Nothing feels better than expressing gratitude. And no one deserves our appreciation more than teachers. Whether you’re a parent or a member of the community, you’re bound to be searching for the best way to thank a teacher.

Planning an event that celebrates teachers does just that. In this guide, we give you seven creative thank you ideas for teachers.

Keep reading to find out how you can organize an amazing teacher appreciation event.

An image of a pack of crayons with a child in the background.

1. Plan a fundraiser event

What’s one thing any teacher will appreciate? More school supplies! One way you can raise money for more supplies is by hosting a fundraiser. You can sell tickets to a community event and use the funds to purchase supplies.

Check with the school administration for a list of desired school supplies. Depending on the needs, choose an event where you’re raising money, collecting tangible donations, or a combination of both.

You can get your entire community involved. Ask a local meeting hall to host the event. Invite a local restaurant to provide (or greatly discount) the food provided. Local businesses might want to contribute to the fundraiser or supply drive. Remember to publicly thank and promote the local community businesses. And parents will help set up, serve, and clean up.

Here are two fundraiser events that everyone in your community will love:

Winter Break Carnival

Turn the school gym into a winter fun-derland. A team of volunteers can help run various games and activities for students and their families to enjoy. You can also encourage attendees to make a school supply donation at the event.

Trivia Night

Have participants test out their brain power with a fun game of trivia. They can break into teams — or register as teams — and have a volunteer host and ask questions based on a theme. To raise even more money, consider selling food and drink tickets.

In addition, you can have teams compete to gather the most school supplies before the event, and whichever team collects the most wins free food and drinks.

An image of a colorful gift bag.

2. Host a teacher appreciation gift-making workshop

There’s something extra special about thanking a teacher with a hand-crafted gift. However, not everyone is skilled in the arts-and-crafts department. So, why not organize a workshop that will allow parents and students to learn crafts and create beautiful gifts to appreciate teachers?

You can contact a retired art teacher or have a super artsy volunteer teach the workshop. Next, scream from the rooftop that you’re hosting a teacher appreciation gift workshop. Okay, don’t actually climb on a roof, but promote the event using our event marketing platform.

After you do that, you’ll probably have tons of people buzzing about your event, so use our RSVP tool to help you manage invitees.

What will attendees’ gifts look like at the end of the event? Check out a few creative thank you ideas for teachers:

Star Teacher Gift Box

Have participants give teachers the star treatment with this star-shaped box full of goodies. This is an easy project that crafters of any skill level can tackle.

Taco’ Bout an Awesome Teacher

Give teachers something to taco ’bout with this creative gift. You can even insert a gift card to a taco restaurant — for this, have participants make a small donation to purchase the gift cards.

An image of a pile of moving boxes.

3. Organize a clean-up party

Teachers are faced with the arduous task of unpacking and packing twice a year — at the beginning and end of the school year. And you might be looking for different ways to say thank you to a teacher.

Take some of this load off by facilitating a clean-up event. To gather volunteers, create an event and have people register. You can also include an option to make a small donation — this will help cover any additional cleaning and packing supplies.

Is your clean-up operation going to take a few days? No problem. Our platform allows you to create tickets for different days and volunteer roles.

Once the event is over, you can encourage attendees to register for future volunteer opportunities. Just go to your dashboard and navigate to the “email attendees” tab. Easy peasy!

An image of people making a toast over a festive table.

4. Host an afterschool social mixer

Teachers are usually super busy and they probably don’t have much time to mingle with their colleagues. So host an afterschool mixer in the teachers’ lounge and say thank you to the teachers and staff.

To get an idea of how much food and drink you’ll need, have invitees reserve their spot with our RSVP tool. Next, partner with a local restaurant to provide food and beverages for the event.

Have volunteers — preferably the same group from your clean-up party — to help set up decorations and design fancy food and beverage bars.

Check out these two creative snack bar ideas:

Festive Hot Cocoa Bar

If you’re hosting a mixer for the holidays, this cheery hot cocoa bar is perfect for the occasion.

Ultimate Nacho Bar

Teachers will appreciate this fully stocked nacho bar complete with the works.

An image of a table with gourmet dishes.

5. Host a teacher appreciation luncheon

Organizing a luncheon is a perfect way to appreciate teachers. You can use this idea as part of Teacher Appreciation Week or anytime throughout the year. Unlike the social mixer mentioned earlier, this event will be a little more elaborate.

First, collect registrations so you will know how to plan. Once invitees have registered for your event, you can communicate with them and keep them updated.

For instance, Eventbrite Boost allows you to send automated email reminders to attendees. You’ll also get tailored event marketing recommendations.

Individuals and businesses in your community may want to join in the fun, too. Invite a local restaurant to provide food, and businesses can bring appreciation gifts for each staff member. Remember to give a shout-out to community members who participated. Parents can help set up, serve, and clean up.

To help your planning go even smoother, we’ve given you two luncheon themes to consider.

Spa Day Theme

Let’s face it, teachers could use a little (or a lot of) relaxation. So ask a local spa to come in and do massages and facials. You also can partner with a local caterer and have a sit-down lunch — complete with fancy tablecloths and floral arrangements.

Superhero Theme

Teachers are the real superheroes, after all. Have volunteers make posters that list all teachers’ superpowers — like patience. Or it could be specific to one person — like Mrs. Jones’ superpower is getting kids excited about math.

An image of a yoga class.

6. Plan ongoing “lunch and learn” opportunities

Although teachers’ days are packed, they still look for ways to foster their love for learning. So why not give them the chance to become students themselves? You can offer classes over lunch to provide this opportunity.

A yoga workshop is the perfect teacher appreciation gesture. Reach out to local yoga instructors and have them teach a 30-minute class. You can also collaborate with a local deli to provide sandwiches and other sides.

The relaxation doesn’t have to end there. Use our event marketing tool to email attendees about future teacher appreciation yoga seminars and events.

An image of a group of people walking along a trail in the mountains.

7. Offer a teacher appreciation field trip

Teachers get excited about field trips, too! Look for local opportunities that can help teachers to learn and unwind. Before you begin planning an educational adventure, have invitees RSVP online. That way you’ll know how many people are interested.

After you’ve planned a successful field trip, keep them informed about upcoming teacher appreciation field trips with Eventbrite Boost.

To give you some inspiration, we’ve included two teacher appreciation field trip ideas.

Culinary Class

Gather teachers for a cooking class. Partner with local restaurants and ask if they are willing to host a culinary lesson. Attendees will even be able to enjoy a nice meal after their class.

Nature Hike

Nature hikes are an inexpensive way to bring teacher appreciation outdoors. Contact a local hiking organization or call a ranger station in the area you want to hike. A ranger will have all you need to know about trail conditions and hikes for all skill levels.

Try these thank you ideas for teachers

Sometimes nothing says thank you like a kind gesture. And the acts of generosity featured today will make an impact on a teacher’s life. If you’re still feeling the spirit of gratitude, check out more ways you can plan community events.