Whether you are the teacher that plans your end of the year classroom party ideas way in advance, or the teacher scrambling at the last minute to throw something together — don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. These end of school year party ideas are going to give you all the options you need to make the end of the school year memorable and tons of fun — for your students AND for you too!
Read on for the very best end of the year classroom party ideas!
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- Planning For The End Of The Year
- End Of The Year Classroom Party Ideas
- End of the School Year Classroom Party
Planning For The End Of The School Year
I know, I know – it can be hard to even think about end of the year classroom party ideas right now! The end of the school year can get so busy – report cards, parent conferences, assessments, summer plans, cleaning up the classroom… I mean, the list can get scary at this time of year!
But planning your end of the school year party should be a fun task – not a burden! So let’s make it easy peasy, and dare I say… fun!
Before you choose one of these end of the year classroom party ideas, there are a few basic choices that can make it easier to organize your planning:
- Have a student vote – If you’re having trouble deciding, pick your top three ideas and let your students vote! They’ll love being a part of the process, and then you don’t have to worry that you’re picking something that they’ll love.
- Parents or students only – Decide if you want to invite parents/families to your celebration or keep it students only. Or you might have parents come for part of the day only and celebrate with just your students for another part of the day.
- One day or multiple – You may end up having multiple celebrations depending on how much you like to celebrate the end of the year, what your school has scheduled, and how much you want to spread it out.
Answering these first questions can help a lot you when you’re first starting to plan out and organize your end of the school year classroom celebrations. Once you’ve got these basics set, you’re ready to dive into these end of the year classroom party ideas and see which one will be the best fit for you and your students this year!
End of the Year Classroom Party Ideas
These end of the year classroom party ideas have something for everyone – whether you want to keep things simple, or you want to go all out! And if you’re really ready to party – you can do more than one of these ideas on different days during last week. I mean, why not??
But remember, our students don’t need us to burn ourselves going over the top. The smallest things mean SO much to them. You’ve poured yourself into their growth all year long, so don’t push yourself too hard at the end – do what feels workable for you!
So let’s dive into these 9 end of the year classroom party ideas, starting with my personal favorite… virtual field trips!!!
Virtual Field Trip Party
Virtual field trips are SUCH a fun way to celebrate with your students. I love using them all year long for holiday and class celebrations. But doing them for your end of the school year party can be an extra special treat.
The best part of these is that they require very little prep from you! All the fun is already planned within the field trip, so these are a great choice if you want an end of the school year party that won’t require hours of your time to set up and manage.
Here is a great one for the end of the year:
Disneyland Virtual Field Trip
Your students will be SO excited when you tell them you’re going to Disneyland for your class party! This virtual field trip has lots of fun rides and shows to see, plus sites from the park, and some crafts to do together too – always a huge hit.
Click here to check it out in my TPT store!
Making Memories
If you want to help your students remember and celebrate the year you’ve had together, there are lots of fun ways to do it. You can create a whole class party around making memories together. Here are some of my favorite end of the year classroom party ideas for creating memories together:
Memories Craft Party
There are sooo many wonderful classroom memories crafts, you could easily create a whole party themed around creating memories!
A couple ways you could do this – set up tables with different memory crafts and let your students choose which one they want to do – like a choose your own craft party! Or, you could have the whole class do one each day the last week of school!
Here are a few of my favorite memories crafts:
- Yearbook: Create a little yearbook for each student, and have them draw or write in each other’s books. This is a fun way to help them remember their classmates from that year. I have a template for a simple student yearbook in my TPT store right here!
- Memories book: Each student creates a little book with their favorite memories from the year. Each page can have a different prompt – maybe one page is about their favorite recess game that year, and another is about their favorite subject, and another is about their favorite classroom celebration – you get the idea! The cute polaroid memories book pictured above is in my TPT store right here!
- Memories flower: This craft is always a favorite, and they look so sweet displayed in the classroom the last week of school! Each flower petal is a different favorite memory – I like to make these large so they are a wowwing display. You can get this craft template in my TPT store right here!
Photo Booth Party
This is one of the most fun end of the year classroom party ideas – your students will LOVE the chance to take photos with their friends! This is such a fun surprise for your students. Here’s how to make it happen:
- Set up 3-4 photo booths in your classroom. There are some great DIY backdrop ideas on Pinterest. You could make each one a different theme, such as beach, outer space, animals, etc. Add some props on a table for students to choose from for each photo booth.
