What to do for Teacher Appreciation Week

Teacher Appreciation Week is a special celebration that falls on the first week of May each year. It allows parents, students, schools, and communities to raise awareness of the critical importance of public educators and show them how much their contributions to students’ futures are valued. If you’re looking for ways to pamper a teacher for all they’ve done for your child or those around you, we’ve created a list of ways to say thank you during Teacher Appreciation Week that all educators will love.

Teaching is a difficult and important job that should be recognized throughout the year. Those who become educators do so for the tireless love of teaching, the desire to change lives, and concern for the future. They truly lay the foundation for a prosperous community. Despite the challenges they face, teachers go above and beyond for the students they care so much about.

Teacher Appreciation Week is a beautiful way to boost classroom morale and express genuine gratitude for those who give so much.

As we prepare for a week of thanking our teachers, here are some teacher appreciation ideas to express your thanks each day of the celebration, ranging from small and inexpensive heartfelt gestures to coordinated parties.

Emails are a nice gesture, they lack the personal touch of a handwritten letter and can easily get lost in the digital clutter. Knowing that a parent or student—or a whole class—took the time to write out a letter by hand can come across as more heartfelt, and it makes a great keepsake for the teacher to frame for their classroom or home.

As a parent or school administrator, you can help your child or class craft a letter on nice paper and talk about what they love about their teacher, their favorite lesson, or what they’ve learned over the school year.

If you want to step things up a notch, have the class pitch in for a gift card for their teacher and include it with the letter so they can take time for themselves, whether at a local restaurant, a movie theater, or a day spa. You can also opt for a more practical gift card to a classroom supply store, a bookstore, or a general retailer.

It’s no secret that teachers burn the candle at both ends. You can fuel their late-night lesson prep with their favorite caffeinated drink, snack, or candy. Pay attention to what the teacher brings to school to drink and snack on during the day.

Door decorating presents an opportunity to get creative. If a teacher is passionate about a particular subject (sports, movies, music, etc.), you can use that as the door decor theme. This also allows students to fill the door with personal messages and sentiments throughout the week.

A personalized video is another heartfelt keepsake a teacher can treasure for years. The video can include:

• An interview of each student on what they appreciate about their teacher
• Students singing a song they wrote for their teacher
• A memory slideshow of the best moments from the year
• A thank you from parents expressing how the teacher has impacted their family
• A day in the life of how students perceive their teacher’s impact
• A funny skit or reenactment of how an inside joke came to be
• An inspiration reel explaining how the teacher has shaped each student’s dreams

Nothing quite lifts the mood of a classroom more than mid-day treats like brownies, cookies, cupcakes, ice cream sandwiches, or popsicles. Parents can share the responsibility by assigning one parent to bring classroom treats for different days of Teacher Appreciation Week. Make sure to find out what the teacher and students like beforehand so you’re sure to put a smile on everyone’s faces.

When parents join forces and pool resources, they can provide more extravagant gifts for teachers than they could by themselves. Some examples of high-end gifts could include:

• A meaningful piece of art for the teacher’s home or classroom
• A gourmet food or wine subscription
• A donation of books for the classroom library
• An ergonomic desk chair
• A high-quality computer monitor
• Season passes to the theater
• A mini fridge or espresso machine
• A museum or art gallery membership

Can’t choose just one gift? Put together a gift basket with a variety of small things for a teacher to enjoy, ranging from food and desk supplies to self-care items like:

• Lotion and hand sanitizer
• Face masks
• Bath bombs
• A puzzle
• A stress ball
• Chapstick
• Tea and coffee
• Fine chocolates and cheeses
• Sticky notes and pens
• A notebook or a planner
• An insulated water bottle or tumbler
• Cozy socks
• A picture frame
• Essential oils
• Books

A planned flower delivery can be a fun surprise if your school permits in-class deliveries. Flowers for a teacher’s desk to admire throughout Teacher Appreciation Week can be a special reminder of how much the class and parents love the educator.

