17 Last Day of School Activities
With the end of the school year coming up, your students likely have plenty of energy and excitement. They’ll be itching to start their summer vacation, so you probably won’t try to introduce a new concept or start a project within the last few days.
As summer break looms closer, itâs helpful to have a few fun activities lined up to keep your students engaged and focused.
17 Fun Activity Ideas for the Last Day of School
The end of the school year involves trying to keep students from getting antsy or distracted during class time. Setting up some entertaining end of the year activities can make the last day or week of school fly by for you and your class. Here are 17 fun last day of school activities for students.
1. Memory Scrapbook
Your students will likely have plenty of completed artwork and assignments they saved throughout the school year. Bring out the art supplies and have them construct a scrapbook to include various keepsakes from the past year.
You can also get creative and have them draw a self-portrait, draw a picture of the classroom, write down their favorite memories or answer questions they can reflect on, such as, âWhat is the most interesting thing you learned this year?â This is an excellent virtual last day of school activity if you’re teaching students over the computer.
2. Treasure or Scavenger Hunt
A competitive scavenger or treasure hunt will surely help your students release their antsy energy and have fun with their friends. Pick some items around the classroom to hide or buy summer-themed items. Take your students outside for this game to make it even more challenging and allow you to spread out the items so you can make it an all-day event.
Have students work in teams to find all of the hidden items to win a grand prize. This game will encourage your students to work together and think critically to find everything, and it will also allow them to get out of the classroom and enjoy the fresh air on their last day.
3. Collaborative Puzzle
Buy a blank or solid color puzzle for your class to work on designing together. Give each student a piece or two and instruct them to write about a certain topic, such as their best memory or what theyâre looking forward to in the next school year.
Have them write on the pieces of their puzzles and put them together to commemorate the end of the school year. Take a picture of the puzzle and hand a copy to each student so they can look back on fond memories with their classmates.
4. Back to Back
For this activity, purchase plain T-shirts for all your students or ask them to each bring in one from home. Youâll also need felt tip or fabric markers. Have each student put on their plain shirt over their school clothes and instruct them to go around the room and write nice comments about each other on each otherâs backs.
Your students can freely move around the room and write messages to their friends, draw designs or describe their favorite thing about each of their peers on the T-shirts.
When theyâre finished, have your students remove their autographed T-shirts and read all their messages. This activity allows you to spread positivity and joy among your students and give everyone an uplifting feeling on their last day.
5. Farewell Spelling Bee
If youâre looking for an activity thatâs fun yet educational, try a summer-themed spelling bee! Have your students take turns going up to the front of the class to spell words that will remind them of summer vacation, such as skateboard, popsicle, firework, sunscreen and so on. Depending on their age, you can make the words less or more advanced.
If you have several students who excel at spelling, it might take a while to get down to the winner, so you may want to have a prize they can compete for to make it more exciting. Or, you might want to break your class up into teams to make it more of a collaborative effort, although you may want to use more challenging words.
6. Yearbook Signing Party
The last day of school is perfect for signing yearbooks. Telling your students ahead of time that youâre going to dedicate the last day of the school year to signing yearbooks can prevent them from doing it when youâre trying to wind down lessons in the last few weeks.
Plan for a big yearbook signing party with snacks and music and let your students mingle and sign autographs all day long. At the end of the day, have your students sit at their desks and read over their signatures and comments just before they head out on summer vacation.
7. Crazy Dress Day
Let your students get creative and silly with a crazy dress day for the last day of school. Tell your students to come in their craziest outfits, such as neon suspenders, mismatched socks or a funny costume. If you choose this activity, remind students to still adhere to the schoolâs dress code.
If your students are in middle school or high school, go over what kind of crazy items they can wear that are still appropriate. To make it a fun competition, consider getting together with the other teachers and competing for the craziest dressed class, or do it among your own class and give the silliest-dressed person a prize!
8. Teacher Team Up
Whether youâre teaching elementary or middle school, your students will love the opportunity to move around into other classrooms and try various fun last day of school activities. For a fun activity that gets the whole school involved, try teaming up with the other teachers in your vicinity and have each one select a game or two that will appeal to all grade levels involved.
Once you complete your own activities in your classroom with your students, rotate the kids throughout the participating classrooms so they can engage in various activities and mingle with other students in the process.
9. Write Letters to Next Year’s Students
A great way to tie up the end of the school year is to have your students write notes, letters and tips to next year’s incoming class. These notes can include funny tips or serious advice for the next class as a way to help them understand your classroom rules and expectation from their own peers.
