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June means the end of the school year for most
people. Here are some great ideas from The Education Center for
end of the year activities. There are also some great ideas for activities for the
kids to do during summer. Check out their home page to get even more great ideas for
every month of the year.
Picture This, Dad!
Here's a frame Dad will be proud to display. To make a frame,
glue eight craft
sticks together in pairs; then set the sticks on waxed paper
to dry. Glue the pairs
together to form a frame. When the glue is dry, glue various
types of pasta onto
the frame. Again set the frame aside to dry. Brush on tempera
paint or
spray-paint the frame. When the paint is dry, spray the frame
with acrylic finish.
Attach a strip of self-adhesive magnetic tape to the back of
the frame and it's
ready for a pasta-perfect picture. Happy Father's Day!
Betsy Ruggiano, Three-Year-Olds
Featherbed Lane School; Clark, NJ
Kindergarten, Here We Come!
It's time to close the curtain on another year. If you'll be
sending your little ones
on their way to kindergarten, be sure to celebrate by singing
this song to the tune
of "I've Been Working On The Railroad."
I've been going to my preschool,
All the whole year long.
I've been going to my preschool,
And I've learned a lot of songs.
I can count and say the letters,
I know my colors, too.
I've been going to my preschool,
All the whole year through.
Graduation day, graduation day,
Graduation day is finally here.
Graduation day, graduation day,
Graduation day is finally here.
Kindergarten, here I come.
Kindergarten, I will be there soon.
Kindergarten, here I come.
I'm so glad it's finally June!
Lori J. Fink
Hamburg, PA
A Buggy Band
Have your little ones pretend to be noisy bugs with this
outdoor idea. In advance
collect a classroom supply of baby-food jar lids. (These lids
have raised centers
that make clicking sounds when pressed.) Provide each child
with a lid.
Demonstrate how to hold the lid and press the center with your
thumb. Ask the
children to imagine that the clicking is the sound of bugs
hopping about in the
summer. Encourage youngsters to click as you recite your
favorite rhyme or sing
your favorite summer songs. It's a buggy band!
Sr. Carolyn Mary Cossack, S.M.M.I., Three- And Four-Year-Olds
Sts. Peter and Paul Nursery School; Three Rivers, MA
Here's The Scoop
Develop students' gross-motor skills with this fun-filled
activity that stresses
cooperation. In advance collect a classroom supply of
one-gallon milk jugs and
foam balls. Cut the top off each milk jug to resemble a scoop.
To begin the
activity, take your class outside, and provide each child with
a scoop and a foam
ball. Demonstrate how to toss the ball into the air and catch
it using the scoop.
Encourage each child to do the same. Then pair students,
removing one ball
from each pair. Have each pair use the scoops to toss the ball
back and forth to
each other. To increase the difficulty in this activity, have
each pair of students
move farther apart before tossing the ball to each other.
Tonie Liddle, Pre-K
Central Baptist Christian Academy; Binghamton, NY
Bubble Painting
Colored bubbles everywhere! That's the effect of this creative
art project. In
advance pour commercial bubble solution into several pie
plates or shallow pans.
Squeeze a different color of food coloring in each pan. Take
youngsters, the
bubble solution, white construction paper, and bubble wands
outside. Provide
each child with a wand and a sheet of construction paper. Have
each student dip
his wand in the bubble solution, then blow bubbles on his
paper. Pop, pop!
Pamela Vance, Preschool
Lake Geneva Cooperative Preschool; Lake Geneva, WI
Sunny Days
Use this activity to teach your students that the sun is hot
and that its rays
produce heat. On a sunny day, fill two small, aluminum pie
tins with water.
Place one tin in full sunlight and the other in a shaded area.
Later take your
students on a walk outside the school. Stand with your faces
turned toward the
sun. Ask students if they feel warm standing in the sun. Then
step into the shade
and ask if they feel cooler. Encourage youngsters to put their
hands in both tins
of water and to compare the temperatures of the water in both
tins.
Seashell Matching
Since summer is approaching, this seashell center will be a
nifty way for students
to practice visual discrimination. In advance, collect pairs
of different types of
seashells. Place the seashells and a sand bucket in a center.
To do this activity, a
child sorts and matches the shells. As a variation, trace
pairs of different types of
seashell patterns on construction paper; then cut on the
resulting outlines.
Laminate the cutouts. Place the shell cutouts in a center and
have students match
the shell pairs.
Melissa Iverson
Academy Park Elementary; Bountiful, UT
The Reading Pool
With this suggestion you can transform your reading center
into an oasis of
learning. Position a small, empty wading pool in your reading
center; then toss in
a few small, decorative pillows. Cut out a palm tree from
bulletin-board paper
and mount it on a wall near the center. Then cut out a few
coconut shapes from
construction paper and mount them on the tree. If desired,
place a few artificial
plants around the pool. Provide lots of sea-related literature
for little ones to cozy
up with in the reading pool. They'll be anxious to dive into a
good book!
Jennifer Mitchell, Special Education
New Caney Elementary; New Caney, TX
Summer Letter Writing
Inspire students to maintain their writing skills during summer
break by giving
each child a small gift and a promise. To prepare each gift,
place three decorated
sheets of stationery and a stamped, self-addressed envelope in
a decorated bag.
Distribute the bags on the last day of school. Invite each
child to write a friendly
letter to you this summer. Suggest that students describe
special summer
happenings in their letters. Promise to reply to each letter
that you receive. It
may be as much of a treat for you to read about your students'
summer
adventures as it will be for them to get letters from you!
