Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas for Every Day

Editor’s note: If you choose a theme or activity that includes food, keep dietary restrictions and allergies in mind during planning; offer alternatives like gift cards or prepackaged foods that won’t spoil for those staff members that need it.

Our Favorite Superheroes

• Decorate a bulletin board with personalized superpowers, such as “Mrs. Smith’s superpower is getting kids excited about reading!”

• Put a water bottle or two with a superhero label on each teacher’s desk.

• Offer a variety of “hero” sandwiches for lunch. Borrow some kids’ action figure toys to use for centerpieces.

• Make T-shirts or capes for each teacher with a “super teacher” iron-on design.

• Give each teacher a take-home certificate with their superpower on it.

Share a superhero shout-out on your parent group’s Facebook page!

A Little Pampering

• Stock the staff restrooms with soft toilet paper, nice soap, and rich hand lotion.

• Put out mini scones and muffins in a basket in the teachers lounge.

• Set up a tea and coffee bar.

• Offer gourmet finger sandwiches and mini quiches for lunch one day (have plenty so teachers can fill up!)

• Provide mini massages in the teachers lounge.

 

Taylor Swift

• Wildest (or mildest) dreams taco bar (with hot and mild sauces) or "Shake it off" smoothie bar

• Make a DIY friendship bracelet banner to display in the teachers' lounge

• Pick a snack to feature for an "In our (fill in the blank) era" theme; for example, "In my chocolate era" or "In my apple era"

• Don't forget the life-size Taylor Swift and Travis cardboard cut-outs!

• Get even more Taylor Swift teacher appreciation ideas, including free printables ("Our teachers make the whole school shimmer" sign and a Taylor Swift appreciation week at a glance calendar)

 

Bar None, You’re the Best Teachers Around!

Five days of buffet-style fun! Our video instructions on how to set up a trail mix bar can work for almost any kind of bar you’d like.

• Breakfast parfait bar

• Soup bar (attach a “souper teacher” label to the to-go containers)

• Trail mix bar

  • For smaller, denser treats like chocolate chips and fruit bits, plan on about 1 oz total per person; for larger, bulkier mix-ins like popcorn and pretzels, figure on 2 oz total per person. This should result in a generous serving to take home.

  • Hit discount stores like the Dollar Store for serving supplies and even snacks, or buy snacks in bulk to cut costs.

• Popcorn bar

• Sundae bar

 

Our Teachers Are Stars

• Arrange an applause parade in the hallways as teachers walk to their classrooms.

• Give out small bags of Starburst candy with a tag that says “You’re the star of our school!”

• Deliver fan mail (notes from students that start with “My teacher is a star because...”) to teachers during class.

• Roll out a red carpet Walk of Fame for a VIP lunch in the staff lounge; decorate the carpet with stars showing each teacher’s name.

• Give each teacher a personalized “You Set the Stage for Success” certificate; use categories like “Most Encouraging” and “Best Team Player,” or draw from students’ fan mail comments.

 

Major-League Awesome or Thanks for Covering All the Bases

• Decorate a bulletin board with “stats” on each teacher designed like baseball cards.

• Give each teacher a baseball cap or baseball jersey-style shirt with the school and PTO name and “Major-League Awesome” or other catchphrase.

• Provide a “home run” luncheon: hot dogs with all the fixings, chips, large soft pretzels, Cracker Jacks, and Baby Ruth candy bars. Or, set up a treat trolley! Check out our shopping list (snacks and supplies) for a baseball themed teacher treat trolley, plus a printable sign.

• Make “baseball and bat” pretzel rods and put a few in a little bag for each teacher.

• Raffle off four tickets to a weekend home game by your local baseball or farm team.

 

It’s Such a Treat To Have You as Teachers

Send teachers home each day with something to enjoy whenever they want.

• S’mores kit (embellish with a “s’more teachers” gift tag)

• Hot cocoa kit

• Gourmet trail mix in a lidded cup (try some of these sweet and savory trail mix recipes)

• A handful of chocolate-covered strawberries in a take-home container

• Small gift card for personal use

 

Public Displays of Affection

• Decorate classroom doors with expressions of love for that room’s teacher.

• Decorate a bulletin board with “I love my teacher because...” notes.

• Ask parents to contribute teacher shout-outs for morning announcements.

• Draw and write chalk messages on the sidewalks outside the school.

• Give each teacher a take-home autograph book with their “I love my teacher because...” notes inside (print on self-adhesive labels and stick one to each page after taking down off the bulletin board).

