End of the Year Activities and Ideas

It’s the end of the school year! Give yourself a pat on the back. You’ve survived a year’s worth of parent conferences, report cards, grading, IEP writing, PLC meetings, faculty meetings, lesson plans, student drama, and observations. You’ve been a teacher, nurse, counselor, friend, disciplinarian, entertainer, and leader. Through it all, you’ve been a champion! 

But the question still remains….how will you make it through the end of the year? That’s where these end of the year activities and ideas come into play!

Choose one and give it a try!

7 Fun End of the Year Activities:

1. CANDY BAR AWARDS

Students love candy AND they love being recognized! When you put those two things together, it’s a huge win! With over 60 awards to choose from, you can celebrate something positive about each child. Make the awards even more fun by having a Red Carpet Event. Create a red “carpet” with a roll of bulletin board paper. Have each student take their turn walking down the red carpet to receive their candy bar award.

2. KICK OFF A SUMMER READING CHALLENGE

Download and print one of these FREE Summer Reading Challenge sheets for each student and motivate them to read over the summer. Students who return a completed sheet at the start of the next school year earn a free book or some other reading-related prize. Parents LOVE having these challenges on hand to keep their kids reading throughout the summer months!

3. CHARACTER ROCKS

I love this idea, because it is such a nice way to let each student know that you see something wonderful in his or her character! Tana at We Heart 1st gives a step-by-step photo tutorial on how to create these beautiful rocks. While she gives them as gifts to her students, I can see older students having a blast creating their own! This is a favorite in end of the year activities.

I also did a quick search for “rock painting” on YouTube, and there were loads of creative tutorials there, too!

4. THEME PARK READING ESCAPE CHALLENGE

It’s no surprise that kids love theme parks. Roller coasters, theme park treats, the carousel ride, and water slides all bring a feeling of excitement and fun! They make the perfect theme for end of the year activities.

Why not set up a reading escape challenge, all centered around a theme park adventure? NO LOCKS REQUIRED! In fact, it’s about as easy to set up as possible. Teachers AND students love this end of year reading activity!

5. END OF YEAR MEMORY BOOK

I really do love a great end of year memory book project. It is truly a nice keepsake if it’s not rushed. I suggest printing out pages and stapling or binding about 2 weeks before the end of the school year. Whenever there is free time (and you know there will be random times like that during those crazy last weeks of school!), allow students to work on a page of their choice. It’s fun, creative, great writing practice, AND meaningful!

6. TEN DAY BALLOON COUNTDOWN

This is such a genius idea! First, blow up 10 colorful balloons. Inside each balloon, place a slip of paper with a fun prize written on it. All students will receive that day’s prize the next day! Ideas include ice cream party, switching desks for the day, extra recess, slippers day, class game, etc.

Attach the balloons to a bulletin board. At the end of each day (during the last 10 days of school), pop one balloon as a class to learn of the prize to look forward to on the next day! Super fun!

7. SUMMER PACKETS

That summer slide is an awful thing. Invariably, I’d have parents email or call me, asking for some work their child could do over the summer months so that they didn’t lose the things they had learned (or possibly so they didn’t drive their parents crazy when they became bored).

That’s why I created a Summer Packet for each grade in grades 3, 4, and 5. (Read more about how to use these packets in this How to Stop the Summer Slide blog post.) Just print the booklet, place it into a folder or bind it into a booklet, and send it home with the child. It includes a summer journal and summer reading challenge. I suggest offering a small prize to each student who brings back the journal or reading challenge completed at the beginning of the next school year!

Click each image below to see the summer packet for grades 3, 4, and 5.

I hope you loved these end of the year activities and ideas! How do you end your school year? I’d love to hear your ideas, tips, and suggestions! I hope it is a wonderful ending to a wonderful school year!

SAVE ON PINTEREST FOR LATER!

Just save this pin to your Pinterest boards so you can come back to these ideas later!