The end of the year is such a fun time in school. While it is super fun, it can be stressful for teachers trying to end the year on a high note and get all of their grading done. Keeping the kids entertained yet contained proves to be a challenge, but doesn’t have to be. There are some great activities you can prep for them to make this year memorable. Keep reading to learn about several fun activities to implement during the last few days of the school year. 

Teaching Kids to Unplug over the Summer

Kids (and adults) easily get sucked into their devices. It’s so easy to get caught up in a game or social media. I love using picture books to show students the importance of stepping away from technology as much as possible. 

Some great books to read are Unplugged by Steve Antony and When Charlie McButton Lost Power by Suzanne Collins. Reading these stories helps kids visualize and understand how important going outside and playing other games can be.

To learn more about these books and some fun activities to do with your students, read Teaching Kids About Limiting Screen Time Through Picture Books. You’ll find some great ideas as well as some simple crafts. One of which is mentioned below!

Read Unplugged and Complete a Craft

The book Unplugged by Steve Antony is a super cute way to get kids excited about summer and all the things they can do outside. It encourages children to get outside and be unplugged from technology as much as possible. 

After reading the adorable story, help students brainstorm some fun things they can do off of their devices. There may be some fun ideas students share that others never thought of. Make an anchor chart or list on the board for them to refer to. Then, let them make their own cute Robot Craft and discuss how they want to unplug during summer. 

Celebrate Students with a Golden Award

Students deserve to know how amazing they are! these Golden Awards are a fun way to remind them of how spectacular they are each and every day. The awards are superlatives that you can assign to your students. There are 60 different award choices to choose from as well as an editable template if those 60 don’t work for you!

The awards are a fantastic gift for the kids on the last day of school or at an end of year ceremony. Parents will love seeing what their kids are given and the kids will cherish them forever. I laminate mine so the kids think they are super cool!

If you don’t want to give the kids full size awards, print the badge or necklace award options! Those are a fun alternative. Kids will also love GOLDEN pencils if you can find them or make them on your own using gold paint.

Check out all of the fun ways you can use these awesome awards HERE! I show you a few fun ways to print the awards through a video.

Super Fun End of Year Activities

If you are looking for some exciting ways to keep the kids engaged during those last few days, try some of these ideas. I go into more detail in my Super Fun End of Year Activities Post, but here are the basics! 

• Yum Yum What’s Your Favorite Flavored Gum – In this activity, students are given different flavors of gum and asked to decide which is their favorite. It’s a fun way to enjoy some gum and practice skills with charts and graphs. As an extension, ask students to use nouns, verbs, and adjectives with their experience. Kids always remember this activity for years to come.
• Balloon People Creative Writing – With this activity, students create their own balloon people using a real balloon and other craft materials. Using a booklet, they detail their balloon person by themselves or with a partner. A fun way to extend this is to have two students record a conversation held between their balloon people and share it with the class. 
• Simply Sudsy Activity with Bubbles – Students use a straw, bubbles, and other materials to blow different variations of bubbles. Other materials include a regular bubble wand and a sock. After blowing the bubbles with all of the tools, they record their observations of the size and quantity of the different bubbles. This can be done independently or in small groups.

End of Year Reviews

Last but not least, I have to include my End of Year Reviews. I have review packets for kindergarten, first, and second grade. The materials are super easy to prep and will help make your grading periods much easier. Take a peek at the post to see all the different review packs you can benefit from.

Grab a FREE Sample of the Review Activities by clicking here!

I hope a combination of these fun activities helps you get through the last few days of school!