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Showing teachers and staff with love is something any Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) or PTA can easily do!

We’ve rounded up a whole host of ideas to make the task quick and easy with ideas the school staff is sure to absolutely adore.

Staff Appreciation Chairs will come off looking like creative geniuses when they take any one of these 49 creative ideas to showering their teachers and school staff with some love!

1. Chalk the Walk

Grab a bucket of sidewalk chalk and write welcoming, motivational or just plain pretty messages and art work along the sidewalks leading from the staff parking lot into the school. 

This is a great activity to include kids of all ages in, especially since more is better!

2. Car Wash

Soap up and hose down the cars during the school day to surprise staff with a sparkling car or arrange for a cleaning at a local car wash for all staff.

3. Decorate Doors

Decorate classroom doors with a lovely message or a theme to surprise and delight everyone in the school with fun!

4. Mailbox Treats

Slip a treat into staff mailboxes for a little surprise that’ll make them smile.

It doesn’t have to be a big treat- a small bag of candy, a bottle of lemonade, a lip balm.

Anything, really!

5. Snack Cart

Load up a cart from the library or A/V department with bunches of snacks and personally deliver a rolling treat cart to all.

6. Spring Blooms

Cut apart multi-packs of Spring annuals for a flowery present.

7. Birthday Bouquets

Deliver a bouquet of flowers to staff members on their birthday or half birthday.

Don’t know their birthday? Ask each staff member to fill out and return this Teacher’s Favorite form!

8. Discount Card

Make up a custom discount card for local businesses to treat teachers and staff with a little extra treat. The businesses will love to give a discount in exchange for the boost in business, making it a win-win for all!

9. Conference Night Voice Savers

Easy a common stressor for teachers by providing tea, cough drops, hard candies the day of conferences so they can keep their throat moisturized and voice strong as they make it through all of their parent teacher conferences.

10. Testing Stress Busters

Whip up some bottles of lavender destress spray to help teachers relax during a very stressful time of the year.

11. Fill Bellies with Breakfast

Plan a delicious start to their day with a Breakfast buffet!

12. Staff Luncheon

Ask parents to donate a dish, arrange for catering or head to the grocery and warehouse stores to pull together a fabulous luncheon for the staff to enjoy.

Need an idea for a theme?

Be sure to check out this comprehensive list of Appreciation Themes with loads of menu suggestions.

13. Dinner to go

Order a bunch of pizzas or other boxed dinners for a grab and go dinner option that’ll save teachers and staff from the hassle of making dinner for a night.

14. Chair Massages

Arrange for local message therapists to come into school and give 5 minute chair massages to staff.

Some therapist parents may be willing to offer this service for free and other local massage therapists will give a nice discount to provide their services.

15. Car Line Duty

Organize a group of volunteers to help run the dreaded car line duty and give teachers and staff the day off from this task.

16. Simple note of thanks

Organize students to handwrite a personalized note for each staff member thanking them for their contribution to the school.

17. Popcorn bar

Fire up the PTO popcorn machine for a delicious mid-day snack.

They’ll love you for filling the air with the mouthwatering aroma of freshly popped popcorn.

18. Trail Mix Bar

Load up the main table in the Staff Lounge with an assortment of all the fixings for a Trail Mix Bar.

Be sure to label each item so those with food allergies can be on notice and provide a small scoop to keep hands out of the bowls or containers.

19. Coffee Run

Bring them exactly what they want in the forms of a warm and comforting caffeine delivery straight to their classroom!

Use the Coffee Run order form to let staff “order” their favorite beverage.

20. Dessert Bar

Set up a simple or deliciously layered dessert bar to satisfy the late day sugar cravings.

Think cookies, brownies, blondies and even a sheet cake from Costco.

21. Mocktail Bar

Cans of flavored seltzer water, some bottles of Jordan’s Skinny Mixers are all you need for a refreshing work-appropriate bar scene!

22. Food Truck

Schedule a Food Truck to bring in lunch for the staff one day.

Teachers will feel so special that you arranged for this treat!

23. Guess the Number Raffle

Choose a prize and then give staff the chance to win if they guess the correct number of Skittles or M&Ms in a jar.

