Top 10 Ways to Celebrate the End of the School Year

With the school year coming to a close, some educators are looking for fun and unique ways to celebrate all their students’ hard work. We’ve compiled a list of 10 creative ways to celebrate the end of the school year while maintaining a fun learning environment that gives students the perfect sendoff before summer.

Take students’ education out of the classroom with a field trip

We believe that education happens everywhere, so what better way to get kids learning and thinking towards the end of the year than with a fun-filled field trip? Take students to a local museum to learn about influential art, historical figures and events, and more. Make a pit stop at a planetarium so students can visualize the wonders of outer space while fostering a love for science.

If you want to have more of an outdoorsy field trip, try visiting a local park to study nature or do a fun scavenger hunt, or stopping by a local farmers market to learn about how food is grown and processed, while enjoying a yummy treat. Students will have a roarsome time learning about their favorite animals at the zoo or even a local petting zoo. The possibilities are endless when it comes to field trip fun!

Host a game day

We all know kids love to play games, so why not turn a day of learning into a day of fun educational games? Refresh students on vocabulary they learned throughout the year with vocabulary bingo, or play math bingo to practice addition and subtraction skills. You can even include fun prizes or cheap giftables like bookmarks, stickers, and more!

Pump students up for summer with free, summer-themed printables

Get students excited for summer while learning with fun (and free!) summer-themed printables. From creating a calendar to countdown to the end of the school year while learning basic calendar skills to a DIY phonics game, there’s tons of engaging activities that cover a variety of subjects and grade levels to keep students learning without even realizing it!

Keep the learning going while having fun with Summer Bridge Activities^®

A great way to get kids moving while learning essential skills is by using Summer Bridge Activities summer learning workbooks! Available for preschool–ninth grade in English and preschool–eighth grade in Spanish, each summer learning workbook features fun activities and games, fitness exercises, science experiments, and more that only take 15 minutes to complete a day. Flash cards are included in the back of each workbook, and colorful stickers are also included in the preK—fifth grade activity books to reward students on a job well done (or for fun, let’s be honest).

Summer Bridge® Essentials Backpacks are also jam-packed with activities, engaging children’s books, exercises, interactive games, and more―all in one backpack! Each grade-specific bundle features 2 nonfiction books, 2 fiction books, flash cards, and a Summer Bridge Activities Workbook carefully crafted in an easily portable drawstring bag that students will love to use even after school is out!

Have a music day

Warm up your vocal chords because learning’s about to get melodical. Music is a great way to bring students together, while also teaching them about rhythm, movement, and essential motor skills. If you play an instrument or like to sing, grab a guitar or set of keys and have the class sing along to some age-appropriate songs! If musical instruments aren’t your forte, turn to your favorite music streaming service for some quick and easily accessible musical fun. You can even create educational songs that help reinforce important concepts students will carry with them (and sing!) for years to come. The class will be moving and grooving in no time!

Put on a talent show

Talent shows are a great opportunity for students to exhibit their confidence, support and motivate others, as well as practice and showcase a specific skill set. Watch kids yo-yo, dance, sing, play an instrument, or crack a few jokes. You can even have students collaborate as a class to pick their favorite talent out of the group! Of course every student is a winner, so you can create unique awards to give each child recognition for sharing something special with the class.

Create a fun reflection journal or comic book

What better way to get the creative juices flowing than with some creative writing? Set up directions to help your students create their own journal or comic book where they can write about certain events that happened throughout the school year, their favorite memories, subject, the friends they’ve made, and more! Have your students draw pictures to go along with each memory they’re describing to make their own personal end-of-year book.

You can even have students create a superhero (or use themselves as their own superhero), pick a superpower of their choice, and write a story about saving math class, defeating the villain who tried to take away recess or their favorite school lunch, and other funny and creative school-related topics.

Have a storytime session

Bring the magic of reading to life with a fun storytime session! Have your students vote ahead of time on their favorite book(s) and read them aloud to the class. Leverage eBooks so kids can follow along and enjoy the colorful illustrations. Turn storytime into a popcorn session where students can interject and read sections, and choose other students to pick up where they left off!

At the end of each book, have your students engage in conversation about what they read. Who was their favorite character and why? What was their favorite part of the story? What lessons did they learn? This is a great way to let kids embrace their love for imagination, and also enhance their reading comprehension skills in a fun and inviting way that the whole class can enjoy.

Get kids moving outside with a Field Day

Enjoy a bit of fun in the sun with an outdoor Field Day! It can be as simple as having a jumping jack competition, playing Simon Says, or even a jump rope competition! Students can also participate in silly games like who can hop on one foot the longest, sprint the fastest, or hula hoop the longest! Have your kids run in place, log roll, or the ever-so-popular water bottle flip trick! You can even provide t-shirts for all the students to decorate and craft themselves to wear during the Field Day festivities. There’s tons of ways to keep kids active while learning, just be sure they have the equipment they need ahead of time, and make sure it involves games and activities that keep everyone safe and out of harm’s way.

Host an awards ceremony

A great way to build confidence and inclusion in the classroom is to celebrate every student’s achievements! Start by awarding each student with a unique celebratory certificate or award that they can hang on the fridge at home. Awards can vary from “most organized” to “participation award”, or even the “most positive attitude” to silly awards like “class clown” or “most talented singer.” Every student will feel special and included, and feel recognized for a skill set—no matter how unique!

You can also have students vote ahead of time for top awards such as “most studious,” “best sharer,” “best mathlete,” or “most artistic” to incorporate class participation. This is a great way to have students recognize and motivate one another for positive attributes, no matter how diverse your classroom may be.

There are so many ways you can make the end of the year feel special for your students! From educational games to creative outlets, whichever idea you choose will be sure to excite and engage your entire classroom. How will you send off your students for summer?