Home Life Gift Guides 25 Best Ideas for Teacher Appreciation Week
By: Britni Vigil
This post may contain affiliate links. Privacy policy.
These teacher appreciation week ideas are the perfect way to spoil and appreciate your teachers that have worked so hard during the year! These ideas for teacher appreciation week work great for members of the PTA, parents, and even staff who want to do something for their teachers!
Every year during teacher appreciation week (typically the first full of week of May) my son’s school puts together a week full of awesome activities and treats for the teachers to show our appreciation. Parents volunteer to put things together, donate items (or money), and the teachers get to feel appreciated for at least a week.
And hello, teachers deserve the world, especially at the end of the school year . My child’s teacher is phenomenal and I’d donate all sorts of time and money to make sure he knows how much he appreciate him and his assistant! I ran out of boredom busters to keep him busy after about two hours.
Since I know most PTAs, parents, and schools don’t want to do the same thing every year, I thought I’d put together a list of the best teacher appreciation week ideas I could find!
I’ve included ones that work great whether you have a lot of parent support and budget or not!
I’ve also got some fun teacher appreciation gift tags and gift ideas if you just need a gift for a teacher! Add it to a sweet treat, handwritten note, or their favorite candy for the perfect gift!
Teacher Appreciation Week Snack Ideas
If you want to give your teachers treats and eats during the week, these food bars are a fun way to do that! Or you could just give them individual snacks as well, also a great idea! Even something small goes a long way to show appreciation!
Since we all know that teachers are all one smart cookie, I love the idea of this smart cookie bar setup to celebrate them being smart cookies! You can either get parents to donate homemade cookies (for a personal touch) or buy store-bought cookies of all different flavors! I recommend also serving water bottles or milk to go with the cookies to wash them down!
If you need some homemade cookies to add to your cookie bar, these are some of my personal favorites that tend to be universally loved by everyone!
- Snickers Cookies (skip if you’re at a nut-free school)
- Rolo cookies
- Cherry cheesecake cookies (super easy to make)
- Sugar cookie bites
- Andes Mint Cookies
Teacher Coffee Bar
Set out juice, coffee, and maybe even donuts for this great teacher appreciation week idea! I mean who doesn't love an extra dose of campaign! Want to take it a step further? Get coffee mugs as teacher gifts or even a small Starbucks gift card for teachers!
Check it out!
Any of these yummy homemade pastries would make a great addition to a coffee bar!
- Strawberry scones
- Strawberry danishes (a semi-homemade recipe and so yummy!)
- Cranberry orange muffins
- Cranberry orange bread
- Pumpkin cream cheese muffins
No Mask About It Snack Bar
You can probably skip the mask at this point, but this bar full of snacks and treats would be a great option as a finale for any crazy year! Put individual snacks in baskets or make a dessert or snack tray like this (but with packaged snacks). Let teachers come in and grab a snack and feel appreciated for their hard work!
Check it out!
Put out pre-topped donuts with cute signs that say something like “donut you know we appreciate you,” or put out donuts and toppings for teachers to make their own favorite combinations! Even better if you can get a local donut shop to make special teacher themed donuts!
If you give a teacher a snack bar
If you're doing this for elementary school, this is a really fun idea to show appreciation for every school teacher and the school staff! Grab the "if you give a mouse a cookie" books, put them in dollar store baskets, and add matching snacks! This is one of the most creative ways to incorporate books into your theme!
Check it out!
We Do KNOT Know What We’d Do Pretzel Bar
Grab a bunch of different types of pretzels and some cute printables and setup a pretzel bar! Try different flavors of pretzels and different shapes! I love the addition of the fun chalk board sign in this bar, but you could just write a cute note with dry erase markers too!
You’re Sweet Teacher Candy Buffet
Serve up a variety of candies, candy bars, and other sweets for one sweet ending to teacher appreciation week! Get parent volunteers to send in candies to fill up the candy bar to keep the budget low.
Trail Mix Bar
Put out all of the fixings for trail mix and let people make their very own snack mix to enjoy all day long! I love the use of the brown paper bags! Just be wary of dietary restrictions and maybe stick the nuts on one side of the table!
Check it out!
Roll Out the Red Carpet
Roll out the red carpet with a bunch of red snacks or snacks themed like your favorite sports team or local movie stars! For our school, we did Chiefs themed and red snacks but you could use this idea for really anything!
Check it out!
If you want to add something other than just candy to your sweet teacher buffet, try one of these yummy treats! They’re all easy to grab and go sweets!
- Mint chocolate bombs
- Old fashioned 7 layer bars
- Chocolate dipped rice krispie treats
- Brownie balls
- Oreo truffles
Poppin’ By to Say Thank You Popcorn Bar
Setup a bar full of yummy flavored popcorns – sweet and savory! Add a tag that says poppin by to say thank you and you’ve got a snack that everyone will love! You could even do themed popcorns like this butterbeer popcorn or these marshmallow popcorn balls for even more fun!