First place gets the big prize.

Second places get the candy!

24. Ice Cream Bar

End the day with a sweet treat!

Buy some individually portioned ice cream cups and offer a host of toppings.

25. Snack pre-order- VIP download

26. Scratch and Win cards

Pick some prizes to give away, then make your own scratch off game cards for the staff and teachers to have a chance to win.

27. Copier Queen

Offer to make copies for staff to relieve them from this chore of a task.

28. Decorate the lounge

Infuse some new decorations into the Teacher’s Lounge.

Hit up Target, Homegoods and similar stores for fun accents that can be seasonally swapped out.

29. Snack Bar

Take the same idea as the Snack Cart, only centralize distribution of the goodies in the Staff Lounge or Main Office!

30. Hot Chocolate Bar

Pick a chilly day and set up a hot chocolate bar, complete with mini marshmallows and stir sticks for dreamily creamy hot cocoa.

31. Classroom supplies

Set up piles of school supplies in the Staff Lounge for a mid-year stock up.

32. Inspirational Quote Cards

Find one or a few inspirational quotes, type them up and make a copy to share with each staff member in their school mailbox.

33. School Spirit Wear

Design school spirit wear just for them or give each staff member an item from your most recent spirit wear offerings.

34. Gift cards

Purchase a bunch of low denomination gift cards from the store of your choice and give one to each staff member.

You can also get donations from the stores if your Bylaws and Standing Rules prohibit your PTO from purchasing gift cards.

35. Department Party

Celebrate each department separately with a party just for them!

Coordinate with the head of the department to time the party for their next meeting.

It’s sure to turn the meeting into an event they’re looking forward to!

36. Bulletin Board Shout out

Decorate a bulletin board in your school to celebrate staff and teachers!

37. Daily Announcements

Craft some celebratory messages just for the school staff for the morning announcements or for the daily email.

It’s the thought and effort that counts, always!

38. S’mores Kits

Make up individually packaged s’mores kits for the staff to enjoy with a few graham crackers, a chocolate bar and marshmallows.

Include directions for how to make s’mores in the microwave for an added bonus treat!

39. Gift Wrap Kit

Before Winter Break, give each staff member and teacher a roll or two of gift wrap tape and some curling ribbon or bows.

40. Personalized water bottles

Use a Cricut die cutting machine to add the school mascot or teacher and staff member names to a tumbler or water bottle in your school’s color.

41. Make over the Staff Lounge

Spruce up the Teacher’s Lounge with paint, new furniture or even a good cleaning.

42. Joke Around

Find a good, school appropriate joke, then make copies and pop into staff mailboxes for a on-demand chuckle that’s sure to induce some smiles and chuckles.

43. Quote in mailbox

Have you ever noticed how teachers and school staff especially love quotes? Add to their collection with a decorative card featuring a educationally themed quote!

44. Staff Meeting Munchies

Provide snacks or candy goodies for the next Staff Meeting.

They’ll love anything you make available, whether individual bags of chips, a pile of candy or anything else you can think of!

45. Stock the Fridge with Drinks

Fill the staff fridge with seltzer water, gatorade and other individually bottled or canned beverages.

46. Chocolate Drawer

Fill a filing cabinet drawer in the main office with a secret stash of chocolate for a pick me up whenever needed!

47. Pizza Party

To celebrate the last day of school for teachers and staff, throw them a pizza party!

48. Pi(e) Day

Celebrate March 14th with mini pies!

49. Ask What They’d Like

This last suggestion for a fabulous staff appreciation treat for your school’s teachers, administrators and support staff is to ask them what they’d like… and then fulfill their wishlist!

It’s really not cheating to straight up ask the teachers and staff what sort of treats they’d like.

It may reveal greater opportunities to support the staff and leave them feeling truly loved and appreciated.

Over to you!

Hope this round up of teacher appreciation ideas has given you some ideas for how you can dazzle your school’s staff with treats and small gifts to brighten their day, during Teacher Appreciation Week or any other time during the school year.

Showing your school staff and teachers a little love and gratitude can be something you do everyday with these simple appreciation ideas!

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