Art is about expressing your individuality, but you can also make something pretty incredible when people pool their talents. Group art projects give kids a chance to work together, putting their strengths to work.
We’ve partnered with some of our favorite Instagram art teachers to bring you this collection of project ideas. We’re always amazed by the vivid yearly collaborative art projects that Mrs. D. of @art.party.with.ms.d plans and produces—they’re especially impressive when you realize that her artists are in kindergarten and 1st and 2nd grades!
For Lauralee of @2art.chambers, collaborative art often comes down more to the way she displays her students’ work. The key is using coordinating colors and designs that make a cohesive whole when you put them all together. Then, it’s just a matter of hanging everything where it can be appreciated.
This collection of collaborative art projects works for kids, teens, and adults alike while providing results everyone can be proud of. Whether you’re into painting, sculpture, doodling, or mosaics, there’s truly something for everyone on this list. For additional inspo, drop by our partners’ Instagram accounts for photos, lesson plans, and more!
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Art Portfolio Templates
This bundle contains art portfolio cover sheets for preschool to grade 5, as well as a template that works for any grade. You also get an art project planning sheet and an artist study worksheet.
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Collaborative Art Projects
Courtesy of @2art.chambers
Kindness Quilt
How many words related to kindness can you find in these paper quilt blocks? What an amazing display for your school hallway!
Interconnecting foam blocks are the perfect blank canvas for a collaborative art project. Lauralee took inspiration from artist Wassily Kandinsky and made this mat for International Dot Day!
Ask students to bring in empty egg cartons and cut them apart into individual segments. Let each student decorate one with paints or other media, then assemble them to form a mural.
What a fun holiday display! Use cookie cutters to create the individual star cookies from clay, then decorate with clay toppings. Pile them all together on a big dish, but don’t be tempted to nibble!
Embrace the many cultures that make up America with this amazing collaborative art idea! Students can choose a language that’s important to their family, or research the languages spoken in your area, past and present. “We know that Thanksgiving is an American tradition, but saying thank you and being grateful matters no matter where you are anytime,” notes Lauralee.
These geometric quilt blocks allow each student to be creative while still coming together in a cohesive display. Consider having each class work in one color palette so they can see themselves represented in smaller teams that are part of a bigger whole.
Based on the ancient sand paintings of Tibetan monks, this collaborative project doubles as a mindful meditation exercise. Tip: Place the sand in small squeeze bottles for more control.
Lauralee’s students created these pinwheels for an International Day of Peace display. If you have the space outdoors (and cooperative weather), try mounting these on sticks and displaying them outdoors for a gorgeous moving art installation.
Provide each student with a small canvas and choose a color palette, like blue and yellow. Each student can create their own design to paint. Then, assemble the canvases together on a larger panel for a coordinated display.
Making roses from air-dry clay is easier than you think! Let each student craft one in a color of their choice. Then assemble them all into a massive bouquet or floral display.
Art teachers love Kwik Stix paint sticks—they’re perfect for creating a big colorful mural. All you need is a long roll of paper, paint sticks, and plenty of room for kids to spread out.
The symmetrical designs on each individual block coordinate (but don’t exactly match) those on the others. They make a harmonious whole, but each one’s individuality still shines through.
Here’s one more collaborative quilt design to try. “This is the flying geese pattern used in quilts to give direction to enslaved people on the run north,” explains Lauralee. This would make a terrific Black History Month project.
Decorate the walls of your classroom with these simple and colorful cardboard letters. This project is a fun way to help young ones master their letters while letting their creativity flow!
These collaborative murals are very popular and so much fun to make. Ask each student to create a feather, then put them together into a pair of wings. If possible, create it at a level that will allow students to stand in front and take amazing photos.
Not all collaborative art projects need a long-term, lasting result. If you’ve got a brick wall in your playground or courtyard, give kids sidewalk chalk and let them each decorate a brick any way they like. This is a cool idea for the last days of school, letting students literally leave their mark before they set off for summer break.
Ms. D‘s yearly collaborative art projects generally all use the same basic concept: bright paper in a variety of designs. For this one, students drew butterflies on card stock, vellum, and clear transparencies, then cut them out. The arrangement against black paper really makes this display pop!
For this display, Ms. D took inspiration from International Dot Day. The 3D dot sculptures provide texture as well as color, filling the hallway with bright cheer.
Maya Angelou’s famous quotation anchors this lovely display of paper flowers, each with a bit of detail and texture. Ms. D notes that students used Astrobrights paper, Sharpies, and Wonder Stix to make the blooms.
Origami can be a real challenge for students, and many teachers use it to encourage a growth mindset. We love how students added their own details to each owl after they folded it, creating a flock of wise birds to fill their school hallway!
Here’s another origami collaborative display from Ms. D, this time featuring hearts. Students accented their hearts with hand-drawn patterns in slightly different shades to make them each unique.
These 3D houses really bring the wow factor! Kids can learn a variety of art techniques as they create them. They assemble into an incredibly impressive display.
You’ve probably seen painted rock collaborative art displays before, but we love Ms. D’s super-cool take on it! She collected the painted rocks into cement stepping stones, keeping them all safe, contained, and proudly on display.
Click the button below to receive our free printable bundle with art portfolio cover sheets for every grade, as well as an art project planning sheet and an artist study worksheet.
What are your favorite collaborative art projects to do in the classroom? Come and share in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.
Do you like to keep inexpensive gift ideas for students on hand to celebrate holidays, birthdays, or special accomplishments? Do you like to have small rewards to serve as incentives for good behavior or good work? Then look no further! This big list is full of fun, affordable little things (most are less than $1) your students will flip over.
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Student Gift Tags
These printable gift tags are perfect for attaching to simple and inexpensive DIY student gifts to make them extra special. Grab our free printable bundle of 10 tags.
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1. Scratch-and-Sniff Bookmarks
Not only do these humorous bookmarks look good, they smell good too!
Put together mixed sets of sheets of these colorful rainbow origami papers in zipper bags and add them to your treasure box. Purchase includes a free e-book tutorial for creating all kinds of shapes.
Want to encourage your students to write? Gift them these invisible-ink pens with built-in black light, and they’ll be motivated to compose secret messages.
