It’s almost the time again…SUMMER TIME! Every year I like to do some sort of “Countdown to the End of the Year” type thing. This tends to keep the kids on good behavior {because you can bribe them a bit if they aren’t doing their best} and keeps them entertained as the school year winds down.
This year I did a balloon display. We’d pop one at the end of each day and learn what we’d get to do tomorrow!
My balloons defaulted at some point during the countdown, so we made a quick switch to stickies on the board.
Here are some of the things we LOVED doing in our class {not all are “educational”, but most could be changed to be if you needed to}.
{ONE}
Paper Airplane Contest
Here’s a cute video that teaches the kids how to make a dart paper airplane.
Here’s the link!
After, race em and see who wins 🙂
{TWO}
Write with a Pen Day
What child doesn’t LOVE to write in pen!? They just DIE over this.
{THREE}
SOUND DAY
Exploring sound is a great way to end the year, since it’s usually noisy 😉
{FOUR}
Bubble Day
Bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish…
We use Babbling Abby’s Busy Bodies Unit for this.
You’ll need different types of gum and bubbles too!
We got to blow bubbles with gum, taste gum, blow bubbles with a wand, and tons more like graphing and writing.
{FIVE}
Art Day
Kids love art time! You can do just about any type of art you’d like for this day. You can have it accompany anything you are learning as well.
In my class, we’ve been a bit obsessed with tissue paper art {Click here to hear more}.
It’s a quiet and time consuming art piece that the kids love!
{SIX}
Bring a Stuff Animal to School
We invited some pals into the classroom. I had the kiddos bring in their favorite stuff animal {or action figure}. We taught them all day long and even took them to our Daily 5 stations.
{SEVEN}
Chalk Day
Free for all chalking! Or you can have them draw shapes, find parallel lines or right angles, or even draw a picture of something you are studying. As long as they have chalk, they’ll do anything you want 😉
{EIGHT}
Measurement Olympics
The creator of Measurement Olympics, Mrs. Amy Lemons, is brilliant! Check out what she did here. We had a little pom pom fuzzy to kick, flick, blow, and so much more. We started at some cones, did the event, then measured up! I made a quick little events sheet so the kids could record their data, but they can always just jot it down in a notebook. What a hit it was!
{NINE}
Glow Sticks
These little babies come in handy {thank you Dollar Tree}! We used these to “read in the dark” and watch a movie!
Just be careful, the cheapy ones tend to burst open, yuck!
{TEN}
Summer Birthdays Party
Those poor babies who have summer birthdays…never get celebrated at school {like me :(}! This year, I decided to throw one big party for all those summer birthdays! I had the parents bring in what they’d want to donate for their child’s birthday and we had a big bash of cupcakes, cookies, chips, drinks, ice cream, and more! We even played games! I think this birthday party was better than any other one we’d celebrated throughout the year. It makes those summer babies feel loved.
{ELEVEN}
Beach Ball Autographs
Have parents donate beach balls {or stock up at the end of the summer at Target or Michael’s when they are on sale for under 50 cents}. Write their name in a cute way, have the kids blow them up, give em all a sharpie, and let em go!
Hint: some kids can’t blow up beach balls 😉
{TWELVE}
Red Carpet Awards
Love love love this idea! I’ve seen it a million places now, but originally I think Reagan from Tunstall’s Teaching Tidbits thought of it {here}.
We do Honor Roll awards in an assembly all together, but this is a way you can do the fun/silly awards with just your class. I use Gladys from Teaching in High Heels‘ awards, but I’ve seen some super fun candy awards which I’m sure the kids would love.
helpful hint: make them feel even more special by making those easy graduation caps! I saw them from Kristen at Easy Teaching Tools and fell in love. They were pretty easy to make. All you need are some sentence strips and card stock or construction paper. You may want a glue gun too, it makes it go much faster.
{THIRTEEN}
Popcorn/Slumber Party
This year, on our very last school day, we had a “Popcorn Bar” and a slumber party! Parents donated the pre popped popcorn baggies and some “toppings” like M&Ms, sour patch kids, and skittles. We mixed it in our bags and snuggled around the room watching movies 🙂
Happy end of the year!
Jamie knefely says
What great ideas!! Thanks for sharing!
Jamie
Jen Cullen//Sparkling in Second says
Well we have pinterest and other bloggers to thank for it too 😉 But you're welcome 🙂
Laura V. ~ A Grace-Filled Classroom says
What a fun way to end the year! I would love to be a student in your class. thanks for sharing all these great ideas, Jen.
Jen Cullen//Sparkling in Second says
You're too sweet Laura!
A Rocky Top Teacher says
So many adorable ideas! I just LOVE them all!
-Sarah
A Rocky Top Teacher
Jen Cullen//Sparkling in Second says
Thanks girl!
Easy Teaching Tools says
I must do these next year!
Jen Cullen//Sparkling in Second says
Seriously, some of them took up a good chunk of the day 😉 You know, for those days that just seem to go on FOREVER and you don't have any plans 😉
Bevin Reinen says
Hi Jen. Adorable EOY ideas! Just came across your blog and love the content (and look) of it. 🙂 I want to keep up with you so I'm going to add you to the 'Links I Love' page on my early ed. site.
TeachTrainLove.com Hope you're enjoying your summer so far!
-Bevin
Jen Cullen//Sparkling in Second says
Thanks! I'm so honored 🙂 I'll be checkin you out shortly 😉
Jennifer Elliott says
Found your clue!
Thanks for participating in the scavenger hunt! 🙂
Also, I absolutely adore your blog design!