May 4-8, 2026 is Teacher Appreciation Week, and to celebrate, there are some freebies and deals around.
I have only included those in my local area, but if you are outside the Southern CA area, a quick Google search can find you some local freebies.
Chipotle: This one is pretty popular. Chipotle is saying “thank you” by giving away 100,000 FREE Burrito Cards. Enter to win by 5/12.
Shake Shack: Teachers receive a free ShackBurger or Veggie Burger with a $10 purchase. Must show school ID.
Some Raising Cane’s locations are offering free drinks (excluding lemonade) in May. My local Raising Cane’s is not participating. Here is the list of participating locations.
I’ve read online that some Chick-fil-A and McDonald’s locations may do freebies or deals next week; however, I couldn’t confirm anything online.
If you are a Sonic Drive-In fan, download their app and sign up for an account. When you go to account settings and select “I’m a Teacher” to join the Teachers’ Circle. You will be asked to verify that you are an educator. Update your profile to verify your status as faculty or staff at a K-12 school or degree-granting university. Once you verify, there will be freebies and deals added to your account throughout the year.
These next freebies are not tied to Teacher Appreciation week- these are available year-round and are pretty amazing.
Canva is free for teachers. Canva for Education
Headspace offers a free subscription for educators.
We are Teachers has free printables!
If you are looking for year-round deals, check out ID.me.
On May 9th, from 11 am to noon, kids can make and take their very own 
I love Michaels! Not only do they have great sales and 
This year, I focused on picking up birthday freebies that I really wanted. And that the kids would like too, because really, I couldn’t eat everything that was offered to me!
Free Food Birthday Goodies:
Here are some offers that I did not include because I feel like they are a Freebie with a catch:
When my kids were little, they loved these events. Honestly, they probably still would be excited about seeing wild animals up close.
In today’s world, we could all use a little more happiness and simple joys in our lives. Here are just a few ways that I add a little bit of whimsy to my life. These are all simple and inexpensive.
Make a beverage cart or a beverage corner in your kitchen. I moved some stuff around to make a coffee cupboard in my kitchen above my coffee maker. It has all of the shelf-stable coffee/cocoa/tea supplies on it, including my French press, my syrups that don’t fit there live under the cupboard next to my coffee machine.