Pie is Happiness Cart
Make some pies like this custard pie, pumpkin slab pie, or apple pie and roll it around on a cart spreading happiness and pie everywhere you go!
Check it out!
Make it a happy hour for everyone with this fun lemonade bar full of delicious lemonades, mixins, and other mocktails for your teachers to enjoy a little refreshing drink!
Any of these delicious drinks would make a great addition to a teacher happy hour!
- Cotton candy drink
- Caramel apple drink
- Tropical mocktail
- Strawberry mocktail
- Mixed berry drink
- Strawberry lavender lemonade
Or instead of having lemonade, grab a bunch of pre-made drinks from a local drink place like Sonic and have pick me up drinks for the teachers throughout the week!
Thanks for making the year SMOOTHie bar
Make up some smoothies, put them in individual cups (with cute straws) and let teachers enjoy some fruity goodness throughout the day! Check out these yummy smoothies recipes for options teachers will love!
Check it out!
Teacher Appreciation Week Lunch Ideas
Want to set up a teachers appreciation lunch? These fun themed teach appreciation lunch ideas would be perfect!
You Have a PIZZA Our Heart Bar
Grab some pizzas from your local pizza place and serve up all sorts of different pies for teachers to choose from to show your appreciation!
Don’t just stick with pizza, add one of these fun pizza alternatives to your pizza bar for even more variety!
- English muffin pizza (with four different topping varieties and instructions)
- Pizza loaf
- Pizza with a twist
- Pepperoni roll ups
- Homemade pepperoni rolls
- Mini calzone
- Mini pizza pies
Nacho Average Teacher Bar
Show teachers that they’re nacho average teachers with a fun nacho bar! Put out a variety of chips, dips, and toppings and let them make their own Mexican inspired lunch!
Check it out!
You know those little mini bundt cakes that everyone loves? How about giving those out with cute “no bundts about it…” gift tags for each of your teachers? Our school did with the cutest tags ever and it was a big hit.
Grab sub sandwiches and write a little note about how there is no “subs”stitute for the great teachers in your school! Don’t forget the chips and drinks! My son’s school did this – such a fun idea!
You Make Learning Fresh Salad Bar
Make it a healthy lunch with this fun salad bar idea! You could either have a bunch of salad items for teachers to make their own or put out a bunch of pre-made salads that teachers can choose from!
If it’s not too hot during teacher appreciation week, serve up a variety of soups for teachers to choose from! Don’t forget the crackers and rolls to go with the soup!
Make sure to serve a variety of soups so that there’s something for everyone! Here are a few of our personal favorites that are always crowd pleasers! You could even serve them with these easy bread bowls and/or homemade yeast rolls.
- Homemade chicken noodle soup
- Strawberry soup recipe
- Butternut squash soup
- Beef and barley soup
- Whole 30 Zuppa Toscana
Other Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas
If you don’t want to serve up food for your teachers, how about one of these fun ideas to gift your teachers to show your appreciation!
Give teachers flowers or another plant that you might “pick” with these cute gift tags for a simple token of appreciation!
Keeping Kids on Target Gift Cards
If you have the budget for it, gift cards are always a winner and who doesn’t love Target? Our school gave these out to teachers and I know they were greatly appreciated by all!
We Think You’re EXTRA-Ordinary Gift
Grab a pack of Extra gum for each teacher (buy in bulk to help with budget!) and give out these cute gift tags to tell your teachers they’re extraordinary!
Check it out!
Last but not least, I saw this on Pinterest and loved this idea of getting your students involved with doing something to thank their teachers every day! High fives, selfies, notes, and anything else to say thank you would be much appreciated!
Hearts Grow Together Gift
This is maybe my personal favorite because I just love fresh flowers so much. In addition to providing some sort of snack or favorite things of the teachers, send them home with something beautiful like a flowers in a mason jar, a plant, or a practical gift that they can use. Plus, ideally a heartfelt note from! Going the extra mile can help a teacher feel just a little bit more appreciated than on normal days.
Check it out!
Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas
- Back to school Cricut gifts – cute gifts you can make for teachers using a Cricut and some tape! The custom totes bags filled with school supplies would make the best gift!
- Teacher thank you tags – add these cute thank you tags to some fuzzy socks to tell teachers how much they rocked your socks off this year!
- Orange gift tags – orange you glad you teach my kid? Fun gift tags inspired by the orange knock knock joke, kids will love picking out all sorts of orange gifts for teachers to go with these tags!
- Brownie balls or chocolate truffles in a mason jar with a cute gift tag! These make fun gifts for people who may not have quite the budget others do.
you may also like…
Gift Guides
10 Awesome Baby Groot Gift Ideas
Gift Guides
Gift Ideas Inspired by Beauty and…
DIY Gifts
Free Printable Starburst Valentines
DIY Gifts
Chick Flick Inspired Gift Basket Ideas…
Reader Interactions
Leave a Comment
