Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas (with free printables)

These teacher appreciation printables are so cute! Perfect for PTA members or parents to plan a great teacher appreciation week.

Sometimes I help with the PTA at our elementary school, and this year they asked me to be in charge of teacher appreciation week. So I came up with these cute teacher appreciation printables, and I’m excited to offer them to you as a free download.

There are two different printables. The first is a schedule we sent out to all of the kids, so they could participate in some fun things for their teachers. The second is a schedule of things the PTA is doing for the teachers.

Teacher Appreciation Ideas from Students

I wanted to make sure we were doing things that the teachers actually wanted. So I talked to a few different teachers and asked what they really like during teacher appreciation week.

From their students, most of the teachers said they don’t care if they get gifts, and they don’t want families to feel like they have to do anything extreme. But they did say they like when the kids do thoughtful things like write notes or give compliments.

So we came up with a few simple ideas, that any student can do. Because of the varying support each student has from home, we were very careful in what we chose for the kids to do. Nothing cost any money, and everything can be done by a child without much help or preplanning.

Download the Teacher Appreciation Week Flyer Printable below

Monday- Straighten up your desk and try to keep it clean this entire week.

Tuesday- Wear your teacher’s favorite color to school

Wednesday- Write a note or draw a picture for your teacher

Thursday- Do something nice for your teacher today. It could even be a secret

Friday- Give your teacher a compliment today

Teacher Appreciation Ideas from the PTA

When I asked the teachers what they liked most from the PTA, the teachers said they really just wanted to be fed. Haha!! So we made sure we are going to be feeding them every day of the week.

I started by putting up a sign in the Faculty Room (teacher’s lounge). I put this sign up on the Thursday before teacher appreciation week, so the teachers knew what to expect for the coming week.

I also asked our school secretary to send a copy of the sign out to each faculty member. They really appreciated that, because they were able to know what to expect for the coming week, and if they should bring lunch for that day or not.

Download the Teacher Appreciation Week Flyer Printable below

Monday- Candy Buffet

“Stop by and grab some sweets and treats.”

We put together a candy buffet for the teachers. Our local grocery store has a bulk foods section, so I was able to pick up all of the candy there, which made it really easy. We got Yogurt covered pretzels, M&M’s, peach rings, salted almonds (for a healthier choice. haha!), chocolate covered almonds, chocolate covered raisins, and mike n ikes.

I got some little zipper bags and some cute paper bags for the teachers to fill up with candy. We loved having this on the first day of teacher appreciation week, because the teachers kept the bag of candy on their desk and enjoyed it all throughout the week.

I made sure to get a lot more candy than I thought I would need. For our faculty of 65 people, I got almost double the candy in this picture. There was a lot of leftovers, of course, but we left them out and the teachers would grab a little here or there. By Thursday, every bit of candy was gone.

Download the Candy Buffet Printable below

Tuesday- Yogurt Parfait Bar (breakfast)

“Put together a delicious fruit and yogurt parfait for breakfast.”

We put together a yogurt parfait bar for the teachers. We got these plastic cups that are the perfect size for a parfait. Then we had vanilla greek yogurt and regular vanilla yogurt. We had fresh strawberries, frozen blueberries, and frozen raspberries. We washed and cut the berries, and put out some granola to top the partfait.

We also got some miniature muffins to go with our parfaits. The teachers loved this idea. It was one of their favorite parts of teacher appreciation. They loved that it was a healthier, but yummy way to start their day.

The next time I do this yogurt parfait bar, I will do a few things differently. Next time I will just get a frozen berry blend. Since I had fresh strawberries, I had to wash them and cut them up. But I got frozen blueberries and raspberries. Almost all of the teachers got a mix of all of the berries anyway, and they didn’t mind the frozen fruit. So buying a frozen berry blend will definitely save on cost and effort.

The teachers loved that I had both regular yogurt and greek yogurt. Some teachers chose regular vanilla yogurt and some chose the vanilla greek yogurt. I kept them on a bowl of ice, so the yogurt stayed fresh while it sat out most of the day.

I also noticed that because I left the yogurt out most of the day, a lot of the teachers had a parfait for breakfast, and then again for lunch.

Download the Partfait Bar Printable below

Wednesday- Soda Bar and Lunch

“Enjoy a soda bar all day and then join us for some yummy lunch.”

Our teachers love the soda bar! So we make sure to set it up first thing in the morning so they can enjoy their favorite drink all day long.

We get different kinds of soda pop. Diet Coke and Dr Pepper are the favorite. We also get Coke, Diet Dr Pepper, 7 up or Sprite, Mtn Dew, and Diet Pepsi.

Then we get some drink syrups. I like to get the Torani variety pack on Amazon. We add some lemon and lime wedges, and some pureed strawberry and mango (just frozen strawberries and mango blended up). Then we put out some half and half for those who like to top their drink with cream. And we put out some cups, lids, straws, and plenty of ice.

Download the Soda Bar Printable below

On Wednesday, our school has early out, so when the kids leave at 1:00, we feed the teachers and staff lunch. We make sure to do our lunch on an early out day so after the students leave, the teachers can sit for a while and chat while they eat lunch.

We have a few PTA members who love to cook, so they usually put together a fabulous lunch. But you can also have this meal catered, or if your budget doesn’t allow for a big lunch, you can consider a potluck style lunch.

Thursday- Veggie Bar

“Swing by for some veggies to balance out the rest of the week.”

We try to do at least one healthier option during the week, and believe it or not, the veggie bar is always a huge hit! We get whatever veggies we can find, and wash them and cut them up. Or if we can find the vegetable already cut in a bag (like the broccoli), then that makes it even easier.

We have celery, broccoli, carrots, sweet peppers, tomatoes, and then you have to have a dip! So this year, we did a ranch dip and a fried pickle ranch dip we found at Sam’s Club. Since we were leaving this out all day, we made sure to put the ranch in a bowl of ice to stay cold.

One thing that we found that was a HUGE hit was buying some nacho trays from Amazon. They worked perfectly because the teachers could fill up the tray with veggies, and then put some ranch in the little dip cup.

Download the Veggie Bar Printable below

Friday- Cookie Buffet

“Stop in and get a cookie to get you to the weekend”

We got some gourmet cookies from a local cookie shop. We told them this was for teacher appreciation, and they even gave us a discount!

This was definitely the easiest day out of the whole week. All we did was put the cookies out, and set out some cups for the milk. Because what is a cookie without some milk to go with it?

Download the Cookie Buffet Printable below