Teacher Appreciation (TA) Week is a nationally celebrated event where school administration, parents, and students recognize the hard work of teachers and staff by writing notes of gratitude, supplying breakfast or lunch, volunteering, or giving small gifts. People can get creative and it’s an exciting week for teachers who get showered with affection and treats.
In 2026, the official TA Week is Monday, May 4 to Friday, May 8. But if you have ever heard of or experienced May as “Maycember,” you know that May can be extremely hectic (often like December) with year-end events such as Field Day, band or strings performances, school fundraisers, and graduation parties, not to mention Mother’s Day. Maycember is not for the faint of heart! As a parent, you know the struggle is real running from one event to the next.
One school we know decided to move this national weeklong celebration to a week in March. Who says you have to celebrate it in May anyway? This school is celebrating TA Week March 16 – March 20th, which happens to fall on St. Patrick’s Day. Therefore, the Parents Association choose to theme the week: “So lucky to have you.” With creative minds and some help from ChatGPT, each day has a different theme and activities!
This particular school is fortunate to have a budget that can cater several lunches from local restaurants. The Parents Association has also assembled volunteers for a “Pot of Gold Breakfast” with donuts, muffins, and bagels. On Wednesday, the PA has organized lucky charms – students and parents are asked to bring in a “lucky charm” for their teacher. The lucky charm could be anything from a gift card, a coffee, their favorite candy, or flowers. Some room parents went above and beyond by collecting “Teacher’s Favorite Things” and creating a sign-up genius so the teachers are getting exactly what they love. From a breakfast parfait to Mike & Ike’s, these teachers will receive items from their list of favorites from generous parents willing to make the teacher’s day special.
On Wednesday, the lower school has organized students to write notes to their teachers. They sent home supplies a week earlier with instructions for parents. They’ll bring them to school on Wednesday! The middle and upper school room parents will stand at a table during break to organize the older students to write quick notes (with a prompt provided) to teachers in exchange for a piece of candy. (Sometimes bribery is necessary!)
On Friday, there will be Chick-fil-A and a latte station in the teachers’ lounge for the grand finale.
Other efforts at this school include decorating the teachers’ lounge with a St. Patrick’s Day luck theme and hanging custom banners for teachers. At More Than Paper, we offer custom teacher banners perfect for acknowledging the hardworking group and wishing them a happy teacher appreciation week.
This banner can be customized for individual teachers and student names, or it came be made generic. To make generic, just add the name of the school and the word “teacher,” and then from “all” students. There are 3 different sizes from which to choose, and you can add grommets for a small additional fee to make hanging easy.
We’ve seen all sorts of themes for teacher appreciation week during our years as a parent. The “Lucky to Have You” idea is a cute one but here are some additional themes for teacher appreciation week below.
- "Eras" / Taylor Swift: Focus on how teachers "never go out of style". Activities can include a friendship bracelet station and handing out "Fearless Educator" awards.
- Wicked / Emerald City: Use a "Defy Gravity" theme inspired by the Wicked movie. Decorate with vibrant greens and "Wickedly Oz-some" banners.
- Hooray for Hollywood: Treat teachers like stars by rolling out a red carpet and assigning them stars on a "Walk of Fame."
- Willy Wonka: Transform the lounge into a candy land with "Golden Ticket" gift surprises and chocolate fountains.
- “Thank you for helping us grow” – focus on a garden theme including seed packets as gifts, and a tree of gratitude with messages from students. Food can be healthy and green to fuel the teachers for their days!
- Summer / Beach Theme – gift a gift like our school did with engraved tumblers that read: “beachin’ not teachin’” and bring a vacation vibe to the teachers’ lounge. This is a great one if you are doing it in May when summer is near!
- Spa and Self-Care – focus on pampering gifts and spa like activities.
- “Nacho Average Teacher” – have a fiesta theme, build your own taco bar, and festive banners around school.
- “Teachers are Superheros” – create superhero-themed decorations. Create comic-book style POW! And BAM! Signs.
- “Out of this world” – a cosmic themed week of treats and activities. We think this is a really creative one that could be fun!
Ideas for honoring teachers with small gifts (aka “charms”) are gift cards to Starbucks, Amazon, VISA/Mastercard to treat like cash, grocery stores, Barnes and Noble, or popular local restaurants. No one needs to break the bank here – a $10 Starbucks gift card is plenty to show appreciation and will really add up if multiple students bring in.
Looking to go beyond a gift card for bringing in a charm? Here are some more personalized gifts for teachers that we love found at More Than Paper. These teacher themed folded notecards are personalized with your choice of text and are appreciated by teachers to write notes home to students/families.
These notepads look cute on your desk and are a small gesture to show appreciation. The tear off pad comes with 100 Sheets for quick and easy note writing.
We love these personalized “Best Teacher Ever” notepads
that come with 300 sheets, now on sale for 10% off.
We also love these monogrammed apple notepads, sold in sets of 2. Each pad contains 50 sheets and can be personalized with 1 line of text at the bottom and 2 initials at the top.
Another fun idea is to put a bunch of little things such as notepad, stationery, gift cards, favorite candy, a Starbucks gift card into a personalized tote. More Than Paper has a huge selection of tote bags, check them all out here. It would be really cute to do personalized lunch totes, like the one below, and add in a few goodies!
We find that ordering a personalized gift for a teacher shows a lot of thought and that it wasn’t a last-minute grab at the grocery store. Taking the time to order a personalized gift for your teacher shows real intent and will go a long way in making your teachers feel special. Combine it with a handwritten note from you, as a parent, and a handwritten note from your student and you have a thoughtful way to honor teachers in your life.
Whatever you choose for teacher appreciation week, we hope you find the time to make your teacher feel honored and appreciated. It doesn’t have to be over the top, we think that a little goes a long way especially when everyone participates.
What teacher appreciation gifts, themes, or activities have you seen that you find special? Share them here with us on our blog or on our Facebook page!