- Get 3-4 cameras – one for each photo booth. Old phones or iPads work great. Set each one up on a tripod in front of the photo booth.
- When it’s time to party, let students go from booth to booth and take their photos with their friends. Always good to set some ground rules to keep the chaos at bay – for example, create a clear line where students have to wait their turn for each booth.
- You can also assign students to be photographers for part of the time! Or, just have the next person in line be the photographer.
- When the photo-taking is done, there are lots of fun things you can do with the photos! Here are some fun ideas:
- Make a slideshow to show your class or email to them after school has ended.
- Create a little yearbook and have it printed for each student (definitely get some parent contributions so you don’t have to pay for all that printing!)
- Let each student pick one or two photos that you’ll have printed, and have them decorate a frame for it.
While this end of the year classroom party ideas takes a lot more work from you, it definitely creates some fantastic memories for your students!
T-Shirt Making Party
A T-shirt making party is another end the year classroom celebration with a fun craft that also creates a wonderful keepsake. I’ve done a class t-shirt for years with my students, and I see them wearing it all the time afterward!
Each student needs a plain white T-shirt. I usually asked parents to bring one in, and I always had some parents who brought in T-shirt packs so I had plenty of extras. Here’s how I like to organize our T-shirt party:
- Put a piece of construction paper inside the T-shirt so nothing bleeds through. Set up the T-shirts at each student’s table seat.
- Let each student choose a Sharpie or fabric marker. Students start at their chair then everyone rotates around the classroom to sign the back of each shirt until they’ve signed them all!
- Have tables set up with fabric paints and paintbrushes. It’s awesome to get a couple parent volunteers so that each table has an adult helping students share the paints and the brushes.
- Students can paint whatever (school appropriate) design they want on the front of the shirt – something that reminds them of the school year they’ve had.
- Leave the shirts in the sun to dry. They usually need 24 hours to dry completely, depending on what kind of paint you used.
- Students get to wear their shirts on the last day of school!
Theme Days
Theme days are one of the most fantastic end of the year classroom party ideas to make your students feel extra loved. These often require a little extra prep from you, but are always a big hit with your students.
The possibilities for theme days are endless! Carnival, jungle, outer space, movies… but here are two of my favorites to make an end of the school year class party extra special:
ABC Countdown
One popular end of the school year celebration idea is the ABC Countdown. This idea turns each day of the last month into a special celebration based on a different letter of the alphabet.
Think “A” for Art Day to “Z” for Zoom Around the Room, it adds excitement and fun to the classroom routine. It’s not just about waiting for summer break; it’s about enjoying each day and making great memories with classmates and teachers. Whether it’s dressing up for Wacky Wednesday or trying cool science experiments, the ABC Countdown makes the end of the school year a blast.
And of course you still have other things you need to teach during the last 26 days! You can make this a small block in the afternoon until the last week, when you may have more time to devote to festivities.
Some ideas might be:
- A – Art Day: Spend the day creating colorful masterpieces.
- B – Beach Day: Bring in beach towels and sunglasses for a relaxed, beach-themed day.
- C – Crazy Hat Day: Let students show off their wackiest headgear.
- D – Dance Party: Crank up the music and let loose with a dance party.
- E – Experiment Day: Conduct fun and interactive science experiments.
- F – Field Day: Organize outdoor games and activities for some fun in the sun.
- G – Game Day: Play board games, card games, or outdoor games together.
- H – Hat Day: Wear your favorite hats to school.
- I – Ice Cream Social: Enjoy delicious ice cream treats with classmates.
- J – Joke Day: Share jokes and funny stories to bring laughter to the classroom.
- K – Kindness Day: Perform acts of kindness for classmates and teachers.
- L – Lego Day: Build and create with everyone’s favorite building blocks.
- M – Movie Day: Watch a movie or have a movie marathon with popcorn.
- N – Nature Walk: Take a stroll outside and explore nature together.
- O – Outdoor Picnic: Have a picnic lunch outside with classmates.
- P – Pajama Day: Wear pajamas to school for a cozy and relaxed day.
- Q – Quiet Reading: Spend time reading books quietly or listening to stories.
