Fun End of the School Year Ideas

Last week I asked the amazing teachers on my facebook page what how they liked to celebrate the end of the school year. Here are their terrific ideas: 

I love having students vote on class awards. I always make enough categories so that every student gets an award. Some categories include: Math Whiz, Class Clown, Most Helpful, etc.
-Jenifer Phillips

We take our first graders to visit 2nd grade. They do a walk through tour, and then we buddy them up with a 2nd grader to conduct "interviews." It is SUPER adorable! They have a blast coming up with the questions! Also, this year in math, we're doing Math Olympics where homerooms compete. We're playing fast facts baseball, and other fun games! Should be a blast!!!
-A Year of Many "Firsts"

Read-In!!! Kids bring pillow, something to lay on, lots of books, something to drink and eat of their choice. We do a 1/2 hour of reading with a 10 minute break after the reading. Repeat all day! The kids love it and it is time for me to do paperwork, etc.!
-Julie Slocum Santello

I have a great book of 'fractured faerie tales. We split the class into groups and they have a week to prepare for a presentation. They love it. It's like Reader's Theatre so no lines to learn.
-Betsy Lutz Brown

My kids were very rowdy one day, so I decided to have them write a letter to the Kindergarten bunch about what to expect in 1st grade. They loved it! Many of them made a graphic organizer before they wrote with 2 columns, one with a smiley face and one with a frowny face. There were some cute sayings about what "would make Mrs. Totty mad". lol
-Sherrie Hood Totty

A class scrapbook. I just saw that Laura Candler has directions for one on her page so I'll integrate some of her ideas with mine. I also let my students paint wooden picture frames and put a class picture inside. Oh, and I do a book swap for summer reading.
-Chen Po

I love passing out portfolios and having my kids examine how much they have grown (academically and physically!) since the beginning of the year!
-Mrs. Lirette's Learning Detectives

This is my first year teaching. I had my 6th grade crew write letters to themselves during the first wk of school. They reflected on these when writing to the upcoming 6th graders. It was great to watch them realize how far they'd come.
-Carrie Elizabeth

After starting our year with First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg (first story in our reading books) we finished with the read aloud, Last Day Blues (same characters).
-Monica Horn

Checkers tournament, movie day, (different rooms show different movies, kids pick which they want to see like at theaters) game day ( bring your favorite game)-Gina Smith Robinson

I have done tee shirts. The children bring in white shirts and we get fabric markers. The children design the shirts highlighting the year. Then they have their classmates sign the shirt. -Renee Manzi

I had all of my kids sit in a circle with a bouncy ball. They had to shut their eyes and roll the ball. Then they had to say something nice about the person who caught the ball. It was so sweet.
-Holly Jeanette Hanson

My kids made kites. We used  this site, where they have a video tutorial. Super easy, and then we flew them outside as a reward after testing week!
-Brittany Ledbetter Neal

I have had kids do a class scrapbook. Each student gets an 8 and 1/2 by 11 piece of scrapbook paper and they refelct on their school year. They are allowed to use any arts and craft materials that are availalbe in the room or that they bring from home. I encourage them to include a picture and quotes from the year. It is really interesting to see what memories they will leave the 6th grade with.
-Rebecca Helms McKnight

I have the students do ABC books on how to survive in my class. Then the next years class gets to read them on the first day if class. They can be really creative on what gets them in trouble and what they can do to stay in my good side.
-Heather Wilzbacher Barrow

I have my 6th graders write letters to next year's new 6th graders. It's so hard to change to middle school. My new students love hearing their advise about changing classes, connection classes, lockers, staying organized and doing homework. This year I even made a survey for students to reflect on my abilities as a teacher. It was very eye-opening as they were sweet to think that I was a great teacher. I did learn that I don't let students know their progress as much as they'd like. It's my goal for next year.
-Emily Watts McGrady

I have each child write a positive comment about their classmates. Then I type up the comments and give them to the kids on the last day of school. We brainstorm a few lists as well... memories, good things about our school, ideas on things to do during the summer.
-Elementary Matters

We have fun day with 10 stations.the fab this year was a funnoodle javelin throw. I made 2 stations by making circles from the noodles. And using colored duck tape put them on larger noodles.they looked like Olympic rings between 2 posts. The kids were divided into 2 teams to throw through the circle. 5th graders had so much fun...great to see kiddos being kids.
-Susan Heneka 

I have my fifth graders (who are graduating and moving to a new school) take a Memory Walk around the school and say good-bye to teachers and think about special memories that have made. We make a Memory Mat of favorite memories...friends, teachers, events...and we write letters to favorite teachers.
-Chris Thompson

Do you have more to add? Please comment with your ideas!