Give each of your students a fun card game to pass the time at home over a holiday break. This set of 24 decks comes with an assortment of games, including Old Maid, Go Fish, and Monster Hearts.
How about a fidget toy that doubles as a fashion accessory? Your students will love these push-pop bracelets, and you’ll love that these inexpensive gifts for students are only about 50 cents apiece.
These adorable craft sets come in a variety pack of 24, featuring four different themes: Secret Clubhouse, Unicorn House, Butterfly House, and Space Center.
Hand sanitizer is a must-have, so give your students a whimsical way to carry theirs around. Grab a set of these refillable bottles for a fun and useful gift for students.
These bright-hued lanyards include a safety breakaway mechanism, so they’re even safe for younger kids. It’s the perfect way for them to wear their school ID.
Kids love stickers and they really love 3D puffy stickers. With themes of food, animals, hearts, and more, there’s sure to be a sheet every one of your students will love.
Help your students build fine motor and problem-solving skills with these adorable mini puzzles that feature an assortment of wild animals. Best of all, they cost less than a dollar each.
Amazon has lots of terrific children’s e-book options for a dollar or two each, and they make it easy to send a selection to a large group. Plus, check out our big list of free e-books.
Have you seen our calm-down jars? These are such a good experiment, and they can also make a good gift for students. You can use miniature jars to save money.
DIY fidget toys are inexpensive gift ideas that are always a hit with students. Plus, they’re a cinch to create when you’re binge-watching your favorite show.
Grab our free printable game boards and use them to create personalized games for your students. Pair them with some colorful dice and you’re ready to gift!
Younger kids especially love to color pretty pictures. Snag these adorable coloring books (only $1.50 for 112 pages!) and hand out pages as rewards. Or keep a supply of books on hand for special birthday gifts.
Kids can sketch whatever strikes their fancy, then swipe to erase with these mini doodle pads. Best of all, they’re less than a couple of bucks each when you buy in bulk.
Inspire future paleontologists in your class with these super-fun faux dinosaur eggs. The set even comes with excavating picks and species guides. Divvy up the set and package each egg plus supplies for 12 special rewards.
Gratitude truly is the secret to a happy life. Train your students to develop the habit by giving them a place to jot their happy thoughts and fun memories on a consistent basis.
These are so popular with kids of all ages. Your students will love choosing one, or you can choose it for them along with a special note. Consider using them as desk pets too!
Yum! These adorable little erasers in the shape of different foods will inspire your students to start a collection of their own. Consider using them in conjunction with your desk pets as well.
Choose your inexpensive gift ideas for students with learning in mind. These inflatable globes are fun to throw around but can be used for reference and exploration too.
Have you met a kid yet who doesn’t love LEGO? These mini building block kits are basically the same thing, but you can get 12 of them for less than a couple of dollars apiece.
Just knowing that their teacher sees them for who they are can make all the difference for some kids. Instead of a tangible gift, why not put your gratitude into words?
Another version of the Pop-It fidget. These colorful bumpy balls are fun to toss around and also to fidget with when your student needs to get some energy out.
Print out these free mask templates and create a little DIY kit for your students. You can also include colored paper and a pack of crayons or markers if you’d like.
Social-emotional learning (SEL) gets a lot of attention these days, and for good reason. SEL activities help support academic success by building resilience, critical thinking, and self-awareness. Some schools use SEL curriculum programs, but every teacher can (and should) find multiple ways to incorporate social-emotional learning activities throughout the day.
Social-emotional skills include self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship building, and decision-making. When you choose learning activities that help students think about feelings, build relationships, resolve conflict, and make good decisions, you’re supporting their social-emotional growth. We’ve rounded up a big collection of ideas for every grade, including middle school and high school SEL activities. Choose a few to try with your students!
Get a set of free printable posters with coping strategies for kids and teens. Just fill out the form on this page to get them!
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Preschool and Elementary School SEL Activities
The sooner you start incorporating social-emotional learning activities into your school day, the better. Young kids are still learning to recognize their emotions, communicate their feelings, and manage their reactions to the world around them. Focusing on SEL activities at this point helps develop resilient critical thinkers who develop good relationships with their peers as well as adults. Check out these ideas and free resources, designed especially for pre-K through grade 5.
1. Reference an emotions bulletin board
Little kids have big feelings, and they need to learn the words to match their emotions. Use this free bulletin board kit to create a reference for students as they’re learning feelings. You can use it for a number of social-emotional learning activities. Have students identify the way they are feeling during morning meeting. Or for older students, use the bulletin board to name feelings and synonyms for various feelings. You can also have students refer to the bulletin board when they are analyzing literature and characters’ feelings.
2. Start the day with a greeting
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Start the day at your classroom door greeting each student. Use this greeting sign to give students choice in how they greet you each day. A daily greeting starts the day off on a positive note and gives you a quick check-in with each student. Kindergartners may want to tell you all about their weekend, while you may notice that a high schooler is looking stressed.
Talk about feelings on the regular. Use this feelings bundle for various social-emotional learning activities. You can incorporate a feelings check-in each day with younger students and provide older students with all the words they need to describe their feelings in a journal prompt. The more practice students have at expressing their feelings, the better they are at managing them.
4. Use transition time for mental health check-ins
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When you’re transitioning from one activity to another, take advantage of the brain break time to sneak in some social-emotional learning activities. Help students check in with how they’re feeling, then reinforce that self-awareness by having students do things like breathing like an animal or striking a yoga pose.
Another way for students to check in with their emotions is using the Zones of Regulation. Students identify their feeling zone using colors. Once they know their zone, they can identify which strategy to use to get back to green (if they’re not already there).
Students are better able to learn, build relationships, and increase social awareness when they’re listening. Teach or reinforce whole body listening so students know what listening looks like, and how to manage their bodies so they understand what others say to them. Note that students with ADHD, autism, and sensory processing challenges may not be able perform whole body listening in the same way other students do, but we can make accommodations for students based on what we know they need to be successful.
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7. Build in behavior reflection
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As students develop self-awareness and self-management skills, reflecting on their behaviors is an important step. Use behavior reflection sheets to guide students’ reflection and turn behavior situations into a learning opportunity.
