We’re celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week this year and making it easy on parents and kids to honor their teachers, educators and school staff who have worked so hard to help our kids learn this year. We have a week’s worth of Teacher Appreciation celebration ideas to thank your favorite teachers and show your gratitude. Welcome to a big list of ideas for National Teacher Appreciation Week!
When is Teacher Appreciation Week?
US Teacher Appreciation Week is the first full week of May. This year, Teacher Appreciation Week falls on May 6, 2024 – May 10, 2024. National Teacher Day is May 7, 2024 which was originated in 1953 by former first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt.
Teacher Appreciation Week is meant to honor teachers for their hard work over the school year and how they truly love and care for all of our kids with small gifts. In my opinion, pampering our teachers five days out of the year isn’t enough, but it’s a start.
Related: Our best list of teacher appreciation gifts kids can make
Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas
When asked what teachers want as a gift, my teacher friends usually say that great teachers want their kids to be safe, healthy, happy, read to, and for mom and dad to support the kids’ learning at home. They also quickly follow those sentiments with “wine” as a favorite gift choice, haha! Here are some ideas for your child’s teacher that make a great gift…
1. Gift Card Ideas for Teacher Appreciation Week
You can’t go wrong with digital gift cards for Teacher Appreciation Week for great places they can go: coffee, Netflix, Hulu, DoorDash, Uber Eats, Instacart, Kindle, Buffalo Wild Wings, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Target are great quarantine gifts that will be appreciated.
Related: Free printable teacher gift card holders
2. Send a Delivery for Teacher Appreciation Week
Send teachers the special gift of Tiff’s Treats or flowers. Have a yard card service set up a message in their yard or school yard (ask permission first), like “an awesome teacher lives here!”
3. Set up an Amazon Wish List for Teacher Appreciation
Room parents and class volunteers can ask the teacher to set up an Amazon wish list of some of their favorite things, school supplies or books they want to read and parents can purchase from there. Even some of the big name stores are getting in on the fun, like Target’s teacher discount!
Thoughtful and Inexpensive Gifts for Teachers
You don’t have to spend a lot of money to give teachers something special. Kids crafts are a great place to start! Who doesn’t love a sweet memento like a video or slide show presentation?
Don’t forget school administrators, support staff and any other helpers in the school district…everyone can take part of teacher appreciation week!
1. Kid Written Notes
Kids can write a nice thank you note or notes of appreciation and hand it to their teacher or you can scan and email it instead. You could even have your child record a video message for their teacher and email it to them.
How Do You Wish A Teacher Appreciation?
We’ve put together a sample daily schedule for online Teacher Appreciation Week that includes five different prompts for students to share something special about their teacher.
There are printable PDF versions that kids can fill out — take a picture of their creation, print it, scan it, and email it to your teacher, post on social media, or upload the picture to your child’s digital classroom in Google Classroom, SeeSaw, or whatever program your school uses. There are also links to each of these messages in Google Slides so you can edit them digitally to make them even easier to share!
Each day has a great idea that is easily completed for National Teacher Appreciation Day and week.
What is each day of teacher appreciation week?
Use the digital version links for each day (copy and edit) or download the Teacher Appreciation Week Graphics pdf version: Teacher Appreciation Week Template Printables
Monday:
- Share your favorite photos with Teachers and Staff on your school’s social media or create a collage and take it to your teacher.
- Today’s Special Message: Use this My Favorite Thing About My Teacher template to share what you love about your teacher. Click here for a digital version you can edit in Google Slides.
Tuesday:
- Record a video message or write a letter to your teacher to show them how they helped you with student success! You can email it directly to them, upload to your digital classroom, or share a photo on your school’s social media or deliver it personally to the teacher’s desk.
- Today’s Special Message: Use this You Taught Me template to share something special that you learned from your teacher. Click here for a digital version you can edit in Google Slides.
Wednesday:
- Dress up like your favorite teacher or staff member!
- Today’s Special Message: Use this Making You Proud template to share a special moment when you knew you made your teacher proud. Click here for a digital version you can edit in Google Slides.
Thursday:
- Give your teacher something special! Students can draw a picture, write a poem, sing a song — the sky is the limit!
- Today’s Special Message: Use this Favorite Memory template to share your favorite memory from your class this year. Click here for a digital version you can edit in Google Slides.
Friday:
- Decorate your desk, classroom bulletin board or hallway for the teachers and staff so they can feel the love. Use sidewalk chalk to leave messages in front of the school, create fun signs and put them in the school yard.
- Today’s Special Message: Use this What I’ll Miss template to share what you will miss most about your teacher. Click here for a digital version you can edit in Google Slides.
More Ways To Celebrate US Teacher Appreciation Week 2024
- Printable teacher appreciation cards you can print and give to your teacher.
- Make a teacher appreciation gift they will use all the time!
- Some of our favorite DIY teacher appreciation gifts.
- Teacher Appreciation Freebies and Deals
- Teacher Gift Card Holder
- Check out this great list of items and accessories that all teachers needs!
