Circus Themed Teacher Appreciation Week

We just wrapped up a really fun circus themed teacher appreciation week at my kids‘ school. I get asked about it often – so today, I’m spilling all the details!

For the last three years, I’ve been one of the people in charge of planning Teacher Appreciation Week for my kids’ school. I really look forward to doing it every year. And, every time I share details about it on Instagram I get a ton of questions about how we plan it all, what we do, and looking for tips.

Teacher appreciation week is over now (this year, it was May 6-10!). But, I wanted to go ahead and put together a post with details about this year’s activities. Then, those of you who want details can refer back to it in the future! So, let’s jump right in and talk all things Teacher Appreciation Week, shall we?

Getting Involved with Teacher Appreciation Week

It works differently at every school, but in our district, Teacher Appreciation Week is planned and executed by the school’s PTA. So, if you want to get involved in this fun event, talking with them is a good place to start! Most PTAs have a teacher appreciation committee. So, you don’t necessarily need to be involved with the actual board in order to join in.

At our school, we begin planning for Teacher Appreciation Week in mid-March. My co-chairs and I start talking about it long before then, but that’s when we actually start meeting with our committee and making solid plans!

My Top Teacher Appreciation Week Tips

Here are a few things that I’ve found help out a ton when planning a Teacher Appreciation Week:

• Start by knowing what your budget is. This will have been set way ahead of time, and obviously it’s important to know what you’re working with.
• Reach out to local businesses. This is a huge thing for us. Many of our community’s businesses love to get involved and give back to the schools! We allow companies who sponsor an event to send up marketing materials to display. We also give them a shout out on social media and our newsletter.
• Create traditions. We stumbled into this, but it’s been huge for us! The first year I was the co-chair of this, we created a “Zen Den” for our teachers. It was just a room where we set up books, air mattresses, blankets, etc. for teachers to enjoy on break. By the end of the week there was a petition on the door to keep it all year long! We’ve brought it back every year since then. It’s always a HUGE hit.
• Get the community involved. We reach out to the neighborhoods that feed into our school to ask for donations and help all week. Parents often appreciate being able to send something up for the week rather than having to donate time. It’s a huge help for our budget, too.
• Think outside the box. Providing lunch and treats throughout the week is always a huge part of it, but we also love to get creative. For example, every year we try to cover lunch duty for all of our staff. The teachers rarely get to sit and eat lunch together as a team, so they love it when we do this. It takes a lot of volunteers, but it’s worth it!

Our Circus-Themed Teacher Appreciation Week Schedule

Now, let’s get into what our circus themed teacher appreciation week looked like! I’m going to go through each day and what we did. This is a good example of what a typical Teacher Appreciation Week looks like for us. We often keep the big things pretty similar year-to-year, and just adjust to fit the theme!

Monday

We always like to kick off Teacher Appreciation Week with a big lunch for our staff. It’s the biggest line item on our budget, but we’ve managed to get a great discount from local businesses most years. This year, we worked with BJ’s Brewhouse for a big lunch spread.

We also had a local massage therapist come out and do 5-minute chair massages. This is something we’ve wanted to do for years and could never really make it happen. So, it was really exciting to finally get it set up! It was a blast, and the teachers really loved it.

Tuesday

On Tuesday, we set up a big snack and popcorn bar. For this, we had chips and salsa and churros from a taco shop near our school, pretzel bites donated from Auntie Anne’s, and all sorts of other fun treats. We received donations from local restaurants and our school community for this spread.

We paired this with Sonic drinks delivery. This is always a favorite, and we’ve been doing it for years. We have the teachers fill out a form a week or so ahead of time with the drink they want. Then, we drop off pre-printed labels at our local Sonic with the teacher names and what their drink is. The morning of, we pick them up and deliver them to classrooms! It’s not too difficult , and the teachers are always so excited.

Wednesday

Breakfast day! Last year, we discovered that Panera will let you put your name on a list to pick up their leftover pastries at the end of the day. It’s fully free! So, we put our name on their list for Monday and Tuesday nights. We had a TON of pastries to set out! It’s easy and so delicious. We supplemented with some fruit, yogurt, and juice for a well-rounded breakfast. We also picked up some gluten-free breakfast options from Trader Joe’s!

In the afternoon, we came back with some little ice cream cups from Dairy Queen. The teachers love being able to pop into the lounge and grab a little treat in the afternoon!

Thursday

On Thursday, we had shaved ice! Last year, we did a frozen yogurt bar (also a huge hit!). But, we felt like shaved ice fit the circus theme a little better. We worked with a local shaved ice company who came out and scooped for us for a few hours. It was a ton of fun, and so easy for us!

We also paired this with some fun circus-style games. We set out a display of Dum Dum lollipops and a few had a colored-in bottom. Teachers who pulled a colored lollipop got a $5, $10, or $20 gift card. We had a similar game with rubber ducks in a mini tub. Our community donated all of the gift cards for this. It was such a fun way to pass them out!

Friday

And finally, Friday was coffee truck day! We have a coffee shop near our neighborhood that will bring out a truck. They set up for two hours – teachers can come order any drink they want. It is a huge hit! And, of course, feels like such a special treat. We also had some donuts set up to pair with the coffee.

On Fridays we also love to give teachers a gift, if we can. One of the girls on our committee runs a small business creating t-shirts and mugs and all sorts of things. Last year she made tumblers for the teachers, and it was a big hit. This year, we went with tote bags with the school logo printed on them. It’s so fun to be able to give them something tangible to celebrate the year!

And that’s how our circus themed Teacher Appreciation Week 2024 went for us! I ended the week totally exhausted, but it was completely worth it. I love getting to shower our staff with love and let them know how appreciated they are.

Now it’s time to go nap for a week or so. I’ve gotta gear up for the rest of the end of the year activities!