As the end of the school year draws near and near, now is the best time to try out some really fun and wacky activities with your preschool students.
After a long year of learning and growth, now is the best time to play some games and wrap up the school year with some great activities – but what activities should you try out?
Well, we have made a list of our favorite end-of-year activities for you to try out with your preschool students. Each one is a lot of fun and will get the whole class involved.
Check out our recommendations down below to give them a go!
Making End Of Year Portfolios
Over the years, it’s nice to be able to look back and see just how much you have grown since you were in preschool, and an end-of-year portfolio is a great way to do just that.
This activity involves giving your students their portfolios where they can include all of their favorite pieces of work to show off everything they have learned in the year.
This can include their favorite worksheets, showing off how many letters and numbers they have learned, their best drawings, what they remember of certain projects, their favorite books they have read – there are lots of things to fill these pages!
Not only that but they can have full control over the design when it comes to colors and decoration.
You can also print off photographs of your students that you have taken throughout the year including those for field trips and bulletin boards.
Not only are your students sure to love this idea, but so will their parents too now that they have a keepsake of their child’s years in preschool!
The Summer Bucket List
The end of the school year often means that your students are looking forward to their summer vacation, so why not help them get excited for their future plans with this fun, social activity?
It involves asking your students one by one what they would like to do over the summer and writing it down on a slip of paper.
Then, fold the paper up and drop it into some kind of bucket or box. You can completely design the box or bucket and decorate it with lots of bright, colorful decorations to make it super awesome.
Then, once summer is over, you can read out the ideas one by one and ask your students to hold up their hand if they had done the activity over the summer.
Some activity ideas could involve going to the beach, visiting family, celebrating a birthday, going to a theme park, having a barbeque – the list goes on!
Not only does this get your students thinking about all the things they can do over the summer, but it also helps them feel excited about their upcoming break.
End Of Year Concert
This idea involves performing for either the rest of the school or their parents, showing off all they have learned over the year.
Not only can your students sing some of their favorite songs, but they can dress up and act out some parts of their favorite books and talk about their favorite subjects and experiments.
It’s a great interactive activity for your students to all take part in and it will also help their confidence with public speaking. This activity also allows them to be creative and talk about their favorite things over the past year.
Student Work Gallery
Setting up a student work gallery is a great way to showcase all of your student’s talents and growth over the past year.
You can do this by taking some of their best works and setting up either centerboards or bulletin boards on the wall with their work displayed.
Then, your students can tour the classroom and take a look at their work and their classmates’ work too.
They are sure to be proud to see some of their work displayed and have the opportunity to look back on how far they have come since the start of the year.
You can also invite other teachers and parents to come to look at your students’ hard work – furthering their pride and giving them plenty of encouragement to boost their confidence going forward.
A Talent Show
Talent shows are a great way for your students to stand up and show off their best abilities and talents. So, why not set up a talent show and invite each of your students to take center stage to showcase their unique abilities?
This will help boost their confidence and ability to speak publicly in the future, plus they get to think creatively about what talent they would like to show off.
Some may be into magic tricks, telling jokes, singing, playing an instrument, or even doing a handstand!
Then, in the end, you can reward your students for their talents with a little gift to take home!
Water Day
The end of the school year usually falls during the summer when we can enjoy high temperatures and lots of sunshine – so it would be a great idea to take advantage of this and have a water day!
Water days involve your students turning up in their bathing costumes or play clothes and getting to enjoy the whole day getting wet and playing outside.
You can arrange for paddling pools to be set up along with water balloons, and water pistols and bring in lots of water toys for them to play with.
This is a great way to keep them cool during the day and also give them the opportunity for some water play with their friends and classmates!
Duck, Duck, Goose
Another way for you to take advantage of the sunshine is to take your class outside and have your students play a few games of Duck, Duck, Goose.
This is a classic playground game that involves a large group of children all sitting in a circle. One student then gets up and walks around the outside of the circle, tapping each of their classmates on the head as they pass.
Every time they pat their head, they say ‘duck’. However, when they say ‘goose’, the student who is now the goose has to get up and chase the other student before they run around the ring and sit in the first student’s place.
If the goose does not catch the student, the student sits down and the goose now has to take their place. If the student is caught, then they have to find another goose.
