The first full week in May is Teacher Appreciation Week. The Tuesday of the week is National Teacher Day. The Parent Teacher Association created the week as a day to show Teachers that they are appreciated. If you are like me and want to be able to show your child's teacher they are appreciated, but don't have the budget for a whole week of extravagant gifts-look no farther. There are several small ways to show a teacher you care for how they take care of your child and mold your child for little pay each day that are small personal sentiments. Here are some suggestions.
Make A Class Book
This is an easy task for a photoshop whiz. At least one parent in each class is one. Spend the day taking pictures in the classroom. Make sure you get pics of everyone. Then print out a page for each child with their picture on the top half. On the bottom half, have the child fill in the blanks. I love Mrs. ____ because she always ____. My favorite activity this year was ____. The questions can be personalized to fit the teacher. Then allow the students to draw a picture on the back. Have each page laminated and bind the book at your local printer. You may also be able to see if you can do the laminating and binding in the school workroom.
A Week of Breakfast
Make an homemade invitation that asks the teacher to save room for breakfast all week. It can read something like this: "You are invited to a week's worth of breakfast delivered to your room every morning before school. Save room because it is sure to be yummy!" You might also have in small print a tear away portion of the invite that states, "please list any food allergies or dislikes." Then plan a week of small breakfast meals. You can start the week off with a muffin and coffee or tea. This is where knowing the teacher is of great benefit. You can send a small fruit plate, breakfast casserole, breakfast tacos, cereal basket with a small bag/box of cereal, individual milk and a cute bowl, etc. All of these can be creative and fun. An easy recipe for a breakfast casserole follows:
- All of this can be prepared the night before. Take one pound of sausage and brown. Mix six eggs, two cups of half and half, one cup of cheese, one cup of Bisquick and the sausage. In the morning, place in over at 350 degrees for one hour.
Personalized Office Supplies
Each day you can give the teacher a different personal office supply decorated, made or bought by you. Personalized stationary can be a great gift. If you have the ability to print color, this can be a fun activity. Find a pretty font for your teacher's name. Type it in her favorite color and then print some sheets out. You can tie this with a ribbon. For an added special touch, buy some envelopes that match or print her name on the envelopes as well. Another day you can have your child decorate a clipboard with her name, glitter pens and glitter. Be sure to include the message: "You make a school sparkle." Personalized pens are a great gift and usually can be purchased for under $15. Teachers love school supplies so why not send a basket of supplies such as cute pencils, post-its, markers, cool pens, etc. You can even do it in school colors.
Nominate your teacher for an award
These can be made up or for real. Create certificates on the computer such as Most Creative Teacher, etc. You can also go online and help your child nominate their teacher for an award,
http://www.teacherscount.org/teacher/awards.shtml#general . There is an award designed for every teacher.
Movie Week
This is a fun way to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week if your teacher loves movies. Start the week off with a bag of popcorn with a card to the "Most Pop-ular Teacher." The next day bring in some movie candy. The next day bring a coke or some hot chocolate. The next day you can do a DVD or a book that was made into a movie. On the last day give a gift card to the local theater. Have fun seeing if your teacher can guess the theme during the week.
These are just a few suggestions. You can also do a small beach item each day. The key is to break the gifts into much smaller gifts. If your kid has more than one teacher, you might think about purchasing or making a cake for all the teachers. Showing you care will mean the most to the teacher no matter how you choose to do so.