8. Create a calm-down corner
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A calm-down corner is a space students can go to when they need space to manage their emotions. Even going to the calm-down corner when they are overwhelmed or upset shows that students are developing self-awareness and self-management skills. You can include a variety of social-emotional learning activities in your calm-down corner, such as fidgets and breathing exercises.
A calm-down strategy that students can take with them, a DIY calming jar is a great craft that you can use to talk about the importance of emotional regulation and self-management.
For young students and students with disabilities who require explicit instruction in social skills, a social story is a great way to teach them step-by-step approaches for social situations. For all students, social stories can help develop social awareness.
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11. Make DIY stress balls
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Part classroom craft project, part SEL activity, DIY stress balls are so much fun! Make them using balloons, slime, beads, and more.
Classroom jobs build self-management and responsibility skills. While younger students ask for classroom jobs, they’re effective for high schoolers too—the tasks of whiteboard cleaner and technology helper come to mind.
Understanding diversity is important for self-awareness and relationship building. Engage students in thinking about how they are unique and how our diversity makes us stronger.
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14. Get a classroom pet
Want to teach kids about responsibility in an incredibly meaningful way? A class pet could be the answer! When kids work together to care for a hamster, goldfish, lizard, or tarantula(!), they have to make responsible choices about what’s best for the animal. Sure, it’s a challenge for the adults involved, but the benefits can really add up.
If we want kids to make smart decisions, we’ve got to give them the chance to make choices on their own. One way to do this in the classroom is using choice boards. These interactive tools give kids several options to choose from on an assignment. They can evaluate the possibilities, and choose the one that seems right to them.
Tired of hearing kids whine, “But that’s not fair!”? Build students’ social awareness with teacher Aimee Scott’s fairness lesson. Her quick and simple exercise helps kids understand that fairness doesn’t mean everyone gets the same thing—it means everyone gets what they need to be successful.
As students learn about social-emotional skills, encourage them to think about their SEL superpower, or the skills they are best at. Once students have identified their superpower, talk about how they can use their SEL superpowers to help others. To share your superpowers, draw superheroes, put students’ pictures on each one, and write about your SEL superpowers and how your students use them around school.
We love the idea of giving kids and their families feedback on their SEL skill development. An alternative progress report like the one this teacher uses can help kids zero in on their strengths and weaknesses.
19. Help kids learn what smart decisions look like
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It takes guidance and practice to learn to make smart decisions. Teaching kids to be safe in a variety of situations without scaring them or taking away their self-confidence can be tricky. Check out our ideas for teaching safety to young kids on these topics:
Middle School and High School SEL Activities
Don’t abandon social-emotional learning activities as kids get older. Instead, find ways to adjust and adapt them to support tweens and teens and the increasingly complex SEL situations they face. These SEL activities work well with older students and are easy to incorporate in pretty much any classroom.
20. Model and practice positive self-talk
The words students tell themselves impacts their self-management, persistence, and ultimately their success. Model and reinforce positive self-talk with a self-talk poster. Use these phrases when you’re doing think-alouds and prompting students, and encourage them to do the same.
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21. Use the Worry Iceberg
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Building emotional resilience includes understanding how first impressions can be incomplete. Help students develop emotional resilience with a Worry Iceberg activity. Have students think about a situation that made them anxious. What could they see? What was also happening underneath? How does knowing the whole “iceberg” help them understand the situation? And what can they do in the future to get the whole “iceberg” when a situation arises?
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22. Try calming mind-body exercise worksheets
Older students can use meditative exercises like coloring mandalas or doing guided visualizations. Use a variety of mindfulness exercises so each student can find one that works for them.
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23. Explore empathy scenarios
Help students understand and work through common scenarios that engage their empathy as they think about the scenario, how they would feel, and what they would do.
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24. Play Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) can be a fantastic classroom game, and it encompasses a wide range of social-emotional learning activities. Players need to work together, know their own strengths and weaknesses, make smart choices, and so much more.
Encourage active listening and communication skills with this classroom idea. After taking some time to think about a topic, a small group of students discusses the issue while other students watch and take notes. After a time, the teacher opens the discussion to the entire group, using notes they made while they watched the small-group discussion.
Let’s face it: Tweens and teens aren’t necessarily focusing much on safety—their own or anyone else’s. So it’s important for the adults in their lives to help them learn why safe choices matter and what they look like to begin with. Try these free resources to help kids make smart decisions about:
27. Discuss philosophical questions
One of the most incredible ways to encourage critical thinking and self-exploration is to ask kids thought-provoking questions. Hearing the responses and exchanging ideas can really expand our perspectives and leave us with important food for thought.
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28. Talk about tough topics
School shootings, racially motivated violence, abortion, gun control—these are topics most teachers tend to shy away from in the classroom. The thing is, kids need a safe place to talk about these issues. They need adults who will help them sort out their thinking and separate fact from opinion. Students need to learn to respectfully disagree with one another and how to have constructive conversations that may lead to compromise.
With small adjustments, these SEL activities work for preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school. Remind students that even adults need to keep their social-emotional skills sharp. Everyone can benefit from resilience, self-confidence, and good decision-making!
29. Practice positive affirmations
The way students talk to themselves impacts how they persist, feel about their day, and how they interact with others. Use these daily affirmation cards to help students develop positive self-talk. Pass them out at the start of a week and have students reflect on what each statement means to them. Can they incorporate their statement into their internal talk this week? At the end of the week, have them share or write a reflection about how the statement shaped their week.
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30. Start a daily mindfulness routine
At the start of a lesson or day, take a few minutes for mindfulness. Choose mindfulness activities that match your class. Yoga for a busy bunch, music for older students, or a guided meditation for students who love to visualize a story.
Younger students can get in the habit of writing their thoughts and feelings with weekly journal prompts. Older students can use a mindfulness journal to track how they feel and what they’re thinking across a week, month, or school year.
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32. Take regular brain breaks
Brain breaks—where you completely set aside academic work and spend time moving, listening, or even being silent—help students reset and get ready for more learning. These quick social-emotional learning activities are great for students of all ages, from one-minute dance breaks to a quick series of yoga stretches.
