Teacher Appreciation Week for 2026 is May 4 – 8th. Here’s what we’re doing at my fourth grader’s school! This year, PTO went with the theme “You meme the world to us.” Our president, Ashley, printed a collection of funny memes that we used to decorate the staff lounge. Such a simple idea, but it brought a lot of smiles. I also created the graphic above with my own memes and made a daily gift guide to make things easy for parents who like a little guidance.

We always share a themed list of suggested gifts for each day, but they’re just that – suggestions. Families are encouraged to participate in whatever way feels right to them. That said, many parents appreciate having a starting point. One of the most helpful resources our school provides is a “Staff Favorite Things” Google Doc on the school’s website. You can click on any staff member’s name to see their favorite treats, snacks, teams, colors, restaurants, stores, and more. It makes it so much easier to choose something they’ll truly enjoy (and avoids adding another teacher mug to the collection).

How to make your own Teacher Appreciation Week Memes:

To make the graphic, I went to Imgflip first. I looked up photos of memes that I already knew were current and popular. (Cue John Hamm dancing in that scene from Friends and Neighbors where he’s drunk AF.) Then, I typed in my own meme on top of the famous photo. I then downloaded the image and then went into my most utilized site for my blog and my PTO projects – Canva. I just added the photos and created my own flyer, although there are a million flyer templates you can choose from if you don’t like creating your own from scratch.

My gift for my daughter’s main teacher:

I bought this apple snack container months ago when I saw it online, knowing I’d have good use for it this week. (I also snagged this pencil one for a future teacher!) Then I got to work filling it. I added in these cute teacher sticky notes on a whim. And then I put 30 of these crayon shaped erasers in it, figuring she could always gift them to her students. Winnie’s teacher is dairy-free and gluten-free, so I did not stray from her go-to items from her list of favorite snacks. I got gluten-free Oreos, Mike & Ikes, and Swedish Fish. Then, I tossed in what she’ll appreciate most of all. A gift card to her favorite restaurant (Fuzzy’s Tacos) and to her favorite shop (Amazon).

You’ll notice as we go along that all of the gifts in Winnie’s teacher’s apple snack box included the daily gifts we asked students to bring each day. (Favorite snack, favorite school supply, a gift card to their favorite store, etc.) That was no accident. So let’s dive into the daily themes I made memes for!

Teacher Appreciation Day gift idea: Bring your teacher a gift card to a coffee shop

Note that I requested teachers get a gift card to a coffee shop – not a coffee itself. As much as we love to caffeinate our staff, they don’t need 26 coffees. And if your teacher doesn’t drink coffee, then you have free reign to bring in something outside the box like strawberry lemonade, soda, etc. Since Winnie’s teacher doesn’t drink coffee, I just made her gift card to a local restaurant heftier figuring she could snag a GF beer there.

Our gift from PTO to staff today was a coffee truck. We hired Xtreme Coffee Roasters. I try and have our daily gifts that PTO offers stay in the same vein as the gifts from students. Some years it doesn’t line up, but if you’re a planner, I recommend your gifts from PTO aligning with parent gits. Xtreme Coffee Roasters set up from 7:30-9:30 am in the staff parking lot. Staff had plenty of time to grab a coffee before school, and they had an extensive menu, even for the non-coffee drinkers.

Teacher Appreciation gift – Bring your teacher’s favorite snack:

I adore John Hamm and the show this meme came from (Friends & Neighbors), so naturally I turned him into a snack-themed masterpiece. I love this as a gift idea because it’s small, simple, and won’t make parents quietly panic at 9pm the night before. As much as our teachers deserve the world, we’re trying to show appreciation, not accidentally launch a five-day spending spree.

Our gift from PTO for this day was a breakfast bar. We bought bagels, cream cheese, yogurt, fruit, and granola. Then we got these handy bagel stands to display the different flavors and set everything up in the staff lounge.

