5 Simple, Affordable Ways to Show Teacher Appreciation

As the school year winds down, it’s time to think about teacher appreciation and teacher gift ideas.

We have been fortunate to have had amazing teachers and caregivers for our children over the years. Many have felt like family. They’ve been invited to birthday parties, cried when our children moved “up” and loved our children so well. It is difficult to communicate the depth of my gratitude for these men and women.

With teacher appreciation week around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about intentionally showing appreciation – both during the special week and in the every day. Demonstrating appreciation to teachers also encourages my children to practice gratitude, kindness and generosity in a very practical way. Hopefully through simple acts and teacher gifts like these my children will learn life lessons that will always serve them well.

5 Simple And Affordable Ways To Show Teacher Appreciation

Write a letter: Nothing is more powerful than the written word. Take the time to sit and write a thoughtful card to your child’s teachers. Share what makes him/her special, their impact on your child’s life and your gratitude. Cards like these will be cherished by your child’s teacher.

Color a picture: If you have a young child, have him/her color a picture or card for their teacher. Out of the blue last week, Adeline decided to make a card and drawing for her art teacher. On the drawing she wrote, “thank you for teaching me art. I love you.” I wish I could have bottled her joy as she gave her teacher that drawing. I love seeing Adeline show appreciation through her art.

Bring flowers: Flowers are always a treat. They don’t have to be fancy or expensive to be meaningful. We gave flowers to teachers at our old day care using $5 vases from DaySpring and bunches of grocery store flowers. On Easter, we surprised the kids’ Sunday school teachers with pitchers of flowers and they were so touched. For more on putting together affordable flowers, check out this Teach Mama post.

Bake a treat: Baking something on the weekend? Double your recipe and have your child take the treat to school for a teacher, the secretaries, etc. Baked goods are an easy and thoughtful way to show you care. (I love making double batches of this chocolate chip pumpkin banana bread.)

Give something practical: Teachers don’t need another mug. I love giving teachers practical things that they can use. (I loved doing these small notebooks last year.) For teacher appreciation week, I am planning to give Adeline and Ezra’s day care teachers Mrs. Meyer’s hand soaps with tags on them that say “You are scent-sational! We appreciate you!” We gave these to Elias’s teachers at Christmas and they were a huge hit.

Freebie: If you haven’t taken advantage of this Mrs. Meyer’s freebie from Grove Collaborative ($30 in free products), today is the perfect day to do it. Get a bunch of soaps shipped to you for free and you’ll be ready to go! Current Grove Collaborative users get a free set of walnut scrubbers with this link.

Also, don’t feel like teacher appreciation can only be shown during the “expected” times (first day of school, holidays, teacher appreciation week). Showing unexpected kindness is always appreciated. We do this throughout the year by meeting needs in the classroom, bringing in small treats and writing notes.

Teachers bless our children in immense ways, and showing appreciation whenever possible is incredibly important.

What have you done in the past to show teacher appreciation?