Morning meeting is an important part of elementary school and provides a time for students to reflect on their feelings and actions, talk about concerns that arise during the day, or engage in collaborative decision-making. Even in the upper grades, a once-a-week 10-minute check-in can serve the same purpose.
Setting goals contributes to responsibility, but it doesn’t come naturally. We have to teach students how to set meaningful, reasonable targets, and then give them the tools to track their progress. Seeing how they are progressing also helps students build resilience and perspective.
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35. Read SEL stories and books
A story can be a model for social-emotional skills or it can introduce students to scenarios they haven’t experienced yet. For younger students, read a picture book and talk about what happens and how the characters feel. For older students, read and discuss novels with SEL themes. Our list includes picks for every grade level.
Building new habits takes time and persistence. Use a habit tracker to keep track of how students are progressing toward their goals.
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37. Play a cooperative game
Kids get plenty of exposure to healthy (and unhealthy) competition, so use classroom time to shift the focus to cooperation instead. Cooperative games encourage kids to communicate, collaborate, and problem-solve together. Point out the skills they’re using during the cooperative games that will help them in relationships as well.
Icebreakers are great for the first day of school, but you can actually incorporate them all year long. Use them when you form new project groups, or when you change the seating around in your room. Talking about different topics helps students practice conversation skills.
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39. Incorporate service learning projects into your curriculum
Service learning projects get kids involved in their communities, finding and implementing solutions to real-world problems. These take some time to plan and execute well, but the social-emotional learning skills kids pick up along the way make all the hard work worth it.
This free set of printable kindness posters helps spread important messages. When you first put them up, take time to discuss them with your students. Ask them for examples of what kindness looks like, and encourage them to share stories of a time when their kindness made a difference.
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41. Create collaborative art
Art is about expressing your individuality, but you can also make something pretty incredible when people pool their talents. Murals, hallway and bathroom displays, kindness rock gardens, and other art projects bring students together to bond over creativity and artistic vision.
Use a bullet journal or list to reinforce gratitude. In younger classrooms, have students call out the things they are grateful for and create a class list. With older students, spend the last five minutes of each class or week reflecting on what they are grateful for.
Upstanders reach out to others, especially those who seem like they might be hurting or struggling. Teach kids about the concept, their role in helping build classroom community and helping those who might not feel included, and hang these free printable upstander posters in your classroom. The tear tags offer positive affirmations.
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44. Use videos to teach relationship building
Everyone can use a reminder about how to make and keep friends. Use friendship videos in morning meeting to talk about how to make and keep friends. With older students, use them as a friendly and funny reminder of what students likely already know but might not be practicing. As students learn more about relationships, use anti-bullying videos to start a conversation about this topic.
Whether kids are playing to win or working together to achieve a common goal, board games teach lots of decision-making skills. Players have to analyze information, consider their options, and imagine the impacts of their moves on themselves and others. Keep a supply on hand for students to play during indoor recess, or schedule a game day once a quarter just for fun!
46. Build and nurture a growth mindset in every student
Sarah Cason for We Are Teachers
Harness the power of “yet” by helping students understand that just because they can’t do something the first time doesn’t mean they should stop trying. A growth mindset leads to resilient students who know how to persevere in the face of setback and ask for help when they need it.
Teacher Erin Castillo popularized this concept on her Instagram account, and now teachers everywhere are using it. We love it as a unique way to take attendance or as a bell-ringer/entry activity. All you do is post a question on your whiteboard and ask students to respond (anonymously or with names attached) using sticky notes. You can use “Would You Rather” questions or try these SEL prompts to really get students thinking and sharing.
Students love the interactivity of an escape room, where they have to work together to solve a series of problems before their time is up. Escape rooms encourage a lot of responsible decision-making skills, both individually and as a group.
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49. Read the news as a class
If you’re going to make smart decisions, you need to be informed. But many kids only learn about the news and current events from single news sources, perhaps TikTok or whatever’s playing on their TV at home. Show students how to find a variety of sources to learn about current events. Teach them to think critically and evaluate articles to separate provable facts from opinion. Many teachers love using Newsela, since the articles can be differentiated for different reading levels.
As students are working on math problems, have them jot down how they’re feeling at each step of the process. They can jot down emojis or words that show where they were confident, confused, distracted, or frustrated. This can be helpful when reviewing work and thinking about how their emotional state impacted their learning.
Don’t forget to download your free posters with coping strategies for kids and teens!
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Get a set of free printable posters with coping strategies for preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school. Just fill out the form on this page to grab your free posters!
Looking for great ways to help students learn to work together, listen carefully, communicate clearly, and think creatively? Try some of these awesome team-building activities for kids. They’re a super way to give your students the chance to get to know one another, build trust as a community, and, best of all, learn valuable life skills that will last long beyond their school years.
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Team-Building Games for Kids
These Google Slides make it easy to share team-building games with your students Grab our easy instructions and get to bonding!
Benefits of Team-Building Games for Kids
Team-building games for kids are a great way to build community as you start a new school year—or anytime of year for that matter. Not only are they super fun (and what kid doesn’t like fun?), team-building activities help kids:
Develop communication skills
When students work together, they learn how to express ideas clearly and actively listen. Both verbal and non-verbal communication skills are critical for classroom participation and success in the real world.
Encourage problem-solving and critical thinking
Many of these games and activities involve challenges or puzzles. Working together to solve them helps students think creatively, plan strategically, and persevere when they get stuck.
Foster collaboration and cooperation
Working on a team or with a partner isn’t always easy. Kids need to learn how to respect others’ ideas and perspectives and work to compromise. They also need to stand up for their own ideas and actively participate.
Boost confidence and promote leadership skills
Making a contribution and accomplishing a goal as a team member is very rewarding. And when a student develops the strength to take the lead, it boosts their self-image in long-lasting ways.
Promote social inclusion and foster friendships
Engaging with people you don’t know very well can sometimes feel risky. But team-building games provide a structure that allows for students to move out of their comfort zone. In addition, they give students a chance to interact with new people, build empathy for others, and support a sense of belonging.
