Potted Plant

• This teacher-appreciation gift starts with a potted plant from the store, but you personalize it with your child's photo and handiwork. Make a sign to stick in the plant's soil or create your own paper flower thanking the teacher for all of her efforts. To make a sign, use the plastic stake that came with the plant and glue on a sign saying "Thank You for Helping Me Grow." Make the sign by decorating cardstock cut to a good size for the plant, and have your child decorate it with crayons or markers. You can apply clear contact paper to the sign or laminate it. For other options, add a school photo of your child or paint the pot. To make a flower sign, cut out petals, leaves and a stem from construction paper, and write one word of the thank-you message on each petal, with your child's photo in the middle as the flower center.
  
  

Trinket Box

• Teachers appreciate crafts made by kids with a simple thank you more than expensive or ordinary presents. This trinket box made of wooden craft sticks is neat-looking, easy and inexpensive for kids to make. Begin this craft by making a raft-type square. Place two sticks parallel to each other, a few inches apart, flat on a surface, and glue about 10 sticks across the two parallel sticks. This is the bottom of the box. Turn it over so the two sticks are on the top side, and begin layering pairs of sticks to build the sides, like a log cabin. Alternate the left and right sides with the top and bottom, and glue each layer as you go. Make the walls of the box as high as you want. Then, add a removable lid by laying two sticks parallel inside the top wall sticks, and glue another 10 sticks crosswise on them. Add a decoration on the top if you like, such as your child's photo, a seasonal accent, or a school-themed decoration like an apple, toy or a cool eraser. Have your child write a personal thank you note to place inside the box.
  
  

Book Bag

• Have your kids decorate an inexpensive summer or holiday gift to show their teacher how much they appreciate her. You'll need a plain fabric tote bag, available at dollar or craft stores. Buy fabric paints and paint pens or block stamps for decorating the bag. Have kids write their names and school grades on the bottom of the bag, and decorate the sides with stamped images or painted decorations that go with the occasion of the gift, such as sunshine and the beach for summer, or snowmen and evergreens for winter. Kids can then write a thank you letter to the teacher, which can be placed inside the bag for him or her to read. You can also fill the homemade bag with inexpensive gifts like sunscreen, a homemade bookmark and a bookstore gift certificate, or hot chocolate mix, marshmallows and a homemade holiday ornament.