It’s a great game that can wear your students out in no time!
Simon Says
This is another classic game to play with your students as it’s great for developing their listening skills.
The game Simon Says involves all your students standing up and repeating your actions, as long as you say ‘Simon Says’ first.
If your student copies an action without the aforementioned ‘Simon Says’ then they are out and have to sit down until the game is over.
The winner is the last child standing – and they get to be Simon.
This game teaches your students to listen carefully to instructions so not only is it a lot of fun, but it can also help with their growth and development.
Freeze Dance
Freeze Dance is a fun game that involves two very opposite things – dancing wildly and standing very still.
The game begins when the music starts playing and your students have to dance as wildly as they can.
When the music stops, they have to become statues and freeze – any one who moves is out! The object of the game is to be the last one standing.
This is a great way to wear out your students and get them to burn some energy.
Broken Telephone
Another fun listening game is Broken Telephone. Sometimes also known as Chinese Whispers, this game involves your students standing in a line and passing a message down from one end to the next.
The children must whisper the message into each other’s ear and see how it turns out in the end.
This game is very humorous and is sure to have your students in hysterics. It allows you to say some completely nonsense things to try and catch them out!
Apple Pie
For an activity that will have your students in hysterics, Apple Pie is one of the best.
This game involves making one of your students stand at the front of the class and close their eyes (or turn around so they are not facing the other students).
This means that they cannot see anyone else but can still hear them.
Then, one student chosen by you must shout out the words “Apple Pie!”
The student at the front has to be able to guess who said ‘Apple Pie’ to be able to sit back down and win the round.
This means that the students who are chosen to say ‘Apple Pie’ have to try and disguise their voices to win – this usually involves them making silly noises and voices to try and throw their classmates off.
It’s a lot of fun and is sure to have your students in hysterics over some of the crazy voices your students try out.
Find It Fast
This activity involves hiding something around your classroom and having your students try to find it. It’s kind of like an indoor scavenger hunt but with one key object.
The object can be anything but it should be something unique and small so it can fit in lots of different places. If your class has a mascot or small stuffed toy, then this would be ideal.
Have all your students sit down at their desks with their heads down and eyes shut. Then, hide the object somewhere in the room and tell your students to try and find it.
You can get creative and try hiding the object in very tricky spots for them to find – so this will keep them occupied for a very long time.
Sensory Play
Sensory play is great for preschoolers and they are sure to love sticking their hands in all kinds of mess. So, take advantage of the end of the school year to try out some sensory play.
Sensory play allows your students to play with some unusual materials safely. You can set up lots of different basins with different materials inside including Lego bricks, water, sand, mud, Play Dough, slime, and more!
You can even set out instruments for your students to make some noises with and even a dark room with lots of glowing lights and a disco ball.
For snack time, you can bring out lots of different foods for your students to try (just be wary of any allergies).
You can bring out healthy snacks like fruit and veg, or try out some different snacks from around the world from different cultures.
This kind of play is super varied and will occupy your students for hours!
Red Light Green Light
Another classic activity that you can try out with your students is Red Light Green Light.
This game takes place outdoors in the yard where your students can enjoy lots of space to run around. Plus, they get to enjoy some sunshine while the summer is in full swing!
To play, have one student stand facing a wall. When they are facing the wall, the other students must run towards it as fast as possible to try and win.
However, when the student at the front turns around, the other students must stay completely still or face being sent back to the start. The first student to reach the wall wins and takes the other student’s place.
This activity will wear out your students and get them to use up a lot of their energy, so it’s a great end-of-the-day activity to try out!
Obstacle Course
And finally, we have the ultimate end-of-school-year activity – the obstacle course!
Obstacle courses are great as they get your students active and also get them thinking while on the move. They have to think of ways to get around each obstacle to try and reach the end as soon as possible.
You can set up an obstacle course using hoops that your students have to step in or pass through, carry jugs full of water without spilling anything, sacks to hop in, skipping ropes to skip with, basketballs to dribble, and so many more!
Split your students into teams or have them run the obstacle course one by one to see who can make it through the fastest!
Conclusion
So, there you have it!
We hope these fun activities help you prepare for the end of the school year. Each one is very unique but a lot of fun so your students are sure to enjoy each and every one. Good luck!