Teach conflict resolution skills
Team-building activities for kids are a perfect tool for teaching conflict resolution skills. After all, conflict can occur in any group setting. Conflicts allow you the opportunity, as their teacher, to model and guide them through a constructive process for a happy ending.
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Problem-Solving Activities for Kids
1. What’s My Name
Objective: This game encourages students to mingle, ask questions, and use deductive reasoning skills as they try to figure out whose name is stuck to their forehead.
Materials: Sticky notes
Participants: Whole class
How to play:
Write the names of famous people your students will know, such as actors, athletes, or characters from a book or show, on sticky notes.
Once every student has a name on their forehead, set a timer and have students circulate around the room asking yes-or-no questions to figure out who they are.
Continue play until everyone guesses their identity or time runs out.
2. Categories
Objective: Students work cooperatively in small groups to sort items into categories.
Materials: A tray with 20 unrelated items, or an image of 20 unrelated items
Participants: Groups of 3 or 4
How to play:
For this activity, prepare a tray with 20 unrelated items, e.g., a book, an eraser, a juice box, etc. Alternatively, create a document with 20 images of things to project on a screen.
Divide students into groups and set a timer.
Have each group divide the items into four categories that make sense to them. For example, things you wear, things you use with your hands, etc.
Have groups work quietly so that their ideas are kept secret.
When each group is finished, give each one time to present their categories and the rationale behind their thinking.
3. Flip the Tarp Challenge
Objective: Students cooperatively flip over a tarp while standing on it.
Materials: Flat sheet, tarp, or blanket
Participants: 2 teams
How to play:
Divide students into two teams. One team will do the challenge while the other team watches, then they will switch places.
Gather one team on a flat bedsheet, tarp, or blanket. They should fill up all but about a quarter of the space.
Now, students must work together to figure out how to flip over the sheet/tarp without anyone stepping off or touching the ground.
4. Scavenger Hunt
Objective: Students work together to get to know the classroom/school (and each other) with a scavenger hunt.
Materials: Scavenger hunt lists
Participants: Partners
How to play:
Pair up students randomly.
Prepare a list of important things to find in the classroom and have students copy it into their journals. For instance, a pencil sharpener, nonfiction books, a turn-in basket, etc.
Have students work with their partner to check off all the items on the list.
This is also a great idea to get to know the layout of the school, e.g., the library, nurse’s office, lost and found, etc.
Get To Know You Team-Building Activities
5. Yes, No, Stand Up
Objective: This easy yes-or-no game is a fun way for younger kids or English language learners to get to know one another.
Materials: A list of yes-or-no questions
Participants: Whole class
How to play:
Before the game begins, prepare a list of yes-or-no questions to ask students. For example, “Do you like chocolate?” “Is your favorite color blue?” “Do you like soccer?”
If their answer is yes, the student stands up. If their answer is no, they sit down.
Pause between questions to give students time to look around and find students they have answers in common with.
If time allows, let students come up with questions of their own.
6. Spiderweb
Objective: Students sit in a circle and pass a ball of yarn around as they get to know one another.
Materials: Ball of multi-colored yarn
Participants: Whole class
How to play:
Sit in a circle. The leader chooses a topic (favorite food, favorite place, funny story, one thing that makes me unique, etc.).
Play begins when the first person, holding a large ball of yarn, shares their answer with the group.
Then, keeping a hold of one end of the yarn, they toss the ball (gently) to someone else in the circle.
Play continues around the circle until every person has had the chance to share.
In the end, the yarn will form a “spiderweb” of color, reminding the students that they are all connected in one community.
7. Birthday Line-Up
Objective: Students must communicate and cooperate to line up in birthday order.
Materials: None
Participants: Whole class
How to play:
Set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes, depending on your grade level.
The objective is to have students line up in order of their birthdays—January 1 through December 31—before time runs out.
To accomplish this, they will need to talk with one another in order to figure out who goes in front of whom.
Try this activity with other fun ways to line up—by height, alphabetically, by foot size, etc.
Outdoor Team-Building Activities for Kids
8. Caterpillar
Objective: Groups of students (caterpillars) move forward without stepping outside of their Hula-Hoops.
Materials: 1 Hula-Hoop per student
Participants: Groups of 4 (if possible)
How to play:
Line up teams of four at the end of a field. Have each student stand in the center of a Hula-Hoop on the ground, forming a “caterpillar.”
To move forward, the last player in line steps into the hoop with the player in front of them, picks up their empty hoop, and passes it overhead to the front of the line.
The front player then places the hoop on the ground in front of them and steps into it. Every player then shifts forward, moving the caterpillar.
The first team to cross the finish line wins.
9. Balloon Battle
Objective: Using a pool noodle and balloon, students race to score a goal.
Materials: Pool noodles, balloons
Participants: Whole class
How to play:
This fun game teams students up as they try to bat a balloon over each other’s goal line using a pool noodle.
Divide students into two teams and let play begin.
Periodically blow a whistle to have students substitute in so that everyone gets a chance to play.
The first team to score 10 points wins.
10. Rock, Paper, Scissors Tag
Objective: For this fun tag game, students play Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who chases whom.
Materials: None
Participants: Whole class
How to play:
Before you begin, stake out the boundaries and position a home base at either end for each team.
Divide students into two teams.
At the start of each round, both teams will huddle up and decide whether they are rock, paper, or scissors.
The two teams line up facing each other, and on your signal, all players flash rock, paper, or scissors.
The kids on the losing team must run back to their base before they are tagged by the kids on the winning team.
Objective: Students will race to pick oranges up using only their knees and hop to transfer them to a target.
Materials: Oranges, Hula-Hoops
Participants: 2 teams
How to play:
Have students line up in two equal teams.
Place a bowl of oranges at the front of each line. The first two students each take an orange and squeeze it between their knees.
Next, they hop or take tiny steps to deposit their orange into a Hula-Hoop across the field.
Once their teammate’s orange is deposited, the next student goes. Play continues.
The team that transfers the most oranges in 2 minutes (or whatever time limit you wish) is the winner.
12. Tic-Tac-Toe Relay
Objective: Students play an IRL tic-tac-toe game.
