Towards the end of the school year, my students need an exciting change. That is why I love to do an ABC Countdown to Summer. Actually last year was the first year I did this and my students loved it. But… It took me a lot of time coming up with ideas and getting things organized. That is why I want to share the best way to do an ABC Countdown so that you don’t have to spend all the time planning like I did.
ABC Countdown to Summer
My first piece of advice would be to have a fun display for students. I have one that doesn’t show what students are going to do each day. This way it builds anticipation for the kids! Plus I don’t need to have everything planned up front.
Embark on a joyous ABC countdown to summer with creative activities for each letter, making the final days of the school year unforgettable!
I made cute cards with all the letters and taped them up on my white board. I taped a piece of paper with the day’s activity on the back. When it’s the time in the day of our ABC Countdown activity, I choose one student to come up, take the card down and read what we will be doing on the back. Students really look forward to their day to read the activity. Find my ABC Countdown display here.
Another helpful tip is to have multiple ideas for each letter. There are some days where I need the activity to take up some time. Other days we have specials or other things going on and I don’t have the class time for a long activity. So it’s nice to have a few ideas for each letter so that I can find the one that will fit in our time slot.
ABC Countdown Ideas
Now I know you are wanting some ABC Countdown ideas to use in your classroom. So I thought I would share some of my students’ favorite ABC countdown activities.
For S, I had students play with shaving cream. I sprayed some shaving cream on each desk and students played with it. They drew pictures in it, made designs, or wrote letters. They loved it! I was surprised because it really helped clean up students’ desks. Cleaning up was easy too. I just had a couple wet rags and wiped up any leftover shaving cream.
For T, I made tie-dye shirts with my students. These also were my end of year gifts for students and they loved them. I bought a tie-dye kit and t-shirts from Walmart. I prepared the shirts beforehand by washing them and using rubber bands to tie up the shirts. I put student numbers on the tags and put them in individual plastic bags. Then at school we went outside and I had the kids play on the playground as I called over a few students at a time. Students showed me where they wanted each color on their shirts. Then I put the shirts back in their bag and took them home to finish them. We all wore our tie-dye shirts on the last day of school and it was so fun!
My students love these tie-dye shirts they help create!
Some days, I didn’t want all the prep of buying extra supplies and prepping things at home. That’s why I really like what we do for U, and it’s still fun for students. For U, we learned about the United States. I found a fun song that helps you learn all of the states. Then I had students color a map of the United States and do a fun maze and dot-to-dot of the United States. All I had to do was make the copies, so it’s super low prep!
You and your students will enjoy this low prep United States activity!
Like I said before it’s good to have a few ideas for each letter. In my ABC Countdown to Summer resource I give you 4 ideas per letter, lesson plans for each one, plus any worksheets/printables you may need!
It’s going to save you so much time planning your ABC countdown to the end of school. Find this ABC Countdown to Summer resource here.
ABC Countdown to the End of School Book
I want students to remember all of the fun memories we made during our end of the year ABC Countdown so I have students make an ABC Countdown to the end of school book. Students write a couple sentences about each activity and then draw a picture. I love how it gets them writing as well.
My students love this ABC countdown book that help them remember the last few days of school.
For my 2nd grade class it worked well for doing 4 letters at a time. After doing our activities for A,B,C, and D, students would write a couple sentences for each one. It made such a cute book to send home on the last day of school. Find this ABC Countdown Book here.
The end of the school year can be a busy time. As teachers, we are tired but we still want it to be fun and engaging for our students. That is why I created this all inclusive ABC Countdown to Summer resource. It includes the ABC Countdown display, 4 activity ideas for each letter, lesson plans for each activity, any worksheets/printables needed, and the ABC Countdown book. Find this resource here.
To get a head start on fun first of the year activities, read this blog post here: 8 First Day of School Activities
