102 Fun Last Day of School Activities
May 29, 2024
The days are getting hot. Students are losing focus, and teachers are getting tired. Summer is finally approaching, but there are still a couple more classes leading up to the last day of school. So, what should you do with your class once the day finally arrives? Many students look forward to a change of pace on this day, to something fun, relaxing, or celebratory. Below you will find a list of 102 fun last day of school activities, organized by the kind of activity you might be looking for. Though you will find certain activities recommended specifically for elementary or high school students, many of these ideas can be adapted to suit many grade levels.
102 Fun Last Day of School Activities
Creative activities
1) Make friendship bracelets, leaving everyone with a keepsake to take home for the summer.
2) Make end-of-year hats or crowns to celebrate 鈥済raduating鈥� from whatever grade your class is completing
3) Create a memory bag鈥攁sk each student to bring in a small object that symbolizes the year for them to add to the collection.
4) Make the classroom a museum of student artwork, and invite other teachers and students to come take a tour.
5) Make scrapbooks, with one page for each month of the school year.
6) Organize a talent show, in which students volunteer to perform.
7) Organize a poetry slam, with poems focused on course material.
Fun Last Day of School Activities (Continued)
8) Set up art stations to use up partially-used craft supplies.
9) Play 鈥減ass the sentence,鈥� in which students write one sentence and pass it along to others who add to the story.
10) Do some , which can be found online. Have students partner up and read their stories aloud to the class at the end.
11) Make summer predictions. Hot weather? Best new films? Aliens on planet Earth? These predictions can be as realistic or fantastical as you鈥檇 like.
12) Create educational posters for the classroom next year.
13) Make DIY bookmarks as further inspiration for summer reading.
14) Make junk art using recyclable materials.
15) Sketch outdoors.
Community-focused activities
16) Assign summer pen pals, matching each student with another in the class.
17) Create a class bingo sheet that requires students to walk around and ask each other questions (who鈥檚 going on vacation this summer? Who has a dog? Who is the youngest/oldest in the class?) The first students to fill out a full row win.
18) Pass cards around with each student鈥檚 name, so students can write nice notes on each of the cards. In the end, the cards get returned, and each student has a nice keepsake for the summer.
19) Have your students come up with a project for next year鈥檚 students.
20) Plant something together, whether a tree on school property or seeds in a classroom flower pot.
21) Organize a community clean-up on school grounds.
22) Clean up the classroom. Put on some fun music and assign tasks to your students, such as washing the white boards and organizing books.
23) Clean desks with shaving cream, while you鈥檙e at it (a fun classic).
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24) Help out around school by go to other teachers鈥� classrooms and asking if they could use any help organizing the space for summer.
25) Ask for teaching feedback. What could have been done to improve learning from your end of things? This will allow your students to feel heard and also provide useful information for your classes next year. You could also do this with anonymous feedback forms.
26) Make a time capsule with memories and notes to future selves.
27) Give awards to each of your students.
28) Create welcome brochures for next year鈥檚 students, which include information about what they will learn, as well as tips for success.
29) Swap books for summer reading (but make sure to have a plan so that books can be returned to their owners the following year).
30) Write thank you notes to those who contribute to the school community such as custodians, librarians, nurses, school cooks, and office administrators.
31) Invite families for a research presentation, talent show, party, or craft day.
32) Plan some service learning for the summer. Need some inspiration? Check out these community service ideas.
33) Start your own tradition. Whether planting seeds for your students or adding their signature to a meaningful object in the classroom, start something that you can carry on to future years.
34) Just hang out! Offer some time for students to talk in groups. These conversations can be as open or as structured as you鈥檇 like.
35) Create shout-out cards so that students can write shout outs to others. At the end, have students read them aloud, or you can read them anonymously.
Fun Last Day of School Activities (Continued)
36) Do a family photograph show-and-tell with old family photos, baby photos, etc. Perfect for any age, this is a great way to for students to learn a bit about each other.
37) Organize a charity event in the weeks leading up to the last day of school (canned food drive, car wash, bake sale, etc.).
38) Have your students bring in worn-out old t-shirts or school t-shirts for a day of t-shirt signing and decorating.
39) Ask students and families to bring in unused or lightly-used school supplies to be donated to students in need.
40) Take silly class photos around the school to create lasting memories.
Educational activities
41) Have a trivia contest. Need some inspiration? Here鈥檚 a list of 141 fun, weird, and interesting facts to get you started.
42) Have students present independent research on topics of choice, related to the subject you teach.
43) Review lessons through a scavenger hunt. For example, if you teach math, students might need to complete math review problems to find the next clues.
44) Do a math problem raffle, in which students work in partners to solve math problems and for every correct answer they earn a raffle ticket. Award prizes to chosen tickets at the end of class.
45) Host a cozy read-in party. Have students bring in pajamas, blankets, or other cozy items, along with their favorite book.
46) Take a virtual nature field trip. Some examples include and .
47) Go to a (virtual) art museum. Why not head to , or even Paris with a ?
48) Make a 鈥測ear-in-review鈥� timeline, as though you鈥檙e creating a timeline for a history text.
49) Watch a documentary.
50) Organize inspiring career talks by inviting parents as special guests.
51) Give silly PowerPoints, in which your students research silly or mundane topics of choice (funny car license plates or best cartoon characters, for example) and create 2-5-minute presentations.
