Keep the End of the Year Stress-Free: Fun Activities for Elementary School
We know that as the school year winds down, teacher energy can also start to dwindle!
That’s why having easy-to-implement and engaging activities on hand at the end of the year is crucial. And you want to make sure you still are reviewing essential academics with your students, right?
This post is dedicated to helping elementary teachers in grades 1-3 navigate the end of the year with fun, stress-free ideas.
Let’s dive into some activities that will make those final weeks enjoyable for everyone.
CELEBRATIONS AND FUN
Class Awards Ceremony
Organize a fun awards ceremony at the end of of the year where each student receives a unique and positive award based on their personality or contributions to the class (e.g., “Kindness Champ,” “Amazing Artist Award,” “Kindness”) There are thousands of resources on Teachers Pay Teachers when you search “end of the year awards”, so there is likely sometime fun, free or affordable that would work for your class and your needs!
Memory Book Creation
Have students create memory books or scrapbooks reflecting on their favorite moments, lessons, and friendships from the school year. This can involve drawing, writing, and even adding photos or little souvenirs if available. Using blank paper is easy and free but you can always get fancier with templates and/or resources from around the web.
Class Awards Ceremony
Organize a fun end of the year awards ceremony where each student receives a unique and positive award based on their personality or contributions to the class (e.g., “Super Sharer Award,” “Amazing Artist Award,” “Kindness Champion Award”).
Outdoor Learning Activities
Take learning outside! Plan nature walks, outdoor math games (like measuring the playground), or read-alouds under a tree. This is a refreshing change of scenery and gets students moving.
STEM Challenges with an End-of-Year Twist
Try incorporating some STEM challenges that relate to the end of the year or summer, such as building a device to keep an ice cream cone cold or designing a way to transport “summer supplies.” Second graders at my school have a grade-level wide challenge to make a float for our mascot, the tiger (kids use a tiger figurine to test it out).
Advice Letters to Next Year’s Students
Every June, I had my second graders write a letter called “Dear Future Second Grader”. They would write letters to first graders, telling them about their favorite things about second grades and anything they could think of to get them excited for second grade and soothing any nervousness. They were SO terrific! I will give each first grader their letter on Move Up Day, which was usually the second to last day of school.
Keep reading to get tips for reviewing important skills at the end of the year!
Themed Review Days
Dedicate specific days at the end of the year to review key concepts from different subjects through engaging themes. For example, “Superhero Math Review Day” or “Ocean Adventure Reading Day”. First graders at my school do celebratory week of activities which also includes a student favorite “Camping Day”.
Student-Led Presentations or Projects
Allow students to choose a topic they enjoyed learning about during the year and create a short presentation or project to share with the class. This encourages review and builds confidence.
Collaborative Art Project
Have your students work on a large collaborative art project that the whole class contributes to. This could be a mural, a decorated banner, or individual pieces that combine to create a larger artwork. Art With Jenny K on Teachers Pay Teachers has terrific collaborative projects that make it easy!
Ready to Go Activities from Teachers Pay Teachers
Wouldn’t be it easy for you if you had ready-to-use activities and resources from Teachers Pay Teachers to incorporate into your phonics lessons or centers that already align with the science of reading? Theses resources have a lot to offer!
Key Features of these End of The Year Activities
- Comprehensive Coverage: Addresses a wide range of skills, including word problems, place value, arrays and beginning multiplication, grammar, writing skills, and more
- Differentiation Options: Includes various levels of difficulty to meet the needs of all learners.
- Hands-On Activities: Provides engaging tasks that require active participation.
- Answer Keys: Offers teachers easy grading and feedback.
- Versatility: Can be used in small groups, centers, or independently. Can also be sent home for summer practice!
Click on any of the covers below to find out more, and to save yourself time and stress at the busy end of the year!
Did you notice the ELA and Math Bundle? You can save 20% by grabbing this resource instead of buying the End Of Year/Summer Math and End of Year/Summer ELA resources separately – plus you get a free Summer Themed Antonyms Game for your class! An awesome activity for the last week or two of school! Take a look here!
Here are the links to check them out on Teachers Pay Teachers
- 2nd Grade End of the Year Math Review
- 2nd Grade Summer ELA packet with Writing and Reading Skills Practice
- 2nd grade Summer Math Packet
- End of the Year ELA and Math Activities Bundle
- End of the Year /Spring Writing Prompts
- 2nd grade Spring Themed Math Word Problems
Did you notice the ELA and Math Bundle? You can save 20% by grabbing this resource instead of buying the End Of Year/Summer Math and End of Year/Summer ELA resources separately – plus you get a free Summer Themed Antonyms Game for your class! An awesome activity for the last week or two of school! Take a look here!
Five Star Reviews:
Check out some teacher feedback – I know I always read feedback when I am looking for something, so let me share it so you don’t have to go on a hunt!
Feedback for the end of the year math review: “This was such a help last year at the end of the year when I had finished the students Math Book.“
And: “A fun way to review the skills taught throughout the year! Very engaging for the students.”
For the End of the Year/Summer ELA activities: “Great resource to send home with my class at the end of the year and for them to work on in the summer!”
And the Summer/End of the Year Activities “This was soooo cute and my students loved it during summer school!”
If you want to save, try the bundle of the end of the year/summer Math and ELA activities! You will save 20% by grabbing them all together over purchasing each one on their own! The are 150+ pages of practice so plenty of options to both use in class during the last month of school and to send home over the summer if you want to prevent the dreaded “summer slide”. Plus you get a free summer antonyms game to play with your class – great for the last week or two of school! Take a look here!
Other blog posts you may want to check out:
- Science of Reading Phonics Centers: Tips for Success
- How can Word Riddles Boost Phonics Skills?
- Tips for Teaching Capitalization and Punctuation
- Fun Must Have Phonics Resources for Grades 1 and 2
If you want to save this blog post, pin this image below! If you try any of the strategies, let me know!
Good luck with your week. You got this!!
