Woohoo! It’s finally here—the last day of school. While most kids are going to be super excited, others may have mixed emotions about the end of the school year. Make your last hours together extra special with some of these fun last-day-of-school activities, and send your students into summer with fantastic memories of the school year!
1. Read end-of-year books to bring your class closure
There’s no better way to end the school year than—you guessed it—story time!
Try it: Best End-of-Year Books To Read To Your Students
2. Reflect on the school year
Ask students to write and/or draw their reflections on the school year, including what they improved on, what they liked, and what was important to them.
3. Hold a rousing trivia contest
Kids love a good round or two of trivia, and online sources make prepping a trivia contest easy and customizable. Check out our huge compilation of trivia questions.
4. Take on STEM challenges
STEM challenges make terrific meaningful and fun team activities for the last day of school. Try building a DIY roller coaster from drinking straws, or check out lots of other STEM challenges here.
Try it: STEM Activities for Kids of All Ages and Interests
5. Conquer an escape room
Kids love escape rooms, so they’re great activities for the last day of school. Theme yours to what you’ve learned during the year, facts about different classmates, or summer activities.
6. Dance up a storm
If you’re looking for fun last-day-of-school activities that get kids moving, hold an epic dance party! Consider having each class submit a song selection for the playlist. They could even choreograph their own special dance moves for when their song comes on!
7. Play bingo
What better way to wrap up the school year than a round of bingo? It’s fast, it’s fun, and it builds community.
8. Play board games
Whether it’s cooperation, strategy, academics, or just fun, there’s a board game for that. And what could be more perfect for the last day of school?
Try it: 52 Most-Loved Educational Board Games
9. Jot down memories
Give your students a moment to preserve their strongest impressions of the school year. Send a copy home and make a copy of each one to create a book for next year’s students to look at in the fall.
10. Have a water day
Celebrate the last day of school with a splash! Check out the super-fun activities at the link below. And, of course, what better way to end water day than with Popsicles?
Try it: Splash-tastic Water Activities
11. Host a poetry slam
Slam poetry is a unique form of expression that allows students to perform meaningful works of poetry in front of their peers. Give students a heads up and time to practice before the last day of school, then hold the slam as the culminating event.
Try it: Slam Poetry Examples
12. Play old-school recess games
These oldies but goodies to play with your kids on the last day of school will leave you feeling nostalgic for sure.
Try it: Old-School Recess Games
13. Make a mini-yearbook
If your school doesn’t offer yearbooks, this is a perfect way for students to record their friends’ autographs and well-wishes. Print out multiple copies and staple them together for each student to take home.
14. Honor every student
End-of-year awards have been around forever. But instead of making it a competition for a chosen few, here’s a way to include everyone. Recognize academic and social-emotional skills with these fun colorful certificates.
Try it: Free Printable Awards for Students
15. Head off on a virtual field trip
Just didn’t have time (or money) to get around to that last great field trip you had in mind? No problem! Get out the popcorn and kick back with a fun and interesting virtual field trip.
Try it: Amazing Virtual Field Trips
16. Play a word blank game
Pair students up to create their own story, Mad Libs style. Not only fun but a good grammar review as well!
17. Tag a graffiti wall
Graffiti walls are an awesome way to encourage kids’ creativity. Why not give them free rein to record their favorite memories from the school year on the last day of school?
Try it: Engaging Ways To Teach With Graffiti Walls
18. Write a letter to next year’s students
Your students have learned a lot this year. Now it’s time to pass it on to the next group. This letter to next year’s students gives your kids the opportunity to offer sage advice to help your next group have the best year ever.
19. Go on a scavenger hunt
Scavenger hunts are not only educational, they’re a blast! Click the link below for creative scavenger hunts to use in the classroom or send home with students for the summer.
20. Set up a writers workshop
Try this activity if your group loves writing. Set up writing station directions such as: Create a scene from a play, write a story about you as the president, write a poem about your favorite season, create and describe your own brand-new holiday, etc. For extra fun, have a different snack at each station, and every so often take a break to share a few stories the students have produced.
Try it: Writing Prompts
21. Try these “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” activities
*EMBED WAT YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ulCw3UaIgEA
Dr. Seuss’ inspiring book Oh, the Places You’ll Go! is an end-of-year favorite for many teachers. Use it to inspire your students to think about their goals and possible pathways for the future. For this idea and more, check out the link below.
Try it: Best “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” Activities
22. Make bookmarks
As kids head off for summer, reading a ton of books is hopefully high on their to-do list. Get them excited for it by making some of these adorable bookmarks.
Try it: Adorable DIY Bookmarks
23. Color “last day of school” signs
These adorable last day of school signs make a fun coloring sheet early in the last week. Snap a pic of each student holding their sign for your own classroom memory book. Then, send them home to families to take their student’s pictures for the last day of school.
24. Have a movie day
The promise of a movie on the last day of school is a great motivator to inspire the best behavior from your students those last few weeks. Let your kids choose the movie, and on the last day, supply the popcorn and enjoy!
Try it: Spectacular Summer Movies for Kids
25. Tell jokes
Celebrate the last day of school with a few laughs!
Try it: Summer Jokes for Kids
26. Compare and contrast
There are lots of highs and lows in the course of a school year. Use this free worksheet to help your students put the year in perspective.
27. Plant the seed for service learning
Your students are going to (hopefully) have some free time on their hands this summer. Encourage them to spend at least a portion of it helping others. Better yet, challenge them to (and even join them in) a service challenge.
Try it: Meaningful Service Learning Ideas for Kids and Teens
28. Start an end-of-year tradition
Start a new tradition that you love to end the school year with. We were inspired by a teacher who took snips of his beloved spider plant and started new plants to give to each of his students at the end of the year.
Try it: Teacher’s Plant Tradition
29. Play math games
One sneaky way to keep the learning going, even on the last day of school, is with fun and engaging math games. Set up stations and let kids choose which ones they’d like to play with their friends.
Try it: Math Games for Every Grade Level
30. Try a summer word search
The last day of school is a celebration—fun games, lots of social time, and reminiscing. Let your students team up and try their hand at this fun word search puzzle.
31. Go outside and play!
It may not officially be field day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a few of your students’ favorite activities on the last day of school! Take a peek at the list below and revisit a few of your favorites.
32. End the year with a little self-love
Help students build important social-emotional skills with these insightful activities.
33. Try some drawing tutorials
How-to drawing activities are always a big hit with kids. Check out all our tutorials below.
34. Set them up for summer reading
Share this free roundup of our must-reads for kids. Print the list off and send it home with students to give them inspiration for summer reading.
Learn more: 100 Famous Children’s Books Every Child Should Read
35. Do yoga
Have a last-day-of-school yoga party. Push all the desks to the sides, or better yet go outside. Make it easy with the free printable cards below.
Try it: Easy Yoga Poses
36. Make a summer bucket list
Engage students in creating a bucket list of things they want to do this summer. Brainstorm fun activities, mini field trips, learning activities, and, of course, reading!
37. Hold relay races
Relay races rely on teamwork. Celebrate the teamwork your students have accomplished over the year with a few fun races. You could even make it a competition using our free field day scorecards.
Try it: Creative Relay Race Ideas To Try
Be sure to grab our free printable last-day-of-school activities bundle.
This free bundle includes many of the printable activities mentioned above. Get it now to make the last day of school a breeze! Just follow the link below and fill out the form to get them.
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