End of Year Activities for 2023 Teaching Resources

End of the 2023 school year with teacher-created printables and activities perfect for elementary students! This collection of teaching resources is packed with everything from last day of school activities to fun end-of-year ideas that will engage your students right up until that final bell rings and the kids yell "school's out for summer!"

Created by our expert teacher team, this resource collection includes end of year gifts for students, student awards, graduation crafts and more ways to make those last days of class fun for students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade.

How to Prep for the Last Day of School

The last day of school and that sweet summer break are coming! So how do you get prepped?

Our teacher team has got you covered with some fun ideas and some "don't forgets" too.

On the one hand, you've got activities that are all about celebrating the end of the school year and the summer break that's about to happen — activities that are focused on fondly remembering the weeks and months you've spent together as a class and revisiting some of the learning accomplishments.

On the other hand, our teacher team knows that this is the time of year when students want to get up and move, and we've put together options that will get them out of their seats ... and thinking!

Build a Bridge Challenge

STEM activities are what we like to call hands-on and minds-on for students, and they're perfect for those last few days of school not only to engage your students but to help use up some of those classroom supplies that are left over ... especially if you're going to have to move from room to room over the summer!

Challenge your students to build a bridge with a variety of items in the classroom that you set out for them. Don't forget to throw in some of those items you're trying to use up (craft sticks? leftover paper straws? pipe cleaners? paper clips?).

The bridge should cover the gap between two level surfaces — ideally two desks, but you may want to add the challenge of determining the surfaces to up the challenge for older students — and groups will be judged on the strength of their bridge when you (the judge!) begin to load it down with weight.

Write a Class Comic

Your students have gotten to know you so well over the past school year. Who better to help next year's class of students?

As a whole class or in groups, students can brainstorm and write a comic for the students who will be in your class next year. What advice, tips, and hints would they give them on how to survive and do well in your class? What were the hardest parts? What did they enjoy?

Play Summer Would You Rather

Would you rather go swimming or hiking? Would you rather eat a sno-cone or an ice pop? Decisions, decisions!

Give your students a needed brain break for the end of the year with a fun summer-themed game of Would You Rather, encouraging them to walk to a specific wall in the classroom to answer the questions.

Cup Challenge

Another great STEM challenge to add to your end of year activities list takes the traditional cup tower challenge and adds a major twist.

As usual, students work in a small group to build a pyramid with 10 small cups. Once they're done, they then need to add a small figurine — such as a LEGO minifig or action figure — on the top of the tower. Seems easy?

Ah, but they must do this without touching the cups or figurine with their hands. All you will provide to make it happen is craft sticks, string, and a rubber band.

Sit back, and watch the problem-solving begin!

How to Clean the Classroom After the Students Leave

Once the students are gone, you will be aching to get your summer break started, but not so fast! It's time to get your classroom cleaned out.

Here's how our teacher team divides and conquers to clean that classroom out in no time!

To start, get yourself set up with four large containers:

• one for recycling
• one for giveaways
• one for items that need to find a new home, outside of your classroom
• one for garbage.

1. Sort by Category, Not Location

Sort through your classroom by category, not location. Beginning with the categories that are least sentimental to you.

Here are some categories you might find in your classroom:

• math equipment/manipulatives and games
• language arts resources and games
• other subject area resources and games
• class readers or classroom library books
• board games
• scripted programs, lessons plans, and syllabus documents
• meeting and professional development notes
• decor
• sports equipment
• office supplies
• arts and crafts supplies

Write them up on your board in the order that you'll work through them.

2. Use It or Lose It!

It's time to get tough with yourself and those persistent "I might use this for something later" tendencies! Lay out everything you have in a single category.

Consider each item. If it falls into one of the categories below put it into one of your boxes (recycling, giveaway, relocate, garbage).

• You didn't use it this year
• It's broken or incomplete
• It's out of date
• It's not something that you need

3. Not Many, If Any

If you're having trouble letting go of some of the older bits and pieces that were handed down from the classroom teacher before you, try reframing those feelings by asking yourself one of the following questions:

• How many of that type of resource/object/book do you actually need for your class to function as it does throughout the school year? If you have enough, then it's time to realize that the older, damaged, half-used or outdated items have served their purpose to many kids in the past and they can be let go!
• How much is that object/book/resource worth right now if you were to sell it second-hand? Ask yourself "If I didn't already have this item/book/resource, would I be willing to pay that for it?"

4. Host a Teacher Swap Party!

You might really enjoy hosting a resource/office supply/teacher resource swap party with teacher friends, especially if you got a notice from the principal that you'll be changing grades this year (again).

Invite your teaching buddies and provide them with the following instructions:

• Bring resources, books, office supplies that you no longer use, but that are in good enough condition that IF you did need one, you'd buy it off the shelf for yourself.
• Bring a plate of deliciousness to share.
• Bring a beverage or two that will make you smile.

You might find that some of your friends who work with different age groups have been hoarding something that would be wonderful for you to use with your kids, and vice versa! It is a fantastic way to reduce the amount of waste generated by your classroom clean-out, as well as limit the new products you might purchase in order to get some new resources for your students.

5. Stick it

Hands up if you've heard of the old wardrobe decluttering trick of hanging your clothes hangers in the reverse direction? Each time you wear a piece of clothing, you hang it back the right way.  Then at the end of six or 12 months, you'll be able to see what you have actually worn and which items of clothing you haven't touched in that time. You may not have a lot of clothing in your classroom, but the same concept applies here.

Non-Paper Items

Sticky dots are one way you can implement a similar process with physical items in your classroom. Place a sticky dot on each item or container. When you use the item, take off the sticky dot. Next time you go through your classroom, items that still have their sticky dots may be perfect for the "donate" pile.

Paper Items

Have a large number of printed resources stored in filing cabinets (likely filed by content and/or subject area)? Give this idea a try: If you have space, keep the top drawer of your filing cabinets empty and move all of your paper files and folders to the bottom drawers. Each time you use a printed resource, put it back into a new folder in the top drawer. At the end of the year, you'll see which resources you've actually used in your planning and teaching. This helps you decide if you can recycle the rest of the unused printed resources.

6. What to do with it all?

So, now you've got a whole lot of things that need to make a journey out of your classroom to make space for your mind, space for the resources you actually use, and space for your students to learn! But what to do with it all? Being aware of your environmental footprint is so important and can be a great future motivator to help you reduce the amount of stuff that you bring into your classroom.

Sell or Give away If it's something that you'd buy in its current condition, that you know has value to others, consider selling it second-hand or giving it away.

Recycle Provided the papers you have for recycling do not contain personal or sensitive information, make sure they end up in a recycling bin.

Did you know that you don't need to remove staples for paper to be recycled?

Reduce After all of this, hopefully, you'll have a slightly different perspective when it comes to the items you bring into your classroom. Not only does each item we create and consume need to have a 'home', which adds to the year-long clutter in your classroom, but we must be aware of the environmental impacts of everything too. We've even turned many of our popular printables into Google Slides to help cut down on all that printed paper, so don't forget to download them for next school year!