In this blog post you’ll find 25 end of year activities for special education. It’s scary to think that another school year is almost over. And this is when I always get the most emails from educators asking for ideas for the end of the school year. So I’ve put together 25 of my favorite end of year activities that will be perfect for your special education classroom.
1. Create a Memory Book
There are lots of different memory books that you can use with your students for the end of the year. This flip book is one that I love to use. It gives students the chance to be creative and complete a craft, while also discussing 5 of their favorite things from this school year.
2. Have an End of Year Class Party
Class parties are always so much fun! I know that my staff enjoy them just as much as my students do too! Parties are a great way for us to work on a range of social and life skills with our students. But they’re also a chance for us to have fun with our students. You can mix it up by adding a theme to it too.
3. Make a Time Capsule
This is something that I always say I’ll try and do the next school year.. And then that time comes and goes! But I love the thought of doing a time capsule with students. If you haven’t heard of them.. Time capsules are where students can write down memories, ideas, or even keep objects about something and then store them away. Then, they look back on them in the future. I know many kindergarten teachers put the time capsule into a box marked with ‘Open when you graduate!’ And then students can look back on their time capsule when they graduate from school to reflect on their time as a kindergartener.
4. Create a Class Mural
Have students work together – or individually and then piece together the work – to create a classroom mural. These always look great put up on display as bulletin boards. And they’re a great way to reflect back on the progress from the year, and to end the year on a high.
5. Have a Field Day
My students love to be outside. So it makes sense for me to plan field days for the end of each school year. The weather is (usually) really nice and warm, and my students are so excited to get outside and enjoy! There are so many different activities you can do for a field day too.
I usually start by sitting down with my team of staff and we plan the activities we want to do for the field day. We like to take into account the age group of the students and plan activities that are appropriate for not just their age, but also ability levels too.
Some of the more popular activities that we like to include are tug of war, relay races, obstacle courses, and treasure hunts. You could also include activities like face painting, balloon twisting, and a photo booth for added fun. Water activities are also a huge hit if you’re able to add them!
6. Write Letters to Next Year’s Students
This hasn’t always been possible with my students. But some years, I have a group of students who really do enjoy writing to the students who will be coming into my class for the next year. This works a little bit different for me because some of my students may stay with me for 3-4 years. And some may only be with me for 1 year. But many of my students have really enjoyed writing letters to my students for the next school year. This often includes talking about me, the classroom, their friends who may still be in the class.. And also giving some fun tips and bits of advice.
7. Host a Family Picnic or BBQ
If you’re in a school that really value students families and their relationships with the school.. Hosting a family picnic or bbq is always going to be a huge hit! In the field of special education, I always try to find ways for my students families to be able to connect with each other and build friendships with others in similar situations to them. I’m always someone who likes to encourage all of my staff to also have the chance to communicate with students families too.
8. Create a Slideshow of the Year’s Highlights
This is always a must for me. And over the years, I’ve reduced many staff and students’ families to tears with using sentimental music – oops! But it always goes down so well. I love to include different photos and videos of students from the school year and put them into a slideshow with a nice song or two. It’s always so sweet to sit and look back over the school year. This is also when me and my staff really recognize how much our students have grown and progressed throughout the year.
9. Make a Class Yearbook
I love a year book, and there’s lots of different ways that you can do these depending on your students abilities and ages. One of my favorites was to have students draw a self-portrait on a piece of paper – and staff too! I’ll then have students write down their name and some little facts about themselves. Then, I scan them all into the computer and reduce them down in size. I put 4 portraits per page in the year book if I have more students. Otherwise I’ll keep them as full sizes and make a bigger book.
10. Host a Talent Show
This isn’t something I’ve personally done with my class, but I have participated as part of a whole school event. Students are offered the chance to either be in the talent show or to watch. And I always think that’s a great way to be inclusive of everyone. If we have students who want to be in the talent show but are too anxious to perform in front of everyone, we video them on their own in the classroom performing and then put the video up on the screen during the talent show for their entry.
11. Host a Reading Marathon
To host a reading marathon, you will need to first determine the date, time, and location of the event. Then, select a theme and choose appropriate books for the marathon. I like to invite my students’ family members to also participate as readers, and then create a schedule for the event.
On the day of the marathon, set up reading stations with comfortable seating and supplies for the readers. Don’t forget to provide refreshments and prizes for the students and family members who participate.
12. Have a Class Scavenger Hunt
An end-of-year class scavenger hunt is a fun and interactive way to celebrate the end of the school year. The hunt can be tailored to the age group and individual ability levels by using simple clues and hiding items in easy-to-find locations.
The students can work in small groups or pairs to search for items around the classroom or school grounds. This activity allows the students to practice teamwork and problem-solving skills while having fun. It’s a great way to end the school year on a positive note and create lasting memories for everyone involved.
13. Create a Photo Booth with Props
In the past I’ve designed some fun photo booth backdrops in PowerPoint to have up on display on the IWB. Then I have different types of photo booth props on hand. I set up a member of staff on the ‘photo booth’ with the classroom iPad. Then students (and staff too!) can rotate through the photo booth trying on different props and having photos taken.
14. Host a Game Day
My students love games. And throughout the year, I try to give my students plenty of opportunities to play games, especially as part of group skills. For game day, I put photos on a PowerPoint slideshow of all the games that we have available. Sometimes I’ll borrow some from other classes to mix it up and give students something new and exciting to try too.
