Engaging End of the Year Activities for the Elementary Classroom
WHOOOHOO!! The school year with your sweet kids is wrapping up soon and that’s SO exciting. But, this was always the time of year when my lesson plans started to drag and felt more difficult to get creative with. I definitely wanted to keep the activities educational and engaging, but really wanted to plan lots of fun too so my students would leave for summer with lots of happy memories of our year together.
So, to make your end of the year lessons and days for YOU just a tiny bit easier, I pulled together a bunch of AMAZING end-of-the-year activities that are very simple for you, fun for them, and will keep everyone learning too. Come take a peek!
Worksheets are always a HUGE lifesaver when you need something fun for students to work on without a ton of prep work or planning. These no-prep worksheets make great centers activities, homework, sub plans, or early finisher work that will keep your little ones learning and loving it!
And these no-prep sub plans come with worksheets for literacy, math, writing, and even a couple games and crafts! There’s an editable letter to send home to parents or leave with a substitute teacher…just keeping these on hand in case you need a quick something is a simple way to relieve stress and feel prepared.
Need some fun, academic writing crafts for the end of the year or summertime? These editable writing crafts are exactly what you need! There are 6 unique summer-related writing prompts in a variety of formats included here and they make a great student-created bulletin board display, a no-prep writing activity for a sub day, or a simple way to wrap up the week with an art-filled writing time. So many possibilities!
Boom cards are such a popular way to learn right now! These summer-themed Boom cards are an awesome way for your little learners to practice a variety of literacy skills in a fun, digital way. You can assign these to students to complete during center time, during technology time, or as part of their daily or weekly assignments. There are cards included in this bundle letter identification, long vowels, short vowels, sight words, CVC words, CVCe words, and syllables.
4. Countdown to Summer Busy Book
Want a few fun ways to keep your little ones busy learning and playing this end of the year? This busy book is packed with fun activities for your toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarten learners! These engaging, printable activities for learning about the end of the school year and summer fit perfectly into Target blank books and are great for toddlers, preschoolers, and other learners practicing identifying and learning about different parts and icons of summer time.
There are 10 activities in color (AND B&W) and 8 additional activities in black and white included for you to create two different kinds of books about the end of the year. There are black and white versions of every activity so you can save on ink if necessary!
There pages to practice identifying summer objects, matching pictures, finding objects in books, coloring, identifying letters, fine motor skills, identifying shapes, tracing, identifying beginning sounds, counting, identifying emotions, letter game boards, and "countdown to summer" pages to countdown to summer time!
CLICK HERE to grab your copy!
5. Task Cards
Sending students off to work with task cards independently is a great way to encourage independence and understand what they know. There are a few fun options for this kind of activity too!
OPTION 1: Use a short part of one of the last days of school to let your students cut out their OWN sets of task cards. Print them out, pass them around, and give every kiddo a ziplock bag. Then, let your students spend time chatting quietly or watch an educational video while they prep their task card activities!
OPTION 2: Print out the task cards you want students to work on and compile them into a packet. Slap some simple instructions on the top for parents and students to prep at home, and then have them bring them back to school to work on OR to keep at home for summer time! Whichever works best for you.
OPTION 3: Print, prep, and laminate the cards you want to use and hang them around the room for students to complete as a “solve the room” activity. I would always hang the correct answers to each card just outside my classroom door and have students compare their answers to the correct answers once they’d solved them. If they go it right, they moved on! If not, they went back to the same card to try again. Simple, fun, and no stress for you!
6. Fun Morning Work for Littles
Introducing fresh, new morning work is always a nice way to spruce up a few weeks of school too! These no-prep worksheets are a great way to start your day by reviewing some simple concepts that they already know. There are opportunities to color, match, solve, write, and much more included in these print-and-go activities. CLICK HERE to peek at them!
7. Summer Writing Craft Freebie
You know those writing crafts I mentioned before? If you want a free sample of them, just click the link below! Writing crafts are a perfect way for kids to get creative and practice essential writing skills at ANY level. Download your freebie HERE!
There you have it! Some of my very FAVORITE activities to use at the end of the school year that are engaging, fun, and little or no prep for YOU. :)
Feel free to comment or email me if you have questions too. I’m always happy to hear from you!
Cheering you on! You’ve got this!
