2010 Teacher Gifts

I love homemade Christmas presents; especially when children are involved. Every year I have my students make a present, usually a Christmas tree ornament, for their parents. My own children also make their gifts. This year the kids gave the important adults in their lives (teachers and babysitters) hot cocoa. I shamelessly stole the idea but tweaked it to make it work for our situation. In addition to the wordle-wrapped cocoa, we made stirring spoons.

Milk-chocolate-dipped-and-coated-in-candy-cane-pieces stirring spoons. Let me tell you how incredibly yummy the house smelled the night we made those. It was all I could do to not eat the melted chocolate while we were making them. They were super easy to make, though since they involved the stove and a double boiler, close adult supervision was a must.

First we got out all of our frustrations by using rolling pins to smash a box of candy canes. (Putting them in zip-lock bags kept the pieces from flying all over the kitchen.) I heated milk chocolate chips in a double boiler and then I helped the kids dip plastic spoons into the melted chocolate. After each spoon was nicely coated, we just sprinkled on the broken peppermint pieces and then set the spoons onto wax paper to cool. They loved it., and took it quite seriously. It was fun to hear them say things like, "This one is for Mrs. W, " and "This one is for Louann," despite the fact that they were all exactly the same.

We packaged the spoons in little goody bags, tied them with some pretty ribbon, and finished each one with a candy cane.

Finally, the kids put several baggies of spoons into a lunch bag. Not the fanciest wrapping, I know, but it was something the kids could do so they could really feel like it was "their" gift. My son did an excellent job threading the ribbon through the holes. He was especially proud when he wrote his teacher's name on her bag.

Next year, I think we might make these. All I can say is, yum!