52) Go outside and identify plants and animals using guidebooks to local wildlife.
Celebratory activities
53) Have an ice cream party.
54) Bring the beach to the classroom by having students bring in towels, umbrellas, and their most summery outfits. Possible activities include recycled-material 鈥渟andcastles鈥� and stories with s鈥檓ores around a 鈥渃ampfire.鈥�
55) Ask students to come up to the front of the classroom and toast each other on their accomplishments and positive attributes as everyone raises a glass (of soda).
56) Set up a photo booth with silly props and costumes.
57) Make a summer fun bucket list, and make sure to check back in next fall to see how much of the list they accomplished.
58) Throw a class dance party, and ask your students to contribute to the playlist. Choreography and karaoke are welcome.
59) Host a board game party.
60) Organize a chess or checkers tournament.
61) Have a jigsaw puzzle party, in which students work on challenging puzzles in partners or groups.
Fun Last Day of School Activities (Continued)
62) Throw a glow party, involving neon string lights and glow stick bracelets. Turn on some music for a dance party, or have your students solve mystery problems.
63) Play games for a day of small-yet-exciting competition.
64) Have an origami party. Show your students some YouTube manuals or for simple origami projects.
65) Have a class picnic (there鈥檚 nothing quite like having a meal together as a way to complete the year). With some planning, you could also turn this into a pizza party or potluck.
66) Celebrate summer birthdays. If you normally celebrate students鈥� birthdays throughout the year, take some time to celebrate those with summer birthdays in the same way.
67) Celebrate summer holidays. Juneteenth? Pride month? Independence Day? It鈥檚 never a bad time to celebrate holidays that don鈥檛 align with the school calendar.
68) Watch a movie. This can be something educational or just for fun.
69) Fill a pi帽ata and whack away! Nothing says 鈥減arty鈥� quite like this. Fill it up with treats, stickers, and temporary tattoos that your students can enjoy for the rest of the rest of the schoolyear.
70) Throw a fancy party and turn your classroom into an elegant ball.
71) Throw a costume party, in which your students come to class dressed as their favorite book or movie characters.
72) Host a glamorous awards show, turning the fancy- or costume- party into a celebration of your students. Performances can be included.
Physical/outdoor activities
73) Create a classroom Olympics. From obstacle courses or relay races with trivia included, to known favorites such as basketball or tug of war, this could be a way to get outside and release some energy.
74) Set up outdoor game stations with carnival-like stations.
75) Get out the sidewalk chalk.
76) Take a walk down memory lane, going to spots around the school that have been important this year. Your students can be the guides, giving odes to their landmarks of choice.
77) Play charades to act out fun experiences from this year.
78) Have a paper airplane contest.
79) Do some yoga. Push the desks aside or go outside for a calming start to summer vacation.
80) Play some kickball.
81) Take a 鈥渉ike,鈥� by going for a walk and encouraging notice and appreciate their natural surroundings.
82) Do some outdoor journaling, allowing students time to reflect from their favorite sunny (or shady) spots.
Activities perfect for elementary students
83) Have students vote for their favorite classroom picture books to be read out loud. Dramatic readings are welcome.
84) Have students create short skits based on their favorite picture books.
85) List what you鈥檝e learned, A-Z, writing or drawing one thing for each letter of the alphabet.
86) Send students home with a summer reading checklist (here鈥檚 a list of ), and see how many they check off by the fall.
87) Organize a spelling bee for some friendly competition, as well as a spelling review session for tricky words.
88) Create secret handshakes in partners and groups as a final-day bonding activity.
89) Have your 4th or 5th graders read to kindergarten or 1st grade students at your school.
Activities perfect for high school students
90) Put students into groups and have them design cool and sometimes-outlandish .
91) Organize a writer鈥檚 workshop. Especially if they鈥檝e been writing academic essays all year, this could be a great way to get the creative juices flowing and try out different genres with some friendly feedback.
92) Build bridges. An activity especially great for STEM classes, students can team up to build the strongest bridge with popsicle sticks, glue, and other materials.
93) Have a senior project idea day, in which students (grades 9 through 11) come up with 10 possible ideas for senior projects to inspire their thinking for the upcoming years.
94) Talk about internships with your class. Feel free to use this list of online internships for high school students as inspiration.
95) Have a debate for a lively and relevant discussion on the last day. Here are some interesting debate topics to get you started.
Fun Last Day of School Activities (Continued)
96) Do a dramatic reading of a Shakespeare play.
97) While we鈥檙e on the topic of Shakespeare, print out this and have a blast.
98) Write some fan fiction, having your students create alternative endings for books they read this year.
99) Host an SAT/ACT vocab competition. You can make a game out of this by having students partner up for Pictionary or charades with the most common standardized testing vocab challenges.
100) Organize a mini mock trial or model UN competition. This could be an especially great activity for a high school government or history class.
101) Organize student mentors with another class, working with other teachers to pair rising seniors with rising sophomores. Have the first mentor/mentee meeting session on the last day of school.
102) Start planning college essays. Especially for rising seniors, a low-stakes freewriting session could help spark inspiration for the upcoming college app process.
Fun Last Day of School Activities – Further reading for more ideas
Hopefully, you鈥檝e been inspired by some of the ideas on this list. Feel free to combine these ideas, put your own spin on them, and use them any time during the school year when you feel like mixing things up. For more resources, read about potential argumentative essay topics and persuasive speech topics for your students.
