Students are excited for the end of the school year and all of the festivities that are associated with it! This year, mix up the celebrations and include healthy ideas to celebrate the end of the year. Use these ideas to plan activities and healthy foods that your students will remember for years to come!
Activity Ideas
- Set up activity stations. If the weather is nice, take the students out and create activity stations around the play area. Activities may include a bean bag toss, sack races, making a healthy snack and planting a fruit or veggie to take home. Try these fun gardening activities with your students:
- Nature walk. Enjoy time outside by taking a short walk with your students and looking at all that nature has to offer. This is a chance to let students take a break and look for fun items in nature.
- Have a dance party! Let students provide a list of their favorite songs to create a playlist for the dance party.
- Get wet! As the weather warms, kids love a chance to splash, spray, and otherwise play in water. Have a water balloon toss, set up sprinklers, or enjoy water bottle squirt tag. Send a note home to parents so they can send dry clothes, and sign permission if necessary.
Healthy Celebrations
Students want to have a party at the end of the year. If choosing to have food for your end of year celebration, ask parents to bring in healthy foods for students to enjoy. Here are a few ideas of foods and healthy activities for your end of the year celebration.
- Serve unsweetened beverages. Make water the drink of choice for the party. Students can bring in water or have a water tasting with their classmates with fruits like oranges, lemons or other frozen fruits added to the water for flavor.
- Fruit and veggie tasting. Students have tried many different fruits and vegetables throughout the year. Encourage students to bring in their favorite fruit and veggie to share with their classmates.
- Have a cooking party. There are many easy recipes that students can make as part of a classroom activity. Let students make a fun recipe to share like Trail Mix, MyPlate Salsa or Edible Soil Cups.
- Fruit Slushies. Create your own Fruit Slushie in a Bag with 100% fruit juice, plastic baggies, ice, and salt! Kids can be active while shaking the bag and waiting for the fruit juice to freeze!