After the winter holidays, many schools start anticipating finishing the first 100 days of school. The actual date varies, with most schools reaching the 100th day at the end of January or sometime in early or mid-February.
We’ve compiled a list of fun activities to ring in reaching 100 days of school. You can do them in class or as part of a family event. In addition to being a milestone to mark as a group, a 100th day celebration can help break up the winter with activities, math games, and even literacy and art projects. And you can use our customizable 100th Day of School flyer to promote your activities.
Say It With a Shirt
A popular idea for marking 100 days of school is to have kids wear shirts with 100 of something on them, like safety pins, buttons, or fuzzy balls. Encourage kids and families to get creative; check out these 11 fun ways to decorate a shirt. (Short on time? Have the children use fabric pens to write up a bunch of equations that add up to the number 100: 1 + 99, 37 + 63, 22 + 78, and so on.)
Have a Party
Hold a party for students to celebrate completing 100 days of school. Choose some of the ideas and activities from this list, and give the classroom a party feel with some simple decorations—or even by decorating with those activities (for example, tacking up 100 items in small bags on a bulletin board or the 100 snowflakes or valentines, taping the kids’ self-portraits to a wall, etc.
You’ll have a guaranteed party hit by setting up a simple photo booth (even just a sheet tacked to a wall) and taking photos (or letting the kids take selfies) with our photo booth prop templates: “100” glasses, “I am 100 days smarter” crown, and more.
100 Days of School Photo Booth Prop Templates
Make Words
A literacy activity is a fun way to get in some learning while marking the day. One such activity is see how many words kids can make with the letters in “one hundred.” Ask kids to come up with 100 positive adjectives that describe their school. Or make it a team effort by giving groups of students kits with 100 words (cut out on paper) and challenging them to create a story.
Fill Small Bags
Send each child home with a small plastic bag to be filled with 100 small items, like buttons, candy, paper cutouts, and more. Encourage kids to think outside the box in choosing their items. In the classroom, add a learning component by having kids guess which bags would be the heaviest and lightest, then weighing the bags.
via Growing Kinders
Build With 100 Legos
Before the 100th day, ask families to donate or loan Legos, and have kids count out sets of 100. Then see what they come up with. You can extend the activity by seeing what they can build together combining their individual structures.
Take It to the Gym
With your PE instructor’s supervision, challenge kids to do the 100-yard dash, 100 sit-ups, and 100 jumping jacks. End the activities with a beanbag toss to see who can get to 100 tosses first, and award kids who finish a certificate of completion.
Certificate for 100th Day PE Challenge
Create a Lasting Memory
Ask students to write 100 reasons why they like their school (or town). (You could divide by the number of students to get as close to 100 reasons as possible—if the class has around 20 students, have each child list five reasons.) Then post and display their reasons on a bulletin board.
"100 Reasons" Sheet
Make 100 Decorations
Depending on the timing of your school’s 100th Day, provide materials for students to make 100 snowflakes to decorate the classroom, or 100 hearts if your day falls in February.
Snowflake Templates
Read 100 Books
Leading up to 100th Day, challenge classes to read 100 books. Keep a chart or poster in the class and encourage kids to cheer each other on as they log finished books. If they meet that goal by 100th Day, award them a small prize like a week of longer recesses or special bookmarks, and give them a certificate of completion.
Certificate for Reading 100 Books
Take 100 Steps
To create a sense of collaboration, and a cute way to “decorate,” have children trace their shoe on a piece of construction paper. Then have them cut out the shape, write their name on it, and place a piece of tape on the back. Have each class go out in the school hallway and count 100 steps. When each child gets to 100, they can stick their paper foot on the wall.
Cut 100 Shapes
Provide supplies (glue, construction paper, foam) and have kids cut out shapes—both conventional and from their imaginations—until they have 100 different ones. Glue the shapes to a poster board, and hang it in the classroom or hallway.
Heartfelt Thoughts
If the 100th day falls in February, celebrate it along with Valentine’s Day and Congenital Heart Defect Week (affecting 1 in 100 infants) with a thoughtful craft project. Have students write handmade Valentine’s Day or get well cards to send to families and medical staff at a local pediatric cardiac ICU unit. Set a goal of 100 cards by the 100th day.
Scavenger Hunt
Print the number 100 on cards or stickers and ask teachers to hide them in their classrooms and randomly around the school building. When kids find a card, they redeem it for a prize.
Donation Drive
After the crush of the holidays, food pantries run out of stock. Check in with local food providers for a list of current needs and hold a donation drive. Set a goal to donate 100 canned items, pet food, or other supplies the organization needs.
School Supply Stock-up
Collect 100 school supplies to restock dwindling classroom resources. Create a teacher supply list and upload it to TeacherLists.com (our sister site). Share the link with parents, who can shop either in store or online and donate exactly what the teacher needs.
Colorful Bookmarks
If kids are challenged to read 100 books, help them keep their place with a fun 100 Days Smarter bookmark that they can color. Available on teacherspayteachers.com and other sites.
Write It Down
Ask children for 100 reasons why they love their teacher or their school, collecting the responses in an online spreadsheet. Glue individual responses to poster board or colorful paper, and post on the school entrances and in the hallways for everyone to see.
Originally posted in 2014 and updated regularly.
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