Materials: Hula-Hoops, beanbags
Participants: Teams
How to play:
Set out Hula-Hoops in the shape of a tic-tac-toe frame.
Divide students into two teams and give each team a supply of different-colored beanbags.
One student from each team runs to the frame and drops a beanbag in their preferred spot.
They return to the start and tag the next runner, who does the same thing.
Play continues until one team achieves a tic-tac-toe (three beanbags in a row)!
Team-Building Games for Kids That Foster Cooperation
13. Hula-Hoop Pass
Objective: Students work together to pass a Hula-Hoop around a circle.
Materials: Hula-Hoop
Participants: Whole class
How to play:
Have your students stand in a circle and join hands.
Unclasp one pair’s hands and place the Hula-Hoop between the two. Then have them rejoin their hands.
The object of the game is to pass the Hula-Hoop all the way around the circle without unclasping hands.
Students work together using listening, coordinating, and strategizing skills to figure out how to maneuver their bodies all the way through the hoop to pass it on.
14. Elbow Pass
Objective: This simple passing game encourages students to work together, look each other in the eye, and have a good laugh.
Materials: Four-square ball or similar-size ball
Participants: Whole class
How to play:
Have students stand in a line.
The first student will hold a ball between their elbows in front of their chest and then pass it to the next player.
Continue until the ball reaches the end of the line.
If the ball drops, the game starts over at the beginning.
15. Move On, Back Up, Flip
Objective: Students stand connected in a circle and must cooperate to follow directions.
Materials: None
Participants: Whole class
How to play:
Start with students in a circle with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them.
At the signal “Move on,” students take one hop forward together.
At the signal “Back up,” students take one hop backward together.
And at the signal “Flip,” students will turn 180 degrees and place their hands on the shoulders of the person who was behind them.
16. Straw Balance
Objective: This fun balancing exercise requires coordination and cooperation.
Materials: Plastic straws
Participants: Whole group
How to play:
Have your students form a large circle and give each one a plastic straw.
The challenge is to balance each straw between one person’s right pointer finger and the left pointer finger of the person next to them.
Challenge your students to make movements such as rotating the circle, squatting down, raising one foot, raising your right hand, etc.
The goal is to make the movements while keeping the straw connections intact.
Circle Games That Build Community
17. Bumpity-ump-bump-bump
Objective: Students race to follow directions and learn one another’s names.
Materials: None
Participants: Whole class
How to play:
Students stand in a large circle with one student in the middle.
That student walks around the inside of the circle, stops in front of one person, and gives them a direction.
There are four choices: Left = say the name of the person to the left. Right = say the name of the person on the right. It = say the name of the person who is “it.” And Self = say one’s own name.
After they give the direction, they say “bumpity-ump-bump-bump!”
The student who was given the direction races to say the name of the correct person before the student finishes the phrase.
If they can’t, they’re the next person on the inside of the circle.
18. Zip, Zap, Boing!
Objective: This is a super-fun game that involves strategy and fast thinking.
Materials: None
Participants: Whole group
How to play:
This super-lively circle game involves careful listening, quick thinking, and three actions—Zip, Zap, and Boing.
Zip means point to the person on your right. Zap means point to the person on your left. And Boing means point to a classmate on the opposite side of the circle. (Boing cannot be passed to the person standing right next to you.)
All students place their palms together in front of their chest. This will act as their pointer.
The first person starts by calling out one of the actions and points their hands the right way. The person they’re pointing at chooses the next action, and play goes around the circle.
Try to play as fast as you can. If you perform the wrong action, you are out. Last player standing wins.
STEM Team-Building Activities
19. Marshmallow Tower Challenge
Objective: This STEM activity challenges students to create a sturdy tower.
Materials: Marshmallows, wooden toothpicks
Participants: Partners or small groups
How to play:
Divide students into partners or groups of equal numbers.
Pass out an equal number of marshmallows and wooden toothpicks to each group.
Challenge the groups to create the tallest, largest, or most creative structure in a set amount of time, each member taking turns doing the actual building.
Afterward, have each group present their creation.
20. No-Hands Cup-Stacking Challenge
Objective: Using patience and perseverance, students will stack cups using pipe cleaners (or strings) and a rubber band.
Pair up beginners or younger students and begin with a rubber band with two pipe cleaners attached.
Each student will take the end of one pipe cleaner.
Together, they will maneuver the rubber band to fit over the top of the stacking cup. (No hands allowed!)
One by one they will work together to create a tower of stacking cups.
Divide older kids into groups of four or five, attach that number of strings to a rubber band, and complete the same task.
21. No-Hands Drawing Challenge
Objective: Students will work together to maneuver a pen with strings.
Materials: Markers, string, paper
Participants: Small groups
How to play:
Just like the activity above, this hilarious “no hands” exercise requires cooperation and patience.
Divide students into small groups and give each group a marker with the matching number of strings attached.
Tell the students what they will be drawing, e.g., a tree, a house, or a shape.
Groups will gather around a desk or small table as each student holds the far end of their string, pulling the line taut to support the pen upright over the paper.
The challenge is to manipulate the pen to draw whatever image is called for.
More Team-Building Games and Activities for Kids
22. Hot and Cold
Objective: Students guide a “finder” to locate an object in the classroom with the prompts “hot” or “cold” to lead them in the right direction.
Materials: Classroom objects
Participants: Whole class
How to play:
One student, the “finder,” steps out of the classroom.
The rest of the class picks an object (for instance, the pencil sharpener) in the classroom for the finder to find.
When the finder comes back in, they begin walking around the classroom in search of the object.
If the finder is far away from the object, the only advice the group will give is to say “cold.” When the finder gets close, the group will say “hot.”
Play continues until the finder picks the correct object.
Variation: Instead of saying “hot” and “cold,” students can applaud softly for cold or vigorously for hot.
23. Body Parts
Objective: Following directions, students will try to be the first to snatch a plastic cup.
Materials: Small plastic cups
Participants: Pairs
How to play:
Students stand facing their partner. A plastic cup is positioned on the ground between them.
When the leader calls out a body part, the players must move both hands to that spot—knees, toes, shoulders, hips, etc.
When the leader says “Cup!” each person tries to grab the cup.
