Countdown to the Last Day of School Activities

Every kid counts down to the last day of school. That glorious day each year, the day that school is out for the summer, is on the minds of kids everywhere as soon as May hits. This excitement offers a great opportunity for parents to implement some family fun to help count down to the final day of school. As if kids really need further reason to be excited about the last day of school, but these great activities will help your child wind down from the school year and help you as the parent get involved with the excitement. You will love your child's reaction to this countdown to the last day of school fun. Check out these fun ideas for a last day of school countdown.

End of School Responsibility Tokens. This countdown to the end of school activity requires that your child practice some end-of-the-year responsibility. As your child completes important end of school tasks (state testing, turning in all his library books, cleaning out his backpack, etc), offer him "countdown to the last day of school" tokens. When the last day of school arrives, he can turn the tokens in for a gift, a dinner out, or whatever item you choose. Make some cards ahead of time with the specific end of school tasks written on them. As he completes one of the tasks, he turns it in for a token. Then when the long-awaited last day of school arrives, he can turn in those tokens for something great. This countdown to the last day of school activity is great for the kids and mom and dad too!

Towel Roll Presents. For this countdown to the last day of school activity, you will need to save several toilet paper or paper towel rolls. Cut ten rolls so that they get increasingly shorter. Write the number 10 on the tallest roll, 9 on the next shortest roll, and so forth until all 10 rolls have a number. Then, place a small summer gift inside each toilet roll. At the beginning of the school day, each day for the last 10 days before summer break, let your child empty the tube to see what's inside. Some ideas for summer-themed presents that will fit in the tubes include sidewalk chalk, bubbles, seeds to plant or tickets for a theme park or zoo.

Daily Math Blast. To help your child practice some math and problem solving skills, and also recall the countdown to the last day of school, try this daily math blast game. Each day for the final 10 days of school, have a math/trivia problem waiting for your child in the morning. The problem might ask "how many days are in the month of May?" or "how many days have you been in school since spring break?" Your child writes down his answer on the card. On the last day of school, mom and dad check the answers. For every right answer, the child can pick a fun summer prize, choose a fun summer activity, or pick a fun summer food (popsicles, yum!) during the next grocery store trip. Have fun with this countdown to the last day of school.

Okay, so maybe the summer months aren't exactly convenient for all parents with school-aged children. But admit it, isn't it fun joining in that excitement with your kids and reminiscing about your own countdowns to the last day of school when you were a kid? Use these activities so the entire family can get involved in the countdown to the last day of school.