Elementary school students and their parents can best show their appreciation for their hard working teachers with crafts. Parents can purchase baskets and small basket-filling items like snacks and school supplies and supplement them with a handmade craft item made by the student. As an Education Week activity, assign elementary school students an art project that asks them to illustrate what they like most about their school. Send final projects for display in the school library or your local city's administrative office lobby.
Middle school students have the know-how to express themselves in a host of ways, including verbally and physically. Middle school parents should go shopping with their kids to pick out a small gift that they feel will benefit their teacher the most. Whether the present is personal -- like a scarf, an eyeglass holder or lunch bag -- middle schoolers have the creativity to showcase their appreciation with a small gift. When Education Week rolls around, students should be assigned a speech and enter in a school-wide speech contest demonstrating their favorite subject and how it ties into what they would like to be when the get older.
As young adults, high school students have the power to direct and communicate effectively. For Teacher Appreciation Week, have high schoolers make plans to collaborate on a large gift for their teacher. Perhaps it is pooling their money together to purchase a laptop computer, weekend vacation or simply a spa day to get away and relax. Gift cards, a catered lunch or a gift certificate to the teacher's favorite store are other inexpensive options. Students can join together to perform a roast of the school principal to entertain all of the teachers for Education Week or perform a mini-play or skit in the classroom for individual classes.