For instance, your student’s notes might say something like âDo not chew gum in class” or âAlways sit in your assigned seat.” Perhaps they may simply contain helpful information about what they learned in your class and what the next group can expect as they enter their new grade. On the next first day of school, have your new class read over the notes and discuss how it makes them feel for the year ahead.
10. Continuing Story
This fun activity requires your students to use some critical thinking skills and imagination to ad-lib their way to create a hilarious story. First, select a general topic that will be easy for everyone to follow, such as âMy Summer Adventureâ or âHow My Dog Ate My Homework.” Get a pad of paper or open up a document on your computer and write down the title you chose for the story.
Then, pass it around to each student and give them 60 seconds to add one or two sentences to the story. To make the story funnier, tell your students they are only allowed to read the previous two sentences before writing their own. Once theyâre done, read the entire story to the class out loud and see what literary rollercoaster they came up with!
11. Movie Day
You canât go wrong with a classic movie day! Have your students list some of their favorite movies and get the class to vote on the best one. You can give them several options if youâd like the movie to be more educational.
Get some popcorn and candy ready, turn off the lights and let your students enjoy a fun, relaxing last day watching a movie everyone will love. This activity is perfect if your last week of school happens to bring some unexpected gloomy or rainy weather and prevents your students from going outside.
12. Field Day
If your students have tons of energy throughout the last week of school, a field day is the ideal activity. While this option takes much more preparation and effort, it will allow your students to get out of the classroom and into the fresh air.
You and the other teachers can arrange games such as:
- A relay race
- Kickball
- A chalk design contest
- Water balloon toss
- An obstacle course
- Tug of war
- A three-legged race
Have the different classes compete against each other for a thrilling day of outdoor games and fun.
13. Draw Your Favorite Memory
Creating a memorable piece of art for the last day of school means your students can take home their masterpieces and remember the good times they had throughout the year while on summer break. Instruct your students to pick a favorite memory from the past year, such as when you had a special guest speaker, when you decorated the classroom for the holidays or when you hosted the school talent show.
Tell them to depict their memory on paper, but give them total creative freedom. Set out all the art supplies and see what they come up with! Who knows, they may use regular markers and crayons or decide to build a diorama of their favorite memory with construction paper and glue.
14. Charades
End the school year with plenty of laughs at a game of charades. This classic game is fun for all ages and helps build communication skills and teamwork. Write down a bunch of topics that are age-appropriate for your students to be able to act out, mix them up and put them in a bowl.
You can include a mix of summer-themed subjects, like swimming, and some educational topics like reading and writing. Designate one student at a time to go up to the front of the class and choose a slip of paper or create teams that compete against one another. Sit back, relax and get ready to laugh as your students attempt to act out the clues and work as a team to win the game!
15. Learning Game Centers
There are plenty of ways to make the last day of school fun and memorable for your students while still incorporating learning. Organizing learning game centers around your classroom is a great way to keep your students engaged â and the best part is, they wonât even realize theyâre learning!
Put together four or five educational games, such as memory flash cards or word association games. Split up your students into small groups and create little stations for each game. Set a timer and give every group a chance to play the game before you give the signal and tell them to change to the next one. Have them rotate around the room until every student has played all the games.
16. Pizza or Ice Cream Party
When you make it to the last day of school, thereâs plenty of reason to celebrate! If you donât quite feel up to putting elaborate games or activities together, you can always throw a pizza or ice cream party. Your students will love getting to spend the day relaxing with their friends and eating delicious food.
You can even set up a sundae bar and let your students create their own ice cream masterpieces. Luckily, this type of activity is one that you and other staff members can enjoy too! Feel free to dig into your pizza and ice cream and let the day fly by. Before you know it, the bell will ring, and youâll be off on your summer adventure.
17. Self-Introduction With Their New Teacher
As your students prepare to go on summer break, they’ll also be preparing to enter a new grade. To help your students and their new teacher get to know each other better, have them write a letter to their new teacher so they can introduce themselves.
After they write their names, you can have them write their favorite hobbies and interests, favorite school subject, favorite book, favorite thing they learned during this past school year and what they’re most looking forward to in the new school year. Giving these letters to your new teacher will help them understand their students better before they even step foot in their classroom and help them create a smooth experience when they come back to school.
Get Your School Supplies From The Classroom Store
Summer will be here before you know it, but you still might not have any plans for the last week or day of school. At The Classroom Store, we carry all the fun materials and supplies you need to make your last day filled with activity or set you up for the new school year.
Whether you need office supplies, notebooks, instructional materials, art materials or furniture, we’re ready to help you stock your classroom for students of many ages. Browse our products today to see what we have in store for your classroom or contact us if you have any questions.