Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas - The Joyful Family (2024)

Looking for 2022 Teacher Appreciation Week ideas? Here’s a roundup of tons of ways you can make your child’s teacher feel special!

In the United States, this week is Teacher Appreciation Week. It’s a week where parents, administrations, and PTA groups all over the country put a little extra effort into make sure teachers feel loved and appreciated. As a parent, you don’t have to do anything for your child’s teacher this week, but it’s a gesture that will make them feel great!

Here are 20 simple and thoughtful ideas for teacher appreciation week this year.

Ideas for Individual Teachers

If you’re looking for something you as an individual parent can do for your child’s teacher this year, here are 10 really simple ideas they’re sure to love.

1. Write a note. You don’t have to get fancy – every teacher would greatly appreciate a simple note saying “thank you”! You can have your child help write it, or you can write it yourself – either way, a simple note will go a long way.
2. Take something off their plate. Shoot your child’s teacher a quick email and ask if there’s anything you can do for them this week. Maybe it’s laminating or prepping materials for a craft, or maybe there’s something they’re running low on in the classroom. Either way, they’ll be so grateful you took the time to reach out and offer to help!
3. Send a gift card. Teachers get tons of mugs, candy, and office supplies this time of year. That’s all great and super appreciated, but your teacher would be really excited to receive a gift card to their favorite store or restaurant!
4. Email the principal. While an email or note directly to your child’s teacher is incredibly valuable, and email to their principal is even better! Sending an email to your teacher’s boss telling them how much you love and appreciate your child’s teacher is sure to absolutely make their week. Mention specific ways you appreciate your teacher and give examples of ways they’ve been a great fit for your child.
5. Send a gift for the class. Often, teachers need supplies for their classroom for things like recess, centers, and more. Sending in some balls and playground supplies or other things the entire class can use would be so appreciated. It’s a small gesture that will make them feel really seen!
6. Don’t forget specials teachers. While your child’s main teacher definitely deserves a lot of love, don’t forget to take the time to show some appreciation for the other people in the school. Specials teachers (like PE, art, and music) don’t often get recognized as much during this week, and other staff members like the school nurse, cafeteria workers, and janitors would also be so grateful for a small token of appreciation!
7. Donate books to the classroom library. Teachers work hard to gather books for their classroom library, and often they purchase books with money from their own pocket! If you have any gently used books that would be a good fit for the classroom, ask your child’s teacher if they’d like them. Even better, you can purchase some books for the classroom!
8. Send a coffee! One morning before bringing your child to school, swing by a local coffee shop and pick up a drink for your child’s teacher. Bonus points if you take the time to email them ahead of time to find out what their favorite drink is!
9. Coordinate with other parents. If you have the contact information for other parents ni your chilid’s class, it’s a great idea to take the time to reach out to them to see if they’d like to coordinate on a larger gift or service project for the teacher!
10. Just say “thank you”. Can’t do anything else due to time or budget constraints? Just say thanks. Teachers work hard and often love what they do – just taking the time to pop into their classroom or grab them after school to say “thank you for all you do” will make them feel so, so appreciated.

School-Wide Ideas

If you’re part of a Parent-Teacher Association and you’re looking for ideas for how to show appreciation to your teachers on a school-wide basis, here are 10 more ideas that could work for you!

1. Cover lunch/recess duty. If you can, gather parent volunteers to come up to the school and cover lunch and/or recess duty. It’ll mean a lot to the teachers to have this taken off their plates!
2. Stock the teacher bathrooms. Take the time to gather some nice lotion, soaps, and other toiletries and stock up the teacher bathrooms. Having “the good stuff” will be a fun luxury for the teachers. They’ll love the surprise!
3. Serve breakfast or lunch. Serving a big breakfast or lunch for all of the teachers is always a great go-to. You can have it catered or have parents donate supplies for the lunch. Either way, they’re sure to love it!
4. Set up a dessert bar. You can also take the time to set up a dessert bar for the teachers one afternoon. Bring in sweet treats (homemade or otherwise) and set it up in the teacher’s lounge for them to enjoy!
5. Decorate teacher doors. If you can coordinate enough parents, head up one day after school or on the weekend and surprise all of the teachers by decorating their door with post-it notes of kind and encouraging messages!
6. Treat them to “room service”. Give a form to the teachers to fill out with a choice of treats and drinks. Have them turn it in, and the next day, drop off their requested treats directly to their room! Try to schedule it mid-afternoon for a fun pick-me-up.
7. Drink delivery. Gather teacher drink orders from Sonic or another local place with great drinks. Coordinate the large order with the restaurant, and drop off drinks for all of the staff members one afternoon!
8. Set up a teacher retreat. Transform their break room or another room on campus into a retreat for the teachers to enjoy! Bring cozy blankets, a few books to read, eye masks, and whatever else you can think of to make the space feel special.
9. Create a gift card tree. Have parents from the school donate lots of $5 gift cards to local places, and then decorate a bulletin board in the school with the cards in the shape of a tree. Have teachers grab a gift card as they have time throughout the week.
10. Organize a love letter campaign. Work with the parents around the school to have children and parents send love letters to their teacher all week long. It’s sure to make them smile!

Teacher appreciation week ideas don’t have to be big or elaborate to be special! Hopefully these ideas get you started and help you feel prepared to make your teachers feel appreciated this year.