The day you’ve been waiting for all year is almost finally here. The last day of school. It’s one of the best days of the school year but it is also one of the most stressful too. The students are not overly interested in learning and following the rules, and you just want to finish cleaning and packing up your classroom. What activity should you do on the last day of school? If you have some freedom and not required to do graduation or go to a school assembly, then engage your students with one of these 5 activities for the last day of school.
Last Day of School Activity # 1: Reader’s Theatre
One of the five activities for the last day of school that you and your class can do is to perform a Reader’s Theatre Play. Back when I was a first-grade teacher, we would spend the last day of school doing a reader’s theatre performance for parents. A few weeks prior, each teacher would assign students into groups and a reader’s theatre play. Each teacher would have a few groups and the groups would spend some time each day practicing their play.
On the day of the performace, we would use the stage in the cafeteria and each group would perform their reader’s theatre play in front of the other students and parents. Most students enjoyed getting up in front of their friends and parents and performing. It was a great way to close out the year. When the performance was finished, each class would have an end of the year party back in the classroom.
Last Day of School Activity # 2: Teddy Bear Picnic
One year when I was a kindergarten teacher, we celebrated the end of the school year with a teddy bear picnic. Students would bring in a stuffed animal to school. The students would spend the early morning introducing their stuffed animal to the class. Then they would write a letter to their stuffed animal. After the letter writing, they would read a book to their stuffed animal. Finally, we had a picnic. We all went outside with our stuffed animals and had a picnic. If there was time, we would also take our stuffed friends to the playground.
Last Day of School Activity # 3: Game Day
I just happened to think of game day, the year when I had to move classrooms. I had to be out pretty quick, so I had many things packed already. I needed an activity that wouldn’t require a lot of materials, so I sent a letter home asking for students to bring in their board games from home. It turned out to be a hit. Most students brought in games that can be played in small groups. After so much time, the students would rotate to a new game.
Activity # 4: Centers and Outdoor Time
Students love to be able to do free centers, which is something they don’t get to do very often. For the last day of school, I open up all of the centers, and the students got to pick their group members and which centers they would like to go to. They love having the option to do what they want and also spending more time at each center.
Once center time was over, I would take them out to the playground, and they would get to have extra time on the playground. As an extra bonus, we would take our lunches and eat outside with our friends.
Activity # 5: Pack Time
In my school, every Friday, we rewarded the students with good behavior with Pack Time. Each teacher was in charge of a fun activity for 30 minutes, and one teacher was in charge of time out. The students would pick the activity that they would like to do. Some of the activitiy options were: a movie, extra recess time, centers, reading, playdough, and an art activity. The students with the best behavior would pick first and there were only so many slots per teacher.
For the last day of school, most of the day was spent at pack time. The students would rotate to each teacher for 45 minutes and enjoy that special activity. Students would really enjoy spending time doing a fun activity with one teacher and then switiching. The last hour of the day was spent in your own classroom having an end of the year party.
I hope some of these activities for the last day of school inspired you to try something new in your classroom. If you decide to try one of these activities above, please share in the comments below. I would love to hear all about it. If you’re looking for some great end of the year read alouds, then make sure you check out my blog post all about my favorite end of the year books. I hope you have a great end of the school year!
End-of-the-Year Activities for Your Classroom
Are you still looking for more ideas? Check out the FREE Reading Graphic Organizer today! This tool can help students identify the main idea, story elements, and the beginning, middle, and end of stories. It can be used with any story you want to introduce in your classroom, and best of all, it’s FREE!