While snacks get eaten and flowers wither away, a student painting makes a long-lasting keepsake that holds special meaning long term—especially if the teacher has taught art techniques throughout the school year. Let your child flex their creative muscles while demonstrating what they’ve learned to the teacher in a personalized painted art piece.

Does your teacher love horticulture? Brighten up their classroom with a small potted plant! The students can even give it a name and learn to tend to it, which makes the gift educational as well. Choose one suited to indoor, low-light settings as you look for a plant. Some require direct sunlight all day to flourish, and you wouldn’t want their plant to die immediately.

A photo collage is a fun visual for a teacher to hang near their desk in the classroom and look back at all the fun times from the school year. Get together with the other parents to pool your photos from events throughout the year, such as field trips, science experiments, field days, pajama days, crazy hair days, read-a-thons, and other activities. Then, print them out, buy some poster board, and paste the photos together. Alternatively, you can use digital photo editing software like Canva to incorporate design elements into an automated collage that you can email to the teacher.

Teacher Appreciation Week isn’t just for parents and students, though. Schools have a significant role in making teachers feel valued and happy in their jobs so they stay long-term. Here are some ways your school can ensure teachers’ ongoing happiness and satisfaction.

When adequately fueled, educators can devote their full attention and energy to caring for students. A catered afternoon meal is a thoughtful way to fill the gap for a day and give them something extra tasty to look forward to.

The school break room probably already has coffee, tea, and other everyday items, but Teacher Appreciation Week deserves something extra special. Consider supplying one of these for each day of the week in the teachers’ lounge:

• A soda bar
• Donuts, muffins, bagels, or cinnamon rolls
• Gourmet cookies or other treats
• Fresh fruit and veggies
• A chip-and-dip bar
• A charcuterie board
• A themed snack bar
• A salad bar

Teachers take great pride in their work, and they’ll love being able to represent the school they work for when they’re out and about. Branded gear is a great way to instill pride and school spirit in teachers and students and promote a sense of community and belonging. Here are some branded items you could hand out for Teacher Appreciation Week:

• Hoodies or T-shirts
• Blankets
• Pens
• Ball caps
• Lanyards
• Keychains
• Sunglasses
• Stickers
• Water bottles
• Money clips
• Notebooks and planners

Teachers love mingling with students, parents, and other teachers. If you want them to hear how they’re impacting the lives of those around them, organize a social event that everyone can attend and enjoy a special meal, treat, or activity—like an ice cream social, a taco bar, a scavenger hunt, or a raffle for prizes.

Throughout the day, teachers are with students, grading, preparing lessons, and in meetings. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to attend to other tasks, like cleaning their car. Put together a list of student and parent volunteers to organize a parking lot car wash so the teachers can go home for the day with a clean car and one less thing to worry about.

Not confident your child’s teacher will have use for what you give them? Here are some tips for providing useful and heartwarming gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week.

• Read online forums: You can learn much about what teachers want and don’t want as gifts just by reading online forums and social media comment sections.
• Avoid pun-based gifts: While some teachers love a good laugh, try to avoid giving useless or meaningless gifts just because they work for a joke. It may be funny to say, “No one measures up to you” with a measuring stick, but in the end, a teacher’s classroom more than likely already has rulers and won’t have use for another.
• Avoid cleaning or school supplies: School and cleaning supplies are practical, but most classrooms already have these as a standard, which makes them less exciting to receive. Instead, try to gift teachers with the fun, luxurious extras they might not normally purchase, like a label maker, a standing desk, an essential oil diffuser, high-quality paints, decorative magnets, and other such items.
• Teachers love food and gift cards. You really can’t go wrong with these. Find out where your teacher likes to shop and eat ahead of time, and you’ll give them a gift they can use any time.

We hope this list of teacher appreciation ideas has helped and that you get to spend some quality time with the caring teachers in your life.