The student who snatches the cup remains in the game. The other players are out for the round.
Students pair up with new partners, and play continues until one person wins.
24. Human Alphabet
Objective: Students will form letters of the alphabet with their bodies.
Materials: None
Participants: Individuals and partners
How to play:
Have students spread out and show them how to form letters with their body. For instance, stand tall and spread arms straight out to form the letter T, or raise arms at an angle to form the letter V.
Once they get the hang of individual letters, call out short words. Start with two-letter words (e.g., on, so, it), then three (and, now), then four (past, four).
Students must team up to correctly form each word.
25. Back-to-Back Artists
Objective: This blind drawing activity requires teamwork and clear communication as one student directs the other to draw a picture.
Materials: Drawing paper, pen or marker, sample drawings
Participants: Partners
How to play:
Pair students up and have them sit back-to-back.
Give one student a blank piece of paper and a pen or a marker. Give the other student a picture of a simple object.
The student holding the illustration will not tell their partner the name of the picture. They will verbally describe how to draw the picture, step-by-step, to their partner.
The other student must draw the picture using only the verbal cues given by their partner.
When they are finished, the pair will compare the drawing and the original to see how close they came.
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Bullying is one of those tough topics that can feel challenging for teachers and parents to address. But when we highlight and bring attention to the issue, we have a better chance at preventing bully behavior and helping the victims of bullying. National Bullying Prevention Month 2025 is an ideal time for anti-bullying activities like those found here.
National Bullying Prevention Month takes place each year in October to bring global awareness to the issue. October 6, 2025, is the 19th annual World Day of Bullying Prevention. Organizations like Stomp Out Bullying sponsor special events on this day to help spread the word. October 22, 2025, is Unity Day, a time to unite for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.
What is Bullying Prevention Month?
Though schools should focus on creating an anti-bullying culture year-round, October has been set aside as a time to draw special attention to this important issue. A variety of organizations come together to support schools as they work to create a safer, kinder environment for all students.
Bullying can include in-person or online behavior (known as cyberbullying). It’s become a major issue in schools, where 1 in 5 students now report experiencing bullying behavior. Students might be bullied for their physical appearance, race or ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, or sexual orientation, among other reasons.
In 2006, PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center declared the first week of October a time to educate and raise awareness about bullying prevention. Their goal was to change the prevalent view that bullying was just a childhood rite of passage, something every kid had to go through. They pointed out that bullying raises school absentee rates, decreases student performance, and increases physical and mental stress. The center argued that teachers and families needed to work together to create a climate where bullying was not tolerated.
After much success, the event was expanded to the entire month of October starting in 2010. Since then, bullying prevention events during October have included fundraisers, Disney-produced public service announcements, celebrity partnerships, and much more. The month also includes Unity Day, a time to send a visible message that no child should ever have to endure bullying. In 2025, Unity Day will be held on October 22.
2025 Bullying Prevention Month Activities and Ideas
Try these methods to reach students, families, and the wider community.
Read an anti-bullying book
We Are Teachers; Amazon
Kids in any grade or reading level can learn more about bullying and prevention by reading. Share a picture book during story time, or urge older kids to read a novel with an anti-bullying message and share their thoughts.
Share these videos during an assembly, followed by in-class conversations about the points they raise. We’ve got a big selection of videos appropriate for kids in grades pre-K through high school.
Look for student leaders who can take active roles in creating a positive and supportive culture at your school. They can help others learn to become upstanders: people who not only avoid bullying others but know when and how to stand up for victims safely.
Decorate your classroom with anti-bullying decor, such as our collection of free printable kindness posters. Even better, encourage students to create their own posters, banners, and other artwork to send a strong message about your school’s anti-bullying culture. Try holding an anti-bullying poster contest!
Give each student in your school a strip of colorful paper, and ask them to write a message of encouragement or kindness on it. Then, link all the strips together to make a giant paper chain. Hang it in the cafeteria or along the halls to show that you’re all in this together!
In a hallway or a classroom, an anti-bullying bulletin board keeps your message front and center for all to see. Kids can write pledges to be kind written in their own personal handprint, for example.
Grab the National Bullying Prevention Month student activity kit
PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center has created a whole month-long anti-bullying unit you can use with kids in any grade. This free printable kit includes lesson plans and activity ideas, differentiated for students at all levels.
Join the nationwide movement on October 16 to show the world that your school is a place for acceptance, kindness, and inclusion. Encourage all students to wear orange that day, and plan lots of bullying prevention activities for all.
Start by asking students to help brainstorm an enormous list of ways they can show kindness to others, in and out of school. Then, challenge them to spend a week achieving as many acts of kindness as possible. Each student should document their act and keep track of the total. Hold an assembly at the end of the week to celebrate your final tally!
Share quotes about kindness
We Are Teachers
Collect quotes about kindness and post them on sticky notes around your school for students to find and share. Encourage students to write their own favorite quotes or inspirational sayings on the topic and post them too.
Paint quotes or supportive messages on smooth river rocks, then hide them around the school grounds. Kids will have fun finding, collecting, trading, and sharing them. Such a fun way to show that kindness rocks!
Take an anti-bullying pledge
Encourage all students to sign a declaration like the Kids Against Bullying pledge. Make it meaningful by talking about what it means to be a bully vs. an upstander, and encourage kids to live their pledge daily.
Send home a flyer
Help families get involved with a ready-to-go flyer from the National Bullying Prevention Center. Include it in your school newsletter, post it on your website, and/or send copies home with students.
Let others know that October is a time to raise awareness of bullying prevention. Post concrete actions people can take to help stop bullying in their schools and communities.
If there’s one thing kids love, it’s games! If you’re looking for brain breaks, icebreakers, team-building activities, field day games, or just ways to fill the last few minutes of class, Minute To Win It games are the answer. Many of these 60-second Minute To Win It games involve common items found around the classroom, while others require no equipment at all. There are games for kids as little as preschool and others that will keep even adults entertained. Whoever finishes the Minute To Win It games first is the winner. Our list of 50+ Minute To Win It games for kids features some hilarious and challenging games that will definitely be a hit with your class.