Debbie Tofflemire, Gr. 1
West Indianola School; Topeka, KS
Reading Celebration
Honor your budding readers at an end-of-the-year reading
party. Enlist your
students' help in creating party invitations for their
families. In preparation for the
party, have each student practice reading the book he plans to
read aloud to his
party guest(s). Interested students can also write and
illustrate stories for the
event. Plan to serve refreshments if desired. Conclude the
party by presenting
each child with a special reading certificate. Parents will be
amazed by the
children's tremendous reading progress!
Carla Norwood, Gr. 1
Tisinger Elementary; Mesquite, TX
State Tour
It can be a real challenge to keep students meaningfully
engaged during those
waning days of school when resources are being inventoried and
stored. But
here's an activity your students can do with just a few travel
brochures featuring
your state's tourist attractions. Have students research and
report on various
noteworthy attractions found in your state. Then have each
student showcase a
specific city, landmark, or tourist attraction by decorating a
shoebox. When he
embellishes his shoebox, have each child focus on enticing his
classmates to visit
his featured site or attraction. Then invite students to take
a walking tour of the
state as they view their classmates' completed projects.
Linda Abshier, Gr. 2
Lometa Elementary; Lometa, TX
Tell It Like It Was
Use your students' writing talents to help ease the
first-day jitters of the
youngsters who will be in your class next fall. Ask each
child to compose a letter
addressed to next year's incoming class. In their letters,
ask the students to
describe their year in your classroom, note their favorite
activities and subjects,
and make comments about your teaching style. Store the
letters over the
summer; then read them as an opening-day activity in the
fall. These letters are
sure to put your new students at ease and start the year
off on a positive note!
Carol Constantine, Gr. 2
Hutchinson School; Greensburg, PA
Things To Read
Do you have a stack of magazines, catalogs, and other
miscellaneous reading
that you'd like to read before the end of the school year?
Each time you plan to
spend several minutes at the photocopier, take a magazine or
catalog with you.
You'll be surprised by how much reading you can get done while
your copies are
being made. And if you read something that you'd like to
copy--you're right
where you need to be! That stack will dwindle in no time!
Kim Burgstiner, Gr. 3
Calvary Baptist Day School; Savannah, GA
Thumbs-Up Message!
These one-of-a-kind posters are a fun way for your class to
show its
appreciation of a classroom volunteer or helpful staff member.
To make a
poster, write the greeting "'Thum-body' Loves You!"
on white construction
paper. In turn have each child put his inked thumbprint on the
paper and use
fine-tip markers to write his name and embellish his thumbprint
to create an
animal character. Sign, date, and laminate the poster before
presenting it to
"Thum-body" special. These posters also make great
going-away gifts for
students who are moving!
Beverly Reed, Gr. 1
Fletcher, OK
Student Biographies
If you're looking for the ultimate end-of-the-year keepsake,
your search is over.
This booklet of class-created biographies can't be topped! To
acquaint your class
with biographies, read aloud several brief author biographies
that are found on
the inside flaps of book jackets. Then each day guide your
students in
interviewing a different classmate. Use the resulting
information to create a brief
class-generated biography about each student. Include
information about the
student's family members, her favorite activities, and her
favorite book. Later
recopy or type the class-written biography on chosen paper and
attach a photo of
the student to the page. Duplicate a class supply of each
biography. For each
child bind one copy of each biography between
construction-paper covers.
Students are sure to enjoy these keepsakes for many years to
come!
Kathy Wengronowitz
St. Peter's School; Geneva, IL
The Most Important Thing
At the end of the year--as a way of "living, learning,
and passing it on"--each of
our fifth-grade grads completes the following statement:
"The most important
thing I've learned this year is...." Several statements
are shared each day over
our school's public-address system. They're also included in a
fifth-grade
graduation book. These insightful comments prove that students
really do learn
from one another! They're also more apt to heed tips from
their classmates than
from a teacher.
Kathy Williams, Grs. K-5 Counselor
Pleasant Grove Elementary; Pensacola, FL
Wrapping Up!
Take a tip from your Christmas bulletin boards and end the
school year with an
easy, eye-catching display. Cover your door or a bulletin
board with cheerful,
springtime wrapping paper or brightly colored butcher paper.
Add a large bow
and streamers in contrasting colors. Title the board
"We're Wrapping Up A Great
Year!" and you've got an attractive display that's as
easy to put up as it is to take
down.
Gaylin Black, Gr. 4
Angleton, TX
Name That Word
This activity is a great end-of-the-year review in any
subject area. First I prepare
paper strips, each labeled with an alphabet letter. (Omit
J, K, Q, X, Y, and Z.)
Each student draws a letter strip, then looks in his text
for vocabulary words that
begin with that letter. The student selects ten words and
writes a definition for
each one, without including the word. The next day I
collect the definition sheets
and redistribute them to students, making sure each child
has a list other than his
own. Each student reads the list of definitions he now has
and supplies the words
that have been defined. What an easy, fun way to review!
Paula Rush, Gr. 6
East Marshall Middle School; Gilman, IA
Class Prophecy Book
For a year-end writing project, have students create a class
prophecy book.
Assign each student a classmate to interview. After each
student learns more
about his assigned classmate's interests and hobbies, instruct
him to write a
paragraph predicting what that person will be doing 20 years
from now. Bind the
completed pages into a book to share at a year-end party.
Patricia Clancy, Gr. 5
Peter Noyes School; Sudbury, MA
Anonymous Letters
This letter-writing activity gives students a chance to show
off their writing skills
and reminisce about the year. Have each student write an
anonymous letter to a
classmate. The letter should relate good experiences during the
year and include
plenty of positive comments about the letter's recipient
without naming him or
her. Collect all of the letters when they are completed. During
the last few weeks
of school, read a letter at the close of each day; then invite
the student who
wrote the letter to stand and identify the person to whom it
was written.
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