We’ve reached the end of the school year (hooray!), but before our kids run out of those school doors for summer, let’s encourage them to write a short-but-sweet teacher thank you note. After all, a personal note from their students is the #1 pick from teachers who may not need another coffee mug or decadent treat –though they might love those things too!

Whether or not you’re planning to give a gift, a personal note can really go a long way to making our teachers feel appreciated and seen. But if you–or your kids–aren’t sure what to write besides “thanks,” here are 5 easy tips for making this teacher thank-you note one that they’ll remember — and hopefully save for years.

Plus, we’ve included links to printable or virtual cards so that you can wrap all of this up before summer gets started.

5 teacher thank-you note tips for a message to remember.

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1. List the things your student loves about their teacher

Ask your child to list all the things they love about their teacher. Are they funny/helpful/silly/able to sing really well? Do they make clean-up fun or help resolve conflicts between friends? Choose a couple of yoour child’s thoughts they can add to a printable thank you note like this from Divine Party Design. We love that this instant download can be personalized with the teacher’s name and school—and you can print out extra copies for any perfectionists who want a do-over. ($3 for downloadable thank you letter)

For younger writers, this fill-in-the-blank style teacher appreciation note from The Savvy Sparrow is easier on little hands as they only need to add in key words to create a personalized note for their teacher. (free download)

2. Be specific with your thank you note to a teacher

Referencing a specific moment or situation will feel very personal to a teacher who may receive dozens of thank you cards at the end of the school year. This printable teacher thank you from Flying Pinwheel is great for kids who may struggle with handwriting, or just prefers to draw their thoughts; the prompts make it easier to narrow them down to a few highlights. ($3.75 for downloadable thank you letter)

Related: If you can read this, thank a teacher with one of these free, customizable, Teacher Appreciation Week ecards

3. Tailor the message to the teacher’s core subject

It seems obvious that your child should try to write “thank you” in Spanish, when writing to their Spanish teacher, but they can get creative with other subjects too! Write a poem or use the latest vocab words for their favorite English teacher, or sketch a portrait for their art teacher. Or try some of these lines for a special math teacher:

I’ve done the calculations, and you’re an awesome teacher!
I could always count on you this year.
Me + Math = A winning equation because of you!
My love of math multiplied this year.

It may seem corny, but I bet their math teacher will think they took the right angle with their message. (ha, sorry.)

And of course, you can always find the right sentiment in a greeting card or in a gift card, like the ones from Target, above. “You rock” is perfect for a music teacher…or say, an earth science teacher?

4. Thank a teacher with a video

We wrote about Punchbowl’s free ecards for Teacher Appreciation during the pandemic and love that they’re still available in more than 50 creative designs that make perfect end-of-year teacher thank-you cards. We especially like that you can include a free video of your child thanking their teacher, which is great for those kids who love to get in front of the camera.

You can also get creative by sending a music teacher a short video of your child practicing their recorder, thank a language tutor in Mandarin, or present the art teacher with a video show-and-tell of an art project your student is particularly proud of. Any teacher would be thrilled to get such a personalized thank you note!

5. Consider sending your own thank-you note to the teacher, as a parent.

If you have a personal message to send to a teacher, this is a great time to do it. The end of the school year is hectic for everyone, but teachers really appreciate knowing that their hard work is appreciated by not only their students but also, their parents.