How To Help Students Get Through The Last Few Weeks Of School

5/28/2023

School is ending for some places, but other places have another few weeks to go before summer break. This is a time when energy is waning and kids are getting restless and distracted. Here are some ideas for ending the year with fun while still learning.

Fun activities for students at the end of the school year

Get Outdoors

We have been cooped up for months and we are itching to get outside. So are the kids. Take advantage of the weather and take learning outdoors. See my last post for ideas for math and social studies that you can do outdoors.

Outdoor activities don't all have to be linked to academics. This is a great time to get active with gym ideas, musical games, science experiments, and just having fun as well. It is also a great time to get kids used to the idea of doing things outside to expand and practice their learning during the summer.

Science Projects

The end of the year can also be a great time to get creative with projects. Science projects are a great choice because they can be done outdoors as well as indoors. Check out this one that my grandson's class did last year.

Board Games Creation

Creating board games for math or social learning situations can also be fun. These can be partner activities or team activities and once the games are created, you could have a games day where the different board games are played.

This free template can be used for creating different games or activities.

get your free template here

Create Memory Books Or Timelines

Create a timeline or a picture walk down memory lane. It is amazing to look back at everything that was done during the year, and creating a picture timeline will help with revisiting some of these special times and all the successes that were part of the year. This could also be done as a memory book or annual that could be taken home for looking back at throughout the years. An autograph or comments page could also be added so that each person could share some special thought or comment.

photos of children and activities for yearbook

School Fun Day

School fun days are another popular event for year end. The senior students could create the different activities and run the events for the primary students in the morning, and then have their own events or challenges in the afternoon or on another day.

Beach Day

Beach days for the whole school or groups of classes are another popular choice for year end. Our school often did a school-wide beach day with many different activities and games. However, because it was the ocean, there was limited access to being in the water because of the large numbers of people to supervise.

In recent years, they went to the lake instead and had roped off areas so the kids could go into the water. There were lifeguards hired for the day to monitor the areas.

Seashore Study

We are fortunate to live within walking distance from the ocean so I would take my class to the beach for a seashore adventure and a hot dog roast every year. This was a great time to do scavenger hunts, study in the tide pools, and just enjoy nature. It was a great culminating activity to our study of sea life. It was also fun to have a campfire on the beach and roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Many parents came along to join us, so it was a family event.

If you have access to the beach, I highly recommend trying this.

These are only a few suggestions to wrap up the year with fun and review. I hope they help to provide some inspiration as you come to the end of another school year.