So you’re finishing up your school year. You have a little more flexibility with your classroom time. And you want to make things fun and memorable for your students. But it’s the end of the school year, you are exhausted and coming up with ideas and plans seems impossible. That is why I am here! I’m sharing 5 fun end of year classroom activities that my 2nd grade students love. 

 

Fun Classroom Activities For End of Year

 

Like I said before, at the end of the school year, we are end of the school year tired. That’s why you should consider doing activities that are all planned out for you. The less planning and decision making you need to do, the better!

If you are looking for something that is scheduled out for you, consider doing an ABC Countdown. This is where you plan an activity for the last 26 days of school. You start with A and do an activity that starts with A. For example, in my class we make paper airplanes. We watch a video explaining why different kinds of paper airplanes work. We fold paper airplanes and I have my students decorate them with markers. Then we go outside and I let my students run around on the playground and throw their planes around. They have an absolute blast! I love it because making paper airplanes doesn’t cost me any extra money.

I like to bring in some more excitement by having an ABC Countdown display. I post all of the letters on cards on our front whiteboard. On the back has the activity for the day. I call one students up a day to take down the letter and read what we are going to do. This builds anticipation. Students get so excited! Plus, they feel special when it is their turn to come take down the letter. I also like how it is a visual to how many days left of school we have.

 

 

To be honest, the first year I did an ABC countdown it was pretty stressful. After a long day of teaching, it was hard coming up with a fun activity to do the next day. I spent long hours searching for ideas and getting supplies ready well past my contract hours. Plus, I had to find any videos or make any worksheets to go with it. My students love it! But for the next year, I decided I wanted to make things easier on me and other teachers like you!

So I made an ABC Countdown resource that has 4 ideas for each letter! Some activities you have everything you already need, some you need to buy materials. So pick one that is in your budget. Some activities could take 30 or more minutes, some just take a few minutes. So pick the activity that will fit in your time frame for the day. And don’t worry, all the worksheets you need for each activity are included. There are lesson plans for each ideas. So you don’t have to plan anything! It makes doing an ABC Countdown enjoyable for both students and teachers! Find my ABC Countdown resource here.

For more tips on doing an ABC Countdown, check out this blog post here: The Best Way to do an ABC Countdown in an Elementary Classroom

Now if you are not into doing an ABC Countdown, that is okay too! You can still do some fun classroom activities for the end of year. Just pick a few fun activities and do them with your class the last couple weeks of school. You don’t even need to do one everyday. Do what works best for you and your students. 

But I thought I would share some of the activities I do in my ABC Countdown that you could just do as fun end of year class activities.

 

Fun End of Year Classroom Activities

 

Dinosaur Fossils

One of my students’ favorite fun classroom activities for end of year is making dinosaur fossils. I have my students help me make salt dough. As the dough sets, I let them watch the dinosaur episode of Magic School Bus. Then afterwards, I give each student a small ball of salt dough. 

 

 

Then they flatten it out and press a dinosaur counter into it. When they lift the dinosaur up, its shape is left behind and it looks like a fossil! You can let them dry out for a few days in your classroom. Or take them home and bake them in your oven. Find the recipe I use for the salt dough in my ABC Countdown resource. Find it here. Find the dinosaur counters I use here.

 

Shaving Cream

Have students play with shaving cream at their desks. I love this end of school year activity because it cleans students’ desks really nicely. I spray out shaving cream on each desk. Students smooth it down and can draw and write with it. I challenge students to draw things like a tree, the sun, a cat, or a flower.

Since 2nd graders are obsessed with cursive, I teach them a few cursive letters and they practice in the shaving cream. They love it! To help with the mess, I bring a couple hand towels. I wipe all the desks when they are done and they are sparkly clean. Also, the classroom smells so great afterwards.

 

Tie Dye Shirts

This fun end of year activity also counts as my end of year gift for my students. We make Tie Dye shirts one day. I buy a tie dye kit and white t-shirts for my students. At home, I write my students’ numbers on the tags, prewash the shirts, put the rubber bands on, and put them in a plastic bag. I write my students’ names on the bags.

At school, I have my students go out for an extra recess. I call over four students at a time and they tell me where they want each color. Then I put their shirt back in the bag to set. I also use a cooling rack over a cookie sheet that helps contain the mess.

 

 

Later I’ll wash and dry them at home and they are ready for students. I give them to students on the 2nd to last day of school and then we all wear our tie dye shirts on the last day of school. It makes for a great class photo! Find the tie dye kits I use here and I t-shirts I use here.

 

Engineering Groups

For this activity, I like to have my students build things with fun supplies. Then they rotate through each group. My students build with notecards, popsicle sticks and binder clips, and make mazes with counting cubes and marbles. Students get so creative and have a blast! One of my students folded the notecards in half and lined them up to make a snake.

 

 

Others build full communities of notecard houses. Find more building ideas to do with your students in my ABC Countdown resource here.

 

Fun Classroom Games For The End of the Year

 

We all know students love games, so bring some classic games into your classroom as fun classroom activities for end of year. I play charades with my class. Each student gets a word to act out. The rest of the class guesses what they are acting out. There are a bunch of giggles and I love to see my students having fun. Find the charades cards I use in my ABC Countdown resource here.

You can also do variations of the game. For example, change it into Pictionary. Students get to draw their word up on the white board as the rest of the class guesses what their word is. So you could do it like headbands. Find the headbands game here.

You could also have a board game day. Students bring a game form home and you give them some time in class to play in groups. This is a great idea because it is no prep for you!

I hope you have been able to get plenty of ideas of fun end of year classroom activities. Use them in your elementary classroom to make those long end of year days a little shorter. Do the fun classroom activities for end of year that you have the time and energy to do. Get more even more fun end of year class activities here.