Then I’ll have students choose different games that they want to play and we work our way through them throughout the day. You can also send a note home to offer students the chance to dress up as their favorite game character!
15. Have a Movie Day
Full movie days can be a little bit tricky for my class. But over the years I’ve found that we can tailor movie day to suit our needs better. And what that looks like for us is to choose a movie that everyone wants to watch. Then I plan some fun activities based on that movie throughout the morning and before lunch. After lunch, we make some popcorn, special drinks, pop on the movie, turn out the lights and relax to watch it.
16. Make a Class Blanket
I wish I was as amazing at crafts like sewing and knitting as some other educators. So this is one that’s on my bucket list of things to do with students, but it hasn’t happened yet! But I know many educators put together opportunities for students to make a square of a blanket, and then they sew them altogether to create a class blanket.
17. Host a Graduation Ceremony
End of year graduations are always something that I look forward to.. And end up so sad to see. Because it often means that at least one of my little ones is off on their next big adventure! I’ve held many graduation ceremonies over the years, and my favorite parts are;
- Making a slideshow for each graduating student of photos and videos from their time in my classroom.
- Having a graduation photo booth with props.
- Inviting students families in to watch a graduation ceremony.
- Handing out diplomas for the graduating students. These also include certificates like this.
- We make graduation crowns to wear around school for the day. Download the ones I use for free here.
- I then gather up all the photos I’ve taken from that day and put them onto a scrapbook page to create a graduation day memory page for students.
To make it easy for you, I have a whole graduation pack that you can download and use here.
18. Create a Class Time Capsule
Similar to the individual time capsule that we discussed earlier on in this blog post. I think it’s a great idea to also do a class time capsule. Perhaps it is something that can be opened up when students graduate from the school to look back on together as a group.
19. Host a Minute to Win It Game Tournament
Hosting a ‘Minute to Win It’ game tournament can be a fun and exciting event. It is important to choose games that are age-appropriate and easy to understand for your students ability levels.
Some good options include “Cookie Face”, “Cup Stacking”, and “Marshmallow Toss”.
Ensure that each student has a chance to participate and consider giving out small prizes for the winners. Remember to keep the focus on fun and participation rather than competition. Overall, hosting a ‘Minute to Win It’ game tournament can be a great way to encourage teamwork, sportsmanship, and creativity among students.
20. Have a Class Dance Party
My students love to dance. And so a class dance party is always a popular event. We gather up some fun songs, and ask students for their input too. Then, we ask families to send in some disco clothes for students to change into. After lunch, we turn off the lights in class, switch on some fun disco lights and put music on to dance away!
21. Create a Class Scrapbook
I always purchase a scrapbook from Amazon like this one. (Aff. link) and then I have students draw pictures of each other to place into the scrapbook at different pages. I’ll also include staff members in it too. We will sometimes ask students to draw about memories from the school year, or have students print out photos from the year to place inside there.
I like to make it very student led and for them to really take charge of the class scrapbook. Then I scan all of the pages into the computer and print out a copy for each student to go home with. The main scrapbook stays with me and after many years of being in the classroom, I can safely say I have collected a bunch of these. And I can honestly say, they are one of my favorite things to look through.
22. Host a Science Fair
Science fairs can also be another popular end of year event for students to take part in. You can set themes for entries for students or not. Sometimes I find for many of my students and their families, they prefer if I set some guidelines so that they don’t feel so overwhelmed with choosing what to do.
23. Hold a Decorating Cupcakes Party
My students love baking and so I try to keep this going right up to the end of the school year. But, as it’s the end of the year, the last thing I want to be doing is buying things that are either going to go out of date before school returns or end up getting wasted. So as the end of the year gets closer, I’ll start to use up all of our remaining cooking supplies. And once those have run out, we have cupcake decorating parties!
I just head to my local grocery store and pick up ready made cupcakes that aren’t decorate. Then I provide my students with a bunch of different decorating items that they can use to decorate their cookies however they want.
24. Create a Class Garden Project
One of my fellow educator friends always does amazing garden projects with her students at the end of each school year. Then, she sends them home with her students as gifts for their families! I’ve seen her make bird houses with students, bird feeders, plant pots, planting flowers.. There’s so many different types of garden projects to do and she says her families always love having those items out in their gardens throughout the summer.
25. Class Field Trip
This is the one that all of us look forward to every year in my class. And I mean, at the start of every school year, me and my staff are already excited for the end of that school year. We love to choose a fun field trip that our students will enjoy, and staff too. Whether it’s a farm, aquarium or theme park.. It’s a different type of field trip than we take throughout the school year and we get to go for a full day!
Students absolutely love having the chance to be out for the day, and having snacks, lunch out etc. If you get the opportunity, I would 100% recommend that you do a class field trip at the end of every school year.
If you can’t go on a field trip this year, check out this blog post of 19 different virtual field trips.
If you found this blog post helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media.
You may also find the following podcast episodes and blog posts helpful;
- Free End of Year Classroom Cleaning Checklist
- End of Year Tips for Special Education Teachers
- 10 Affordable End of Year Gifts
- Keeping Students Engaged at the End of the Year
Thanks,
Nikki
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