The other thing we did was stock the lounge with enough Costco snacks to survive a minor apocalypse. For a couple hundred bucks, you can basically buy the entire snack aisle in bulk. We loaded it up with granola bars, chips, cookies, jerky, popcorn, rice cakes, trail mix, and crackers. Apparently teenagers and exhausted adults both operate exclusively on snacks.

Teacher Appreciation Week Gift Idea – Favorite School Supplies:

For this day, we encouraged students to bring in their teacher’s favorite school supplies. For most teachers, flair pens are always on that list. My fourth grader’s teacher was no exception! Other hot ticket items our teachers ask for are: stickers, sharpies, and fun pens.

Treat yo-self Day:

For this day, we asked families to bring in a gift card to their teacher’s favorite store or restaurant. This was also what I chose to buy Winnie’s secondary teachers. (Like music, art, gym, science.) On the left, you’ll see I got her Gifted and Talented teacher a $25 to her favorite store – Target. I put it inside this cute “Thanks a latte for being an awesome teacher” card holder. Then I taped it to a lesson plan themed grocery list notepad.

Winnie’s school teaches math a little differently. They test the kids and divide them into four groups, one for each fourth grade teacher. One group is for the advanced math kids. Two are for the kids who are in the middle range. And one is for kids that need more help. The teacher that teaches the advanced math for her fourth grade team wasn’t her regular teacher, so she travels outside the class for math. Because of that, I had yet another teacher to get a gift card for. So she got $25 to Target, her favorite store. (Are you sensing a theme?)

The gift from PTO today was a dirty soda bar we set up in the staff lounge. We ordered flavored syrups, creamers in a few flavors, and cups with lids/straws. Then we set out a variety of soda, fresh lime wedges, maraschino cherries, shredded coconut, and juice.

Our PTO VP, Holly, is extremely creative and hand-drew the giant menu you see above the sodas in the photos above. We tried to pick recipes where a few ingredients could mix and match to make a ton of drinks. To make it slightly bougier, we bought pumps for the syrups and an acrylic stand to display them on. And we added a store-bought dirty soda bar sign next to the ice bucket full of creamers. Then we tossed in some gold tongs for the fruit alongside the condiment container we used to keep the fruit cool.

Free Teacher Appreciation Week Gift Idea: Write your teacher a note from the heart:

I used good ol’ Michael Scott for this meme. I just had it say, “I’m not crying, you’re crying!” For this day, we asked families to write their teacher a note from the heart. The beautiful thing about this gift idea? It’s free and meaningful!

For the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week, PTO ends it with a bang. We rent out a room at a local restaurant and host a banquet for all staff. (We have about 100 staff members. PTO gifts to ALL staff, not just the core teachers.) We also have an open-bar to boot, so this is always a more expensive evening. We as the PTO board make sure to get to the restaurant 30-45 minutes before teachers so we can order apps to be scattered at each table. Then when staff arrives, they already have some food to pick on while they figure out what they want for their cocktails and meals. It’s always such a fun event but usually runs PTO close to six grand. So start saving those funds PTO/PTA funds now people!

If you want to see past Teacher Appreciation Week themes I’ve done, I have a few to share! Last year our theme was “Thank you for helping us bloom” and you can read all about that here. The year before that was when Taylor Swift had just gone on her Eras tour so our theme was “In my Teacher Era.” My personal favorite (and it’s not just because I thought these days up without help from Pinterest and subsequently went viral for it) was our Friends Themed Teacher Appreciation Week. I called it “The one where you were appreciated.” (If you watch Friends, you’ll know that all of their episodes are named “The one when/where….”)

I actually sell the graphic for this theme since it took me ages to create it using the famous Friends font and door picture frame. Lastly, if you want to see all my teacher appreciation links rounded up in one place go here.

If you’re looking for larger gifts to give your teacher for Teacher Appreciation Week, check out my past gift ideas here! I hope this blog helped inspire you! And if you’re a fellow PTO/PTA mom, check out one of our former school fundraisers here. The kids always loved it and it made the school a few hundred bucks per week. As always, thanks for reading!