Teacher Appreciation Week 2025 kicks off on May 5th, and we’re so excited to celebrate! This year, my youngest daughter’s school is embracing the theme “Thank you for helping us bloom!” — and I couldn’t love it more. I designed the graphic above to share with families on behalf of our PTO, and I’ve also put together a list of daily gift ideas to make it easy for parents to join in the fun all week long. Don’t worry, I’ll show you exactly what I’m giving too! And because I’m a proud PTO board member through and through, I’m also spilling the details on the daily surprises we’ve planned for our amazing staff.

Day 1 of Teacher Appreciation Week: “If I were a flower, I’d pick you!”

Today’s gift is sweet and simple: bring in a fresh flower for your teacher! Our amazing admins go above and beyond each year by creating a “Staff Favorites” list, which often includes fun details like favorite colors or flowers, making it easy to personalize your gift. But don’t stress if your school doesn’t have one. Any fresh bloom is sure to brighten your teacher’s day!

Full disclosure: Rather than having my daughter bring in a small gift everyday, she is bringing in one large gift. One of the items in it that fits with the theme still is this floral teacher notepad set!

Our PTO partnered with a local florist to create a pop-up “flower shop” in the teacher lounge. Throughout the day, staff members can stop by to handpick and arrange their own fresh bouquets to take home. I won’t sugarcoat it: this was our most extravagant gift of the week, coming in at $5,000 for our staff of 80. But we proudly gift every staff member at the school—not just teachers, but also our incredible EAs (educator’s assistants), cafeteria team, custodians, and more. It’s a big investment, but our staff gives their all every day, and we believe they deserve to feel truly appreciated.

Day 2: Flowers Help Color Our World: Wear your teacher’s favorite color

Once again, if your school has a Staff Favorites list, that comes in clutch for days like this during Teacher Appreciation Week. If not though, have your student ask their teacher what their favorite color is the day beforehand! I also like this day because it’s free. While our teachers do a lot and deserve all of the gifts in the world, we also didn’t want to exhaust our parents and require them to spend money on daily gifts. So break the week up with some freebie days!

For PTO, we are doing a sound bath meditative experience after school on this day. Does it fit the theme? Not really, but we wanted to gift our staff a creative, soothing experience!

Day 3: A Gardener Needs Tools! Bring your teacher their favorite tool:

This is a great gift day because it doesn’t need to break the bank to be thoughtful. You could send your student in with some flair pens, dry erase markers, or cute pens for their teacher! Bonus points if you wrap up all of the pens or makers like a bouquet to fit the theme!

PTO’s gift today is a catered lunch! We hired a local Mexican restaurant to set up a taco bar and rented a margarita machine to serve non-alcoholic margaritas. Does it have anything to do with flowers? Nope! But we wanted to cater lunch and don’t really have local places that go along with the flower theme. Don’t be afraid to bend the rules guys!

Day 4 of Teacher Appreciation Week: Thanks for Being Sweet! Bring your teacher their favorite sweet:

Do I need to beat a dead horse, or are you going to volunteer to make a staff favorite’s list for your school? I kid – sort of. If you don’t know your teacher’s favorite treat, it’s no biggie. Send your child in with anything sweet! Some classics: anything chocolate, gum, or chewy candy.

Instead of the usual sweet treats, PTO is switching things up with a morning pick-me-up! PTO is treating the staff to a full-service coffee bar in the school lobby. We hired a local traveling coffee cart to serve up fresh coffee, lattes, tea, and more during the morning rush. It’s the perfect way to kick off the day and give our staff a cozy, caffeinated start!

Day 5: Our garden is in full bloom thanks to you! Write your teacher a note.

This day is another free day for parents! Or if you really want to show your teacher the love, add a sweet note attached to a gift card to their favorite store or restaurant.

PTO loves to end Teacher Appreciation Week with a bang. To wrap up the week of celebration, our PTO rents out a local restaurant and treats the entire staff to dinner and drinks. It’s our way of saying a heartfelt thank you for all they do. And yes, this one’s a splurge. But thanks to the incredible generosity of our community and the funds we raise throughout the year, we’re proud to go big for the people who give so much to our kids.

This year, our PTO spent a total of $16,000 to gift all 80 staff members what I listed above. We’re fortunate to have a large, active PTO and a community that rallies behind our fundraising efforts. But please remember: not every school has the same resources, and that’s absolutely okay. These ideas can be scaled up or down to fit your budget. Pinterest is a goldmine if you’re a PTO/PTA parent looking for thoughtful, affordable ways to show appreciation. At the end of the day, it’s not about how much you spend. It’s about making your staff feel seen, loved, and genuinely appreciated.

As promised, here’s what we’re gifting my daughter’s main teacher this year! While I also give smaller gifts to the music, PE, science, and art teachers, it’s usually gift cards to places like Starbucks, Amazon, or Target. If your child has other educators, don’t forget them either! A little token of appreciation goes a long way, and those extra special teachers are so deserving of it. As for the main teacher, let’s be honest – I didn’t stick to the flower theme for this one! I wanted to give my daughter’s teacher something fun to kick off her summer in style.

Our Teacher Appreciation Gift:

My daughter’s teacher’s name is Sandy, and I found the cutest S monogram beach bag for cheap here. Then, I got this inexpensive bottle of wine, and put this label on it. (The labels stick on very easily and come in a pack of four.) Then I got this adorable SPF bag as well as sunscreen, and SPF filled lip balm to go inside of it. Then, I tossed in the teacher’s favorite candy, a bottle of after-sun care lotion, and a cute teacher notepad to boot. And of course, I added a beach towel to the beach bag. For the last gift, I found this adorable gift card holder and added a $25 Starbucks gift card inside of it.

Now, I go nuts for our teachers so don’t feel like you have to buy this much shit. But I also volunteer at the school and know the staff well, so I know just how much effort they put in day after day. I’ll never regret spoiling our educators. If you’re curious, I spent $105 total for everything above! Full disclosure though – I got the wine labels for free since I had a coupon, otherwise this would have cost $125 in all. Totally worth it!

If you need other Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas, I have you covered! Check out the Friends Theme One we did here. Or the Taylor Swift “In my Teacher Era” themed one here. And if you need Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas, check out my blog here. And if you’re wondering where I got the “Thank you for helping us bloom”, “In my teacher era”, or “Friends theme – the one where you were appreciated” graphics from? I made them!!! And since I am publishing this blog before this year’s Teacher Appreciation Week actually occurs, I will be sure to update it with photos of all the PTO gifts once those days hit! Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope these ideas inspired you!