You are SO close to Summer break! You and your students have worked hard all year and it’s time to CELEBRATE! I want to share with you some of my favorite ideas and activities to do at the end of the school year. You will find engaging activities, bulletin board ideas, countdowns, awards, and student gift ideas that will keep your students busy up until the very last day!

Ice Cream Challenge

It’s hot outside and what sounds better than ice cream?! Ice cream goes so well with the end of the year! The end of the year is also a great time to review all math standards! With this ice cream challenge, students earn parts of their ice cream sundae or cone by correctly completing a variety of math tasks. Each time students correctly complete a math task, they can check or color in the ice cream sundae part they earned! I start the challenge a few weeks before the end of the school year. It is a great way to keep your students engaged to the very last school day! Once the challenge is complete, your students will enjoy their ice cream sundaes that they earned!

Throughout the challenge students will earn their bowl or cone, spoon, ice cream, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, whip cream, sprinkles and a cherry for their ice cream sundae! You can use all or a select few! I promise, you’re students will LOVE this!

Student Awards

DONUT forget to celebrate! The end of the year is such a great time to celebrate student achievements, especially after taking all those end of the year assessments. Why not celebrate their hard work with DONUTS? This year was the first year we had our very own Donut Awards and my kids LOVED it! It was very easy to set up too! I printed and laminated the Donut Awards banner. I hung this up on the dry erase board in front of the classroom. I printed out the student awards and picked up some donuts at the store. That’s it! I made sure everyone received an award and with these editable awards, it allows you to customize them to fit your students. If donuts aren’t your thing, try Fiesta Awards! Chips and salsa would go great with these awards!

Beach Party Summer Countdown

Are you looking for a fun way to count down those final 10 days of school? A Beach Party Countdown is a fun way to do just that! Each day, students will complete an activity based on the letters from the words “Beach Party”. On the last day of the countdown, celebrate with a beach party. During our Beach Party, students rotate through different beach themed stations. You can find a list of the stations below. These stations are part of the Beach Party Summer Countdown! I was able to find most of the items for the Beach Party at my local dollar store.

Countdown Activities
B- Bubble Day (bubbles outside)
E- Eat Lunch Outside or Eat Lunch in the Classroom
A- Activity Day (any activity of your choice)
C- Chalk Day (sidewalk chalk)
H- Hat Day (wear a hat to school)

P- Popsicle Party (eat popsicles)
A- Art Time (any art project or craft of your choice)
R- Recess (extra recess)
T- Take a Book Outside (read outside)
Y- Yay! It’s Beach Party Day!

Beach Party Stations
1.Sand Yogurt Parfaits
2.Lei Necklace Making
3.Summer Bucket List
4.Popsicle Decorating
5.Read on a Beach Towel
6.Paint a Beach Ball (paper plate)
7.Rainbow Fish Craft
8.Beach Puzzles-There are a variety of puzzles included
9.Beach Bucket Craft
10.Build a Sandcastle- STEM activity

End of the Year Summer Bookmarks

I love sending my students off to Summer with a personalized bookmark and a book. A personalized bookmark is such a simple, inexpensive, and special gift to give to your students. I also like to write a little note to my students on the back of the bookmark. I like to pair the bookmark with a book. I try to use my Scholastic points to get these books for free or at a discounted price. This is a great way to encourage Summer reading!

End of the Year Writing Craftivity

The school year is filled with SWEET memories! I love to celebrate the end of the school year with this adorable Lemonade Writing Craftivity. Students write a few of their favorite memories from the year on the lemons and then turn those ideas into a writing that will go under the mason jar. I love hanging these cute mason jars in the hallway for an end of the year display.

Sip, Sip, Hooray!

Cheers to the last day…no really, CHEERS! You made it! There are so many reasons to celebrate your students at the end of the year. I love this quick, easy, and inexpensive gift idea to give to students. You can easily add the tags to a straw or drink of your choice. I’ve used crazy straws in the past and my kids LOVED them! I purchased mine from Amazon and can be found HERE. You can also find the FREE tags HERE.

I hope you found some activities to help you prepare for the end of the school year! It can be a crazy, busy time, but don’t forget to cherish these moments. You only have a few more days with your sweet kiddos. HAPPY SUMMER!

End of the Year Ideas and Activities