You did it! You’ve finally reached that magical time called “the End of the Year!” 

Both teachers and students wait all l year long for this special time, and for the most part, we’re all pretty happy when the calendars flip to the final weeks in the classroom. I know I don’t have to tell you, however, that these last weeks of school can also get a little wacky.  

Things like field trips, assemblies, last-minute standardized tests, and more, can make those last days and weeks tricky to plan for.  Not to mention the fact that students’ attention spans are rapidly shrinking as the siren song of summer grows ever louder! 

Wondering how to fill your final weeks with fun, easy-to-implement activities that will hold students’ attention and still ensure that some meaningful learning gets accomplished? Look no further than this post!

Today, we’re sharing FIVE End of Year Activities that will keep students engaged, happy, and learning all the way until the very last day!

1.  Wax Museum

This is one of my very favorite activities to do at the end of the year because kids always love it, and it can be as low-key or in-depth as you want.  It’s perfect if you teach Social Studies, but can also be used with literary characters, famous scientists, and more!   

First, assign a famous historical or literary figure to each of your students.  You could also let them choose their person if you’d like.  This is a great time to review individuals that you’ve studied over the course of the school year!   

Allow students to do some light research about their famous person.  Then, ask students to create a short speech introducing themselves and sharing basic facts. Students can then make a poster, if you wish, and/or dress up in costume.  Finally, invite another class or even parents to visit your class wax museum, and let the fun begin!

These presidential Research Pennants would work great with this activity. With pennants for 8 different presidents, your students have some excellent historical figures to choose from! Of course, this George Washington version is always a favorite. 

 Students are provided with a planning sheet to help guide students through their research.  This template would help cut down on questions from students about what to include in their presentation since the topics are already identified for them.  Finally, students use scissors and markers to create a large picture pennant of their president that would be perfect to display in your class wax museum.

2.  Virtual Field Trips

The last weeks of school are the perfect time to take your students on the many awesome virtual field trips you can find on the web! 

Virtual field trips offer an opportunity to explore other parts of the country or even the world that students may never get a chance to see in real life! Or maybe, you’ll inspire students to embark on their own actual adventures to these amazing places someday!

You can take students on a virtual trip to George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, visit Yellowstone National Park,  the White House, the Eiffel tower, and more! 

3.  FlipGrid Fun

Have you tried using Flipgrid yet? It’s completely free, easy to use, and a fun, useful tool for students to work with in the classroom.  In short, Flipgrid is a platform where teachers can post questions and students can respond in video format. You could use Flipgrid for all sorts of purposes in the classroom, but let’s talk here are some end-of-year activities that your students can do with this tech tool:

• Remember When?: Prompt students to reflect on this school year.  What was their favorite memory of your class?
• Topic Review: Recap the topics you studied in class this year.  For example, for Social Studies, assign each student a historical event you covered this year and ask the to briefly summarize it
• Advice for Next Year: Let your students record advice to the students who will be in your class next year.  What are some great tips for success?
• Act it Out:  Let your students create scenes that depict a moment in history, or a main event from a story you read in class together, or a book they’ve read on their own.

There are so many end-of-year possibilities with Flipgrid!

Team Building Activities

The last two activities we’ll discuss fall under the umbrella of “team building” or collaboration. We tend to think of team-building activities as something to do at the beginning of the year, but they definitely have a place at the end of the year, too! We want these final days to be special for our students.  We want them to have happy memories, and feel a sense of camaraderie and community with their class.  Additionally, we all know that behavior and discord can crop up when kids are getting burnt out at the end of the year, so reinforcing teamwork and providing some opportunities for physical movement is important, too!

4. Escape Rooms

This Team Building Escape Room is a perfect activity to keep kids busy but actively learning and problem-solving at the end of the year. Students will break into teams, come up with a team name (directions included), then embark on a treasure hunt around the room, solving puzzles to unlock clues as they go! 

This is a no-prep, print-and-go activity, so it’s perfect to use at the end of the year when you are at the end of your rope when it comes to planning anything that appears complicated! 

5. Collaborative Posters

Collaborative posters, like this Kindness poster, are a great relaxing activity to do with students any time of the year.  I like using them at the end of the school year after a long day of testing or after field day or an assembly.  After these kinds of events, students often need a brain break, but we still want them engaged in something meaningful.  Turn on some music and bust out the coloring supplies! Collaborative posters are designed so that each student colors their own block/piece of the poster. When everyone is done, they have to work as a team to put the puzzle back together.  The result is a beautiful poster that you can save and hang in your room at the start of next year—–that means one bulletin board will already be done at the start of the year (less work to do at the beginning of the year, yay!). 

The end of the year can be insanely busy for teachers, and also a challenge to plan for.  We hope these activities will make those final weeks fun, exciting, and meaningful as you head into sweet summertime!