Ideally, our kids’ teachers feel the love all year long. But Teacher Appreciation Week, celebrated every year in early May, is a special time to recognize teachers’ dedication, creativity and the lasting impact they have on our children’s lives.
This year, the event is May 4-8, with National Teacher Appreciation Day falling on May 5. When looking for ways to pay tribute and show gratitude, gifts that are both practical and educational are especially valued.
Our guide below offers parents and grandparents gift ideas that support teachers and students all year long.
Why thoughtful teacher gifts matter
Sure, another cute coffee mug might find a treasured place on a teacher’s desk. However, the most meaningful gifts positively support educators’ daily work and wellbeing.
That’s especially important because teachers are often purchasing classroom supplies themselves, e.g., pens, paper, pencils, stickers, erasers, and art supplies. Last year, a LinkedIn page for Frontline Builders, citing the National Center for Education Statistics, reported that “93% of U.S. public school teachers spend money out of pocket on classroom supplies, averaging $820 annually.”
NEAToday last year quoted a long-time second-grade teacher who said, “It’s gotten a lot more expensive since COVID.” The article referenced a report from Groundwork Collaborative and the Century Foundation, noting that at the start of the 2025-26 school year, “typical school supplies cost an average of 7.3 percent more than the previous year—nearly triple the overall inflation rate.”
It varies by district, but many districts simply aren’t supplying everything kids need, and teachers are increasingly trying to fill in the gaps.
In addition to out-of-pocket spending, a lot of other unpaid extra time and effort, like staying late and working holidays, go into teaching that most of us don’t see. So, setting aside a special time to acknowledge all that teachers do is important.
Here are a few benefits of investing a bit of time and thought in Teacher Appreciation Week gifts:
• Useful gifts reduce classroom stress and preparation time
• Appreciation strengthens school–family relationships
• Small acts of gratitude boost morale and motivation and can indirectly help support your child’s education
• Personalized gestures feel more meaningful than generic gifts
• Children learn to express appreciation for the people who help them grow
Educational Gifts for Teachers That Support Classroom Learning
It’s a good idea to speak to your child’s teachers/school about what supplies they may specifically need. Most, however, would certainly welcome and benefit from the ideas below, all of which are resources that teachers can immediately use with students, and most of them durable enough to use in multiple semesters or years:
• Workbooks and skill-building activity books – Workbooks in key subjects like reading, phonics, math, and handwriting help reinforce skills and concepts; encourage hands-on, self-paced, independent learning; and eliminate digital distractions. School Zone offers a wide range of workbooks!
• Math and phonics flash cards – These time-tested learning tools help improve speed, accuracy, and memorization as they also strengthen fine motor skills. Again, School Zone offers a variety of flash cards that are great for kids who finish a task fast to practice with as their classmates wrap up the same assignment.
• Educational games that encourage collaboration – Multiplayer games, whether card games like these from School Zone or board games, help build soft skills, including cooperation, collaboration, communication, teamwork, and empathy. Game pieces also serve as manipulatives that develop manual dexterity.
• Write & Reuse products that make practice easy – With these workbooks and learning cards, kids can write, wipe away, and redo the activities over and over again. It’s a perfect format for helping little learners gain confidence. These wipe-clean products encourage practice, make do-overs easy, and reinforce the important idea that we learn by making mistakes. Some of School Zone’s Write & Reuse workbooks are spiral-bound to lie flat for ease of use anytime, anywhere. The workbooks also include a sheet of colorful reward stickers that add to the fun. And during April, Write & Reuse products are a featured special!
Creative Classroom Supplies Teachers Always Need
It’s easy to overlook the ordinary when considering gift ideas, but ordinary can add up fast to extraordinary help for teachers. Here are everyday classroom materials that teachers consistently appreciate:
• Dry-erase/whiteboard markers, notebooks, and note cards
• Arts and crafts supplies for hands-on lessons
• Storage bins and labeling tools
• Laminating sheets or classroom décor materials
• Gift cards to buy stuff with if unsure
Replenishable supplies are highly valued! Again, some might seem mundane, making them unlikely to be seen as gift-worthy when they are super essential.
To expand on that further, in comments on a Memphis-based Facebook page from a couple years ago, teachers said they had been purchasing tissues, cough drops, hand sanitizer, pencils, binders, colored pencils, pencils, pens, paper, classroom decorations, and books for a classroom library.
Additional odds and ends on teacher lists include Velcro, sticky notes, a timer, magnets and clips, museum putty, small mirrors, and reward stickers. And other posts and sources suggest teachers are often providing their students with snacks, too.
Again, straight-up asking teachers what they need or whether X, Y, or Z would be helpful can clear up uncertainty. Once you have some ideas, it might be fun to go in together with other parents and fill a good-sized bin with a range of items!
Personalized Gifts That Show Genuine Appreciation
In addition to classroom supplies, gifts that add a personal touch remain meaningful.
Consider these heartfelt gifts and gestures:
• Handwritten thank-you notes from you and your school-aged kids; maybe more than ever in our digital age, handwritten notes give our words more depth, more personality, and are more personal to the reader
• Student-made cards or artwork
• Personalized classroom items (insulated beverage tumblers, tote bags, bookmarks)
• Memory books or class appreciation collections
• Chocolates and drinks as a token of your appreciation - Teachers work hard and deserve to be treated! Advice: Follow what you know about them - unless you know for sure someone drinks, definitely don’t buy them alcohol as a gift, for example.
• Personal messages combined with practical gifts
• Gift cards (Amazon, Walmart, coffee shops, bakeries, etc.) - One teacher posted to a Reddit thread: “And ask the teacher what kind of gift cards they want. I don't drink coffee but I keep getting Starbucks gift cards (which my wife really appreciates) but an Amazon or Lowe's gift card would make my day.”
Involving kids in gifting decisions and messages to teachers teaches them to express appreciation to those who help them grow. Coming up with personalized gifts for teachers also helps kids see the person in front of the classroom as someone with likes and dislikes, just like they themselves, their friends, and family members. And Teacher Appreciation gifts made by students make kids proud and teachers delighted.
Give Your Time
Since we all have just 24 hours in a day, and teachers’ days often extend beyond the 2:30 bell or buzzer, one of the most precious gifts is giving your time to your child’s teacher. Lending time in the classroom can reduce a teacher’s workload, help prevent burnout, and free them up a bit to focus on their core responsibility: teaching. It’s also a chance to see your child in school mode!
Here are a few ways to volunteer your time:
• Reading to the children
• Helping with school field trips
• Helping with the bake sales and other fundraising events
• Helping run after-school clubs
• Helping the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) or the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)
Volunteering your time builds community and strengthens the partnership between home and school. In turn, that develops trust and improves communication, ultimately benefiting student development. The Centers for Disease Control, in “Healthy Youth Parent Resources,” notes that “Parent engagement in schools is closely linked to better student behavior, higher academic achievement, and other beneficial outcomes.”
Celebrating teachers who make a difference every day
Teachers shape kids’ confidence, curiosity, and lifelong learning, and we should celebrate that. Teacher Appreciation Week/Day is a great opportunity for recognizing teachers who make a difference in children’s lives every day—a difference that helps shape their future.
Choosing thoughtful, meaningful gifts that support teachers and classroom learning is one way to do that. It shows genuine recognition of teachers, and gifting practical resources helps them out and benefits students.
Explore School Zone’s many learning tools and resources for Teacher Appreciation Week gift ideas, and check out this Think Big Blog frequently for tips and advice for teachers, parents and grandparents.
Shop Teacher Appreciation Gifts