- R – Relay Races: Organize relay races and other fun outdoor activities.
- S – Sports Day: Play various sports and games together.
- T – Talent Show: Showcase talents and skills with a classroom talent show.
- U – Under the Sea Day: Dive into ocean-themed activities and crafts.
- V – Video Call Day: Connect with a class from another school via video call.
- W – Water Day: Have water-themed games and activities to cool off.
- X – eXtra Special Day: Plan a surprise activity or treat for the class.
- Y – Yearbook Signing: Exchange yearbooks and memories with classmates.
- Z – Zoom Into Summer: Have a final party with a movie or virtual field trip on the last day.
Glow Party
A glow party is a theme that your students will definitely love! Think… dark, neon lights, like a rave but for kids! There are lots of activities you can do for glow day, but here are a few ideas:
- If you want to keep it simple, you just need glow sticks, glow necklaces, and some music! Let your students have a dance party in the dark with their glowing accessories. You can play freeze dance, musical chairs – any basic game suddenly becomes special when it’s glow day!
- If you have access to black lights, then you can really go all out! Set up a few black lights in your classroom, and decorate the tables with neon accessories, so your students will see them when they come in! They have neon cups and plates, neon tape, neon party glasses – the possiblities are endless! You can set up different neon games in parts of the classroom, let students eat from neon plateware and utensils, and have a glow dance party!
Easy Party Ideas
If you are looking to keep things simple, then I am right there with you. Trust me, your students will LOVE any of these end of the year classroom party ideas. These are tried and true, and will make a sweet ending to your school year.
Parent Potluck
This might sound daunting, but if you delegate it properly, you will have very few tasks that fall to you. Here’s how to create an end of the school year parent potluck party that is stress-free:
- Invite your families to join you for a potluck lunch. Set a clear start and stop time (1 – 1.5 hours is plenty).
- Create an online sign up (I always use Sign Up Genius). Include places to sign up for party set up, main dishes, veggie/fruit dishes, dessert dishes, drinks, cups and napkins and silverware, and party clean up.
- Make sure you follow up with parents so that the important slots all get filled – especially party set up and clean up!
- On the day of the potluck, take your students out to the playground and leave the set up parents in charge – they can move the tables, organize the food, and set up the places to eat – you don’t have to do any of that!
- When set up is ready and it’s time to start eating, you can say hello with a small speech. If you want to have students do some sort of presentation you can, but that’s totally optional!
- Then everyone eats together! I usually let kids play outside when they’re done eating so that the room doesn’t turn into a zoo.
- It’s good to always have a clear ending time, so that parents know when to leave – and sometimes they take their child with them so you have a small class for the rest of the day!
PJ’s, Movie, and a Treat
This is my go-to formula for a stress-free classroom party. Kids seem to love any excuse to wear their pajamas to school, and you can throw in letting them bring a stuffie to make it extra fun!
Watching a movie is perfect for the end of the year because it leaves you free to start organizing and putting things away in the classroom. Finish off with some yummy cookies or ice cream, and you can bet your students will go home extra happy. Your only prep is picking a movie and picking up a treat (or better yet — have some parent volunteers take care of bringing in the special treat!)
Awards Ceremony
You can create a simple, yet meaningful awards ceremony for students as an end of the year class celebration. And it’s up to you how fancy you want to make it! Some fun awards ceremony ideas…
- Paper Plate Awards – these are easy to whip out one night while watching a movie on Netflix. Think of a fun way to honor each student, and decorate a paper plate with each phrase. Some ideas might be “always a good sport”, “looking on the bright side”, “a friend to all”, “never give up”, “you make us smile”, etc.
- Graduation Certificates – you can also make your own “graduation” certificates for each student to show they’ve made it through your class! Simply type in each student’s name into a certificate template and print them out.
- Red Carpet Ceremony – if you want to get super fancy, you can create a little ceremony where students walk up a red carpet to receive their award – always a fun addition!
End Of The Year Classroom Party
Hopefully you’ve got plenty of end of the year classroom party ideas, and you’re ready to have the BEST end of the school year celebration ever!!
Don’t be afraid to take some time to do this important review work. Learning can’t happen until your classroom daily routines are running smoothly, so this will be time well spent.
Which end of the year classroom party idea are you going to try? Let me know in the comments! xoxo Laura
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