A quick Pinterest search will show you how to spend hours of your time making personalized teacher gift tags to attach to buckets of candy or recreate your child’s classroom photo using stick figures and colorful buttons. But to find out what teachers really want, I went straight to the source:

When I toured her daycare facility, I grilled the director, I brainstormed with her teachers, and vigorously highlighted the menu showing them exactly what she can eat. I know they are prepared for her.