End of the year activities for kids

Every teacher wants to have impressive final days of school, to make the last lessons positive and memorable. Here we suggest some ideas you can try in your lessons.

Nominations

Two weeks before the last lesson create the list of funny nominations for each child. You can do it by yourself or brainstorm with learners. Some examples: Mr Serious, Ms English, Merry boy, Sunshine girl, etc. Be aware the nominations shouldn’t be offensive! On the last day organize a ceremony, have children come on stage and give autographs; then hand out awards to them. Depending on the learners’ age and level, help kids prepare an acceptance speech.

Memory magazine

Ask each child to bring various craft materials and create a memory magazine of the year. Each child draws, makes, writes whatever they remember from the whole year on an A4 piece of paper. Then you ask each child to present their artwork and share what and why it stuck in their mind. After that, tell them to stick all the pieces of paper to make a magazine. Children can take pictures of it. Keep the magazine till the beginning of the next year and use it for revision of the material.

Charades

Another version of how to revise the material is to play charades. Have students mime something they remember from the lessons, others have to guess.

Five things

The next activity can be done on their own or in pairs, or you can set a group work. Make cards with numbers, for example, from 1 to 5 and make a list of tasks for each number. Each student/pair or group take turns to take out a number from a hat/box. They say the number, you say the task, for example, 5 — name 5 words they remember on the topic “Pets”; 3 — name 3 things they love about English lessons; 2 — say 2 things to your classmates/teachers.

You can vary this activity:

• one group can take out the number, another group — the task, for example, “2”, “name _ songs you love”.
• it can be the task for everyone or for particular group/student/pair;
• you can also organise it as a competition between individuals/pairs or groups: set a timer and have students name as many words/things as they can.
• make the ABC cards and have students name something beginning with this letter of the alphabet. For example, name all words that start with “A” you know or wish something to the student on the right but start your wish with “C” letter.
• instead of a hat or a box, you can put tasks in the balloons and have students choose which balloon to pop. 
  

  
  Wishes

  Stick A3 pieces of paper with each student’s name on the wall. Ask learners to write and draw wishes for each classmate: what they think and like about them. Play the songs from the course as a background. Alternatively, children can write wishes or piece of advice for the next group of students.

Games

Organise a game lesson. Create a game to revise the material on each topic you had during the year. For example, “bingo”, a crossword, a board game, a maze, a word search, “hangman”, a matching game. This is a great website to use.

Upside down

Create a lesson where students become teachers! Have them prepare a game, a task, an exercise for the lesson on the different topics you had.