End of the Year Countdown

Last time I wrote, I talked about how I really want to make the last few weeks of school special for my students.  I also want to make it manageable and not too stressful for me.  I've been bouncing around end of the year ideas in my head for a few days now and trying to decide on the best thing to do.  There are so many fun ideas out there and also fun ideas that I wanted to incorporate but I just haven't gotten organized yet.

While searching online, I came across a few Pinterest and blog ideas that solved my problem...an end of the year countdown!  Every day my students will find out what special activity they will do for the next day.  I plan to reveal it to them at the very end of the day.

Confession:  I may have a slightly teeny-tiny ulterior motive in mind.  Clean up from centers has gotten  S  L  O  W  E  R and  S L O W E R R R R every day.  And no matter how hard I try to get them to clean up after themselves, it seems as if I put the kids on the bus and come back to bigger disaster every day.  Case in point:  Someone just walked away from the blocks center and out to the bus today.  Just like that.  So, I plan on revealing the next countdown activity AFTER they have all come to the carpet packed up and cleaned up.  Which is how the end of the day is usually supposed to run, but anyway...I think having this to look forward to will make clean up time even faster!  And, I think they will simply enjoy the activities themselves.

My version is most likely going to consist of envelopes on a clothesline.  I'm a little worried that if I hang balloons, a balloon will pop or a student will "accidentally" pop it.  :)  I think it might be fun to pick a different student every day to open the envelope...another incentive for good behavior!

Here is my list of activities.  They will start when we come back from Memorial Day Break.  There are so many ideas out there, but this is what I know will work for my class and also not require too much running around for prep and setting up on my part.  With the possibility of moving out of the room at the end of the year, I've got to keep it simple for my own sanity.  

15.  Bonus Day (this Friday, the first envelope will explain the countdown)
14.  Make Your Own Nametag Day (thanks Kickin' It In Kindergarten for this idea!)
13.  Double Recess Day (which means we'll go outside at centers time)
12.  Use a Pen Day (I took away several that showed up last week, so they'll be excited about this!)
11.  Bubbles Day (every student will get their own bottle and we'll play for a few minutes)
10.  Bring a Toy to School Day (see #12)
9.    Use Markers Day (we have VERY specific guidelines about when to use markers)
8.    Science Experiment Day (I wish we had more time for experiments, so this will be fun!)
7.    Lunch in the Room Day (again, something I've wanted to incorporate all year)
6.    Mystery Reader Day (right now it's a mystery to me too...)
5.    Make A Class Gift Day (for our room mom and helpers/volunteers)
4.    Visit 1st Grade Day (going to work with 1st grade to plan something fun)
3.    Pick Your Own Seat Day (I figure if this backfires, we're almost done!)
2.    Beach Day (their teacher is super excited to plan this one.  I'm thinking something along the lines of them bringing a beach towel to sit on and wearing sunglasses and leis listening to beachy music while we work/clean up)
1.    LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!  (perhaps a movie or simply awards/end of year gifts and helping clean up the room...I'm not too clear on what will have to be done on this day, so I'll wait and see.)

So that's the plan.  I'm excited to make some fun memories before I send my kiddoes home for the summer!