Ways to Count Down to the End of the School Year

It’s a little shocking to me how little time in school my daughter has left for this school year. It feels like seventh grade has flown by and we’ll be done and into summer in no time.

If you want to mark the remaining days — in the classroom or at home — this collection of end of the school year countdown ideas is a fun way to do it.

If you have enough days left to do this for everyone in your classroom, this idea from Sparkling in Second Grade is super sweet. Each child gets to be the student of the day one day and the other kids say or write a nice thing about that student. Then the child can keep those nice words, and it serves as a classroom countdown to the end of the year as the number of pictures dwindles.

The Sassy Apple Teaching has a fun list of 16 end of year activities you can make into a chain and have a different child break the chain to see what the activity is each day. You can of course alter this one if there are things you can’t do or you don’t have that many days left. Or just make your own list and write the ideas on paper looped to make a chain.

Around the Kampfire has a nice list of end of year traditions including a countdown that lasts five days. Each idea includes a simple snack and printable activities you can grab from Teachers Pay Teachers. (Other fun ideas include kindness notes, end of year awards and a printable memory book.)

Another fun set of end of year activities you can add to your chain or just do on their own comes from Amy Lemons. There are art projects, solar smores, even a pickle day to make the end of the year super memorable.

Lots of Americans seem to think that May 5 is Mexican Independence Day, but that holiday actually falls on Sept. 16.

May 5 is the celebration of the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexicans defeated the French in 1862. Independence Day marks the beginning of their fight for independence from Spain in 1810. That was the day of what’s known as El Grito de Dolores, or the cry of Dolores, for when the Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the church bells at his church in Dolores and declared that Mexico should be free from Spanish rule.

They would fight for their freedom until 1821 when they finally gained independence.

Fabulous Classroom has a little of the history and ideas for celebrating the holiday for all age groups. There’s also a link to a good video in that post about the real story of Mexican Independence Day.

Twinkl also has a good tops about the history and different activities, discussion ideas, crafts and foods that can be incorporated into lessons at school or used at home.

I also found a few pins that no longer link to a website but include good information on Mexican Independence Day, including some questions for students to answer based on the reading. You can find more printables and questions for kids from TX Homeschool Mama on Etsy (also available in Spanish).

You can find a lot more paid resources about Mexican Independence Day at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Mexican flag crafts are a fun option for celebrating Mexican Independence Day (though the current iteration of their flag has only been in use since 1968). Kids Activities Blog has a free Mexican flag printable and a few different ideas for decorating it including dot markers and torn tissue paper.

You can also find some great Mexican crafts at Red Ted Art. The post includes all sorts of Mexican inspired projects including Day of the Dead crafts, Frida Kahlo pinatas and upcycled musical instruments. I love the giant paper flowers they shared from Honestly WTF.

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