. Color Themed Basket
Always ask your para’s preferences before putting together a para professional gift like this, but I always had paras who enjoyed yummy snacks, treats, and candy. Recently, I put together a color themed basket. I chose the color red and attached a little tag that said “you are red-diculously amazing”. I found all the red colored snacks I could and put them in a basket. They loved this! You could do different colors too like “orange ya glad we work together” or “something out of the blue just for you”.
6. Jar Of Goodies
I like to do this for holidays. It’s a similar idea to the basket of goodies but smaller. In these jars I include smaller items like burts bees or EOS/ nail polish, target giftcard, small candies, and a scrunchy.
7. A Candle
When fall comes around, I become a candle gift giver like no other! Something about a candle is just so cozy. Add a cute note about them being “scent-sational” and there you have it. Another simple gift idea for your para professional!
8. Pay Their Dues
This might not be a thing at every school, but at my school we had yearly social dues (optional) that we paid once a year. This helped cover our Holiday lunch and faculty meeting snacks and surprises. You could also cover their PTA fee which often helps cover fun faculty surprises as well.
9. Bring In Breakfast
If you live in San Antonio, Texas, this definitely means bring in breakfast tacos! Who doesn’t love to start their day with tacos, donuts, kolaches, or Starbucks. This is something simple to do if you know what your paras like.
You can have your paras fill out a little preference survey so that you’ll know their favorites! You can ask them their favorite breakfast, lunch, Starbucks order, snacks, etc! This way you can surprise them with their favorite treat without having to ask first.
I hope this list of gift ideas for your para professional were helpful! Although these ideas might include spending money, remember that spending money isn’t required for someone to feel appreciated.
Happy Teaching,
Sofie
You can read my other sped teacher related posts here.