No matter how you honor the awesome teachers at your school for their long hours of service giving high quality education, just make sure you have a good time in celebration of teacher appreciation week! Whether it is preschool, Kindergarten, elementary school teachers, middle school teachers or a high school teacher you are celebrating, let’s support teachers who went way past the call of duty this past year with special gifts.
Happy teacher appreciation week!
Fun Things to Do with Kids this Summer
- Check out these kids education websites offering free subscriptions.
- Help your kids learn how to make bubbles at home!
- My kids are obsessed with these active indoor games.
- Make reading even more fun with this PB kids summer reading challenge.
- Rawr! Here are some of our favorite dinosaur crafts.
- Get kids off technology and back to basics with learning worksheets you can print at home.
- Summer heat won’t be a problem with these indoor games for kids.
- What is Butterbeer?
Teacher Appreciation Week FAQ
Teacher Appreciation Week is every year and falls on the first full week of May. Teacher Appreciation Day falls on the Tuesday of the first full week in May. That means in 2024, Teacher Appreciation week is May 6 – May 10 and Teacher Appreciation Day would be Tuesday, May 7, 2023.
While teachers deserve our appreciation every day of the year, Teacher Appreciation week falls yearly on the first full week of May.
Yes, Teacher Appreciation week is celebrated across the United States every May! Don’t miss this fun opportunity to celebrate the important educators in your life.
Comment below, and make sure you tag us with #KABlovesteachers if you post any pictures or ideas on social media!
How are you celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week this year? Did we miss a good teacher appreciation gift idea? Please let us know in the comments below!
My son’s grade 1 online teacher is amazing. I know it is challenging for him to manage this grade 1/2 split class because the kids love to talk and are struggling with online etiquette! Lol. The teacher handles it with such grace and kindness , playfully correcting a student when they interrupt and giving them space to express when reasonable to do so! I plan to show how much I appreciate him by offering a free workshop to his class. I get paid to do workshops for students and aim to give him a much needed free period! I’ll tap into the other ideas here and so far an online gift card sounds good or a surprise care package in his inbox at the school. Sticking with the online theme a gift card or animated slide show of my sons work and him saying thanks for teaching him.
That is a wonderful idea, Imani! Teachers are amazing! I am sure that your gift will be very appreciated!
When I learned that teacher’s often had to buy supplies out of their own pocket, I started giving them sticky notes, new Expo markers, a box of pencils, a new pen, White-Out, etc. along with some chocolates.
Yes, that is true. I have a few teacher friends and they spend so much of their own money on their classroom and students. What a wonderful suggestion! Thank you, Kelly!
One year I put together baskets of Avon products for the teachers with chapsticks and hand lotions and body creams for the kids to give out.
You can never go wrong with the gift of pampering! Thank you for this sweet idea, Julie!
The best thing that you can give a teacher is supplies- they never have enough supplies, especially dry erase markers and some chocolate for those long days when kids are not at their best.
Thank you for your suggestions Maureen! Yes, supplies and ALLLLL the chocolate, lol!
I have given Amazon gift cards. That way they can purchase what they like.
That is a great idea, Jessie! Thank you!
As a teacher I would love an extra planning period, a half day off or a dress down day!
Those are wonderful ideas! Thank you for all that you do as a teacher, Aquanita!
Some ideas we have done in the past are: Teachers Pay Teachers gift card or gift card to their favorite store/restaurant, S’mores kit (we need S’more teachers like you). One that may not be appropriate for all, but since we were friends outside of school, was a Corona cooler with Coronas and limes…cheers! Ha!
Love ALL of those ideas! Teachers Pay Teachers is amazing! How cute is the s’mores idea, too?! Haha to the Corona cooler!
I’ve always asked my kids’ teachers if they have Amazon wishlists, most of them have and that’s where I usually gift from. That way I know they are getting something they need or want for their classroom, or themselves. Others have loved Amazon gift cards, snack and treat baskets for quick and yummy bites to keep in their desks!
What a great idea, Rachel! Oh my goodness… all the years I asked my daughter to be a spy and find out what her teachers love, when I could have just asked for their Amazon wish list! LOL!
My daughters gave out drawings and handwritten notes, but not on paper! We like using permanent markers on blank tiles. We always find small square tiles at the local hardware store. They’re cheap, less than $1 each, and we have permanent markers of many colors. The girls often draw themselves with their teacher, or their favorite part of school, with a cute note. It’s always been very well received! 🙂
That is such a sweet idea, Valerie! Thank you for sharing!
Right before I graduated I wrote notes to my favorite elementary and high school teachers and visited the elementary teacher. (I was still in class with the high school teacher.) I know they really appreciated those notes.
We homeschool, and I think if I were to receive specific teacher appreciation gifts from my kids I’d like either something coffee-related or stationery-related. I would assume that’s pretty typical, but I’m not sure. ?
Aw, I bet they got so emotional! That is very sweet! Great ideas, thank you!