Teacher Appreciation Ideas

As my daughter has gotten older it feels like teacher appreciation has become less of a thing. I don’t know if that’s because the school makes less of a deal about it (they do snacks and drinks and things for the teachers, so it’s not like there’s nothing, it’s just not coming from individual parents) or because it’s too overwhelming to give gifts when your kid has six or seven teachers.

If your school does theme days and you need some ideas, check out my post on teacher appreciation themes for the school.

Maybe it’s a little bit about teachers not wanting all those gifts, and I have written before about what teachers really want for teacher appreciation (spoiler alert: it’s gift cards).

But I also feel like there can be a middle ground, if you truly want to give a teacher something to acknowledge their hard work (and goodness knows they need all the acknowledgement we can give them).

The solution might be consumables, especially if you know things the teacher likes and uses like lotion or their favorite kind of coffee. Everything Pretty has some ideas for practical gifts you can give for teacher appreciation, some of which are consumables, and all of which sound thoughtful and nice, and not an apple shaped doodad among them.

The Applicious Teacher has another list of things teachers will actually appreciate, and it starts with a personalized note. If you know the teacher enough to get specific about something they’ve done for your child, or your child has said something nice about them, that’s great to include. Even better: get the kid to write or draw something special for that teacher.

I also love the idea that’s in both of these posts to get teachers personalized school supplies, whether that be a notebook, pens, sticky notes, etc. This personalized notepad that looks like notebook paper from Sophias Things on Etsy is super cute and every teacher is sure to love it. I’m not even a teacher and I always want more places to take notes!

If you’re a teacher I’d love to hear what you really like to receive for teacher appreciation gifts!

[Photo: Sophias Things]

As if Diwali weren’t colorful and fun enough, The Festival of Lights: A Lift-the-flap Diwali Celebration by Namita Moolani Mehra, illustrated by Darshika Varm, makes it even more fun to read about with flaps and things to lift and pull to see more information or details in the illustrations.

The book is a story about a family getting ready for Diwali and what happens on the different days of the five-day celebration. There’s cleaning, shopping, crafting, food preparation and getting the home altar ready for the big day.

It covers decorating the outside of the house with rangoli, diyas and lanterns, buying sweets to share with family and friends, the sights and scents of the mandir (home temple), getting dressed up in new fancy clothes, the story of Diwali and celebrations with relatives.

Flaps (there are more than 140 in all) give you vocabulary words for different foods and definitions, as well as fun things like what’s inside the shopping basket or where the cat is hanging out. They also help illuminate the story of Diwali, which is the triumph of good over evil as Lord Ram defeated the demon Ravana to save his wife, Sita.

This pretty and colorful book helps kids understand what Diwali is and how it is celebrated, regardless of whether they practice it at home. This would be a nice book to keep in a classroom (it’s rated for kids ages 3-7) or to have at home to teach kids about Diwali even if it’s not something you celebrate. Where I live there are a lot of people from India so we are probably exposed to Diwali more than some other regions of America, but it’s a nice holiday to know about wherever you live.

Combine with the book Diwali and check out some fun lantern crafts and printables for kids to round out your experience.

About the book: 24 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail prices $22.99.

Have you read?

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