The end of school year is a special time for students and teachers alike. Not only does it mark the start of summer vacation, it’s also a transitional milestone as students prepare for the next stage in life. The great thing is that graduation ceremonies aren’t just for high school seniors. Kids of all ages feel special when their achievements are recognized with an end-of-year celebration. We’ve got some ideas to make your year-end bash a memorable event.
5 Ways to Make a Special End of Year Celebration
Hold a Dress Ceremony
Even on the tightest budget, it’s easy to add flare to a transitional celebration with some graduation gear. A simple cap and tassel set is an affordable option for elevating an undergrad awards ceremony. You can also choose to go all-out with a cap, gown, tassel, and stole.
Not only will the ceremony give students a sense of finality and excitement to the end of the school year, but it can be a memory in their lives of another important time of transition. Put together a playlist of graduation ceremony music, an inspirational video or two, and a speech to encourage your students to continue working hard throughout the next school year.
Jazz Up the Bulletin Board
Make your bulletin board a focal point for graduation festivities. Photos of your little graduates with a Hollywood-themed board put students in the spotlight. You can also involve kids in the fun by displaying special, year-end themed art or special writing projects that showcase their hopes for the future.
Looking for spring themed bulletin board decor ideas?
Go Places
Dr. Seuss’s classic, Oh, The Places You’ll Go, is a graduation favorite. Projects inspired by this lovely book can be used as classroom décor to create a festive environment. This suitcase writing activity manages to be fun, educational, and adorable, while these photo mash-ups allow kids to express their aspirations – and they look smashing displayed in windows.
End of Year Classroom Writing Activities
Whether your students take some time to write a letter to the students in your class next year, write a letter to themselves for the start of the next grade, or write a poem that encapsulates what they loved about the last school year, putting experiences and lessons learned into writing is an excellent way to end the school year. Celebrate your students’ successes over the last school year by having them create a piece of writing that they can choose to share with the class if they wish.
Add a Custom Touch
You can customize your child or students’ graduation cap by creating a DIY temporary mortar board in a few easy steps!
- Gather your materials. You’ll need a heavy paper like tag board, plus whatever decorations and art supplies you wish to use like stickers, gemstones, glitter, and markers. You’ll also need Glue Dots to temporarily attach your custom tag board.
- Cut your tag board to size by tracing the top of the graduation cap, called the mortar board. Cut a small hole in the center to accommodate the button for the tassel.
- Decorate your mortar board. You can customize it with a name, quote, or special message and use your craft supplies to really make it stand out from the crowd.
Once your project is completed and the glue or paint is dry, apply a few glue dots to the back side, then press firmly to stick it to the graduation cap. Hang the tassel from the center button as usual. After the ceremony, your custom mortarboard will peel right off, making an awesome graduation keepsake.