 

It’s the Thought That Counts

• Collect and drop off teachers’ dry-cleaning.

• Wash their windshields (or even the whole car).

• Give a mini face lift to faculty restrooms or the teachers lounge.

• Give each teacher one or two “get out of recess duty” coupons.

• Offer an extended lunch for teachers while parents cover cafeteria duty.

 

Teachers Are Punderful

Your teachers will get a chuckle even while they’re moved by these sentiments.

• Hand lotion: “We’re in good hands with you”

• Doughuts: “We doughnut know what we’d do without you”

• Mini hand-held fan: “We are your greatest fans”

• Goldfish crackers or gummy fish: “You are oFISHally the best!”

• Seed packet or small potted plant: “Teachers plant seeds of knowledge that will grow forever”

 

Nacho Ordinary Teachers or Taco ’Bout Great Teachers

• Leave a mini potted succulent plant on each teacher’s desk.

• Set up a taco, burrito, or nacho bar for lunch. For centerpieces, turn 10-gallon hats upside down and fill with classroom supplies.

• Visit teachers during break periods with a paletas (Mexican popsicles) dessert cart.

• Offer teachers piñata time in the gym.

• Churro truffles are relatively easy to make; put a few in a small box for each teacher to take home.

 

We Think the World of You

• Decorate a bulletin board with a map showing where your school’s teachers are from and include a fun fact about each person.

• Offer a breakfast cart with pastries from around the world: scones (England), croissants (France), fried dough sticks (China), blini or sirniki (Russia), and pandesal (Philippines).

• Represent teachers’ nationalities with food provided potluck-style by volunteers at a “Best Teachers in the World” luncheon. Decorate with flags from different countries and geographic stickers like the ones put on old-fashioned luggage.

• Design a “passport to free time” that includes coupons for parents to take over lunch duty, recess duty, or supervising the drop-off/pickup line; students can contribute with classroom job coupons, too.

• Send teachers home with a variety of cookies from around the world; attach a gift tag that says “Thank you!” in different languages.

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Let’s Get Real, We Couldn’t Survive Without You (Survivor theme)

• Survival kit: Bring your teacher supplies or other desired items for their classroom.

• Immunity challenge: Put together a self-care kit with tea, hand sanitizer, energy bar, etc.

• Message in a bottle: Write a note to your teacher.

• Desert island smoothies: Use tropical fruit for a refreshing treat.

• Life’s a beach: Give each teacher a pair of flip-flops and a beach towel with the school logo.

 

We’ll Be There for You (Friends theme)

• The one with the dozen lasagnas

• The one with all the candy

• The one with Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.

• The one with Phoebe’s cookies

• The one with the cake

• Get more Friends theme teacher appreciation ideas (plus a shopping list of supplies and decor)

 

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

• #1 fan: Write a letter to a staff member.

• Time out: Put out small, individually wrapped treats for a quick break.

• You’re an MVP: Create personalized award certificates.

• Team colors: Wear your teacher's favorite sports team gear or favorite colors.

• Saved by the bell: Provide ice cream or coffee treats at the end of the school day.

 

Fruits and Flowers

• Seed packets (herbs or flowers): Teachers plant the seeds of knowledge.

• Fresh flowers or small potted plants: Our garden is in full bloom thanks to you; or, we couldn’t have picked better teachers.

• Oranges, clementines, tangerines: Orange you glad it’s almost summer?

• Bananas: We are bananas about you, thank you for all you do!

• Fresh-squeezed lemonade: Your zest for learning is so refreshing.

 

Best Staff in the Galaxy (Star Wars theme)

• May the forks be with you (any meal)

• Thank you we shall (any treat)

• After-school refuel (snacks at the end of the day)

• Yoda best staff member (personal notes for each staffer)

• Jedi supplies (restock classrooms with favorite school supplies, books, etc.)

 

We Appreciate You to Pieces

• We’d be in serious trouble if we didn’t have you

• We don’t domi-know what we’d do without you

• Here’s a clue how much we appreciate you

• We are bowled over by you

• We’d be completely puzzled without you

 

You Help Us Take Flight

• Snack service (snack cart or room service)

• Drink service (drink cart or new insulated mugs filled with coffee)

• In-flight meal (food truck or other)

• In-flight entertainment (movie passes)

• Baggage claim (take-home treat)

 

Our Staff Takes the Gold

• Gold medal goodies (fridge restock)

• Breakfast of champions

• Refueling station (coffee or tea)

• Winners circle (snacks)

• Finish line (dessert bar)

 

Originally posted in 2017 and updated regularly.