As a Mom, I can certainly appreciate all of the time, effort, and patience that teachers and daycare staff put into their everyday schedules. I think to myself, what would we do without those amazing teachers who spend their days with our sometimes less than perfect angels? That’s why I try to take every opportunity to show them how much they mean to our children and our family. October 5th is World Teachers Day, so this is a perfect chance to honor them.

Every year I try to think of a unique way to thank our teachers. I have seen so many great ideas from other moms and from my teacher friends posting pictures of gifts they received or were sending in with their children. Here are 7 of my favorite!

Ideas for Teacher Appreciation Week

Sweet Treats

Donuts & Coffee

One of my friends had a very creative idea last year, so I decided to try it too! She purchased boxes of munchkins from the local donut shop and put a tag on it that read, “We donut know what we would do without you. Thank you for taking such great care of our munchkins.” She then got them each a coffee mug and put in a $5 gift certificate to the donut shop and wrote “Thanks a latte!” When I brought those in the next morning the teachers were thrilled, and thought the message was so sweet. See some of the examples below from Happy Home Fairy and Smashed Peas and Carrots.

Candy

This is another idea from a parent I thought was great. They wrapped up a couple of scratch off lotto tockets, along with 100 Grand candy bars and a bunch of gold coin candies and wrote, “I won the lotto having you as my teacher.” See the example below from Pigskins and Pigtails. You could also have kids decorate a cute ceramic bank for their teacher and place these lotto tickets in the slit on top.

Arts & Crafts

Potted Plants

This year I plan to purchase potted plants that are bright and sunny and write a note to the teacher that says, “Teachers plant the seeds of knowledge that last a lifetime” or “Thank you for helping us grow.“ I am planning to have my children participate in this gift so that they recognize the value of thanking their teachers. I thought a great way for them to get involved would be by decorating the pot that the plants are put in. A simple way for them to take some pride in gift giving. See the idea below from Little Mama Jama. You can also plant succelents!

Thank You Cards

You can’t go wrong with a classic Thank You card. Have kids design a blank card, and include a heartfelt note. This can also accompany any gift you would like to give their teacher. Use these blank cards to write your own personal message!

Tote Bag

Kids can also decorate tote bags to give to their teacher, and fill it with some classroom books, markers, glue, or any other supplies they could use. We love the example below from A Night Owl Blog. For a smaller gift option, have kids decorate little change purses and put a gift card inside for coffee, a movie night, or a manicure.

Classroom Gifts

Every teacher could use some new supplies! There are some creative ways to thank a teacher and also include a gift for their classroom. This idea from Life Anchored includes a pack of highlighters with a note, “You are the highlight of my school day” to make the teacher feel special.

Another simple classroom gift idea from The Happy Scraps is a pack of Post-It® Notes with a special note. The phrase “Thank you for sticking with me and helping me learn” is attached to the front. You can use the free printable or create your own, and attach it with sticky glue dots.

Tell us your favorite way to celebrate National Teacher Appreciation Week in the comments below!

For other classroom gift ideas and teacher resources, vist www.ssww.com/ed-supplies-early-childhood