1. Chopstick Pickup
Split up your class into teams and give them each two paper plates, a set of chopsticks, and 20 pieces of candy or another small item like math manipulatives. Whoever moves the objects from plate to plate using the chopsticks fastest is the winner.
2. Scoop the Snowballs
Put out bowls of cotton balls and ice cream scoops. One player from each team has to scoop cotton balls into a bowl while blindfolded. Whoever scoops the most cotton balls within 60 seconds wins the game. Watch as the chaos unfolds!
Cut up the front of cereal boxes to create puzzles. Then, students have a minute to put the puzzles together. Make sure each cereal puzzle is the same level of difficulty with the same number of pieces.
4. Cup Stack
Amazon
Stacking and unstacking cups is a sport (honestly!). Students are given a stack of plastic cups, then they have to stack and unstack the cups into a pyramid in a minute or less. If your students like the basic stacking game, they can get a cup-stacking game that includes 18 different variations.
This is one of those Minute To Win It games that’s perfect for gym class, field day, or as an extra-special outdoor activity. It’s just like regular ring toss but with a fun twist: Hula-Hoops or pool rings are the rings and students are the “sticks.” Students choose someone to throw and someone to stand, and see how many “rings” they can toss over their partner within one minute.
6. Donut on a String
Tie donuts (or snack of choice) to a string and try to eat it with no hands! For an added challenge, try this blindfolded.
7. Dice Stack
Kids place a Popsicle stick in their mouth. When the timer starts, they try to balance five or six dice on the end of their stick for three seconds. It’s more challenging than it looks!
8. Pom-Pom and Straw Challenge
Line up pom-poms along a line or piece of tape. Students blow through straws to “race” the pom-poms across a finish line. The first pom-pom across the line wins.
Students move 25 pennies into a stack using only one hand in this Minute To Win It challenge.
10. Baby Rattle
The goal here is to move all the marbles or gumballs from one 2-liter bottle to the other. Before the game, fill one empty 2-liter soda bottle with gumballs or marbles. Tape the empty bottle to another 2-liter bottle by the neck. Then students shake the bottle with the marbles until all the marbles are transferred to the other bottle.
11. Ping-Pong Tic-Tac-Toe
Use trays that will fit a Ping-Pong ball to play a fun spin on tic-tac-toe! Students toss Ping-Pong balls, and the first player or team to get three in a row wins.
Provide students with a paper plate filled with Cheerios (or Froot Loops, etc.) and a pipe cleaner. Students use one hand to put as many cereal pieces onto the pipe cleaner as possible in one minute.
Set up plastic cups with pieces of card stock in between. Players yank the cards out from between the cups, causing the cups to fall into a tower. Each time a player makes a mistake, they must reset until all the cups fall into each other. This game is a blast!
14. Worm Diving
Moisten a gummy worm and tie it to the “fishing line.” Dive that worm into a bowl of pretzels, and then eat the pretzel without using your hands. A delicious yet challenging game.
15. Blow It to the Other Side
Blow the Ping-Pong balls from one soda can to the other. So frustrating yet so much fun!
16. Suck It Up
Using a straw and some chocolate candies, move as many candies as possible to an empty plate. Bonus: Kids get to eat the candy at the end!
Just like wrapping presents, only with a twist. Each team of two has one person using only their right hand and the other using only their left hand to wrap the present. First team to wrap the present, put a bow on it, and address it to someone wins!
18. Keep the Balloon Up
The goal seems simple: Keep three balloons from touching the floor or leaving the designated area. Inflate three balloons and set a timer. Throw three balloons into the air. Students stay in a designated area and use any part of their body to keep the balloons in the air. To make it easier or harder, change the area that students are working in to be smaller or larger. All three balloons must stay in the air for the whole minute for students to win the game.
Using a sweet potato and a spoon, players must move the potato down the line of painter’s tape and back. The hard part is keeping the sweet potato in line. This one will definitely bring on some laughs!
20. LEGO Tower
Kids build a tower of LEGO as tall as they can, only with a catch: They can only use their hands to touch one brick at a time, so holding the tower still is not allowed. Prepare for lots of crashing LEGO towers!
Divide students into pairs. One partner has a packet of sticky notes, the other has to stand still. The partner with the sticky notes puts as many sticky notes on their partner as possible in one minute. Up the challenge and require that the sticky notes do not overlap.
Set up pins (you can use a bowling set or empty soda bottles or cans), and give each student five balls to knock them over in one minute. The fun of this version of bowling is in the strategy—do students try to aim just right or just roll the ball as many times as possible?
Line up eight cups so that the edges touch. Then, students stack coins on the edge of the cups. If the coins fall in, the game is over!
24. Bottle Flipping
Fill plastic bottles one-third full of water. Then, students flip the bottles into the air and try to make them land upright. Students may want to perfect their technique so they can compete as expert bottle flippers.
25. Paper Toss
Ball up pieces of paper and attempt to shoot them into a recycling bin. The twist is, you have to throw the paper blindfolded! This is a perfect way to clean up paper and scraps in the classroom in that final minute of class. At least all the paper will be in or closer to the garbage can.
Set up a row of empty soda cans. Give pairs of students dry spaghetti noodles. Students use their noodles (no hands) to move soda cans from one spot to another. Add an additional challenge by requiring students to create a pyramid with their cans.
27. Tea Party
Players wear a baseball hat with tea bags attached to either side of it as they swing the bags around until someone lands them both on the bill of the hat. We love that this Minute To Win It game requires little more than what you already have at home.
28. Bottoms Up
We love games that use toys in an unconventional and inventive way. In this fast-paced game, players hang a yo-yo from their pants and then attempt to swing it around and knock four soda cans over.
29. Antlers
Give each pair of students a pair of nylon stockings and several balloons (enough to fill the legs of the stockings). Students stuff the balloons into the nylons and then place the nylons onto one of the player’s heads, making antlers.
30. Mad Dog
Glue two boxes of mints to the end of a wooden ruler. Then, students shake the ruler in their teeth to empty the boxes of mints in less than one minute
31. Egg Race
What could be more fun than a good old-fashioned egg race? We highly recommend using plastic or hard-boiled eggs so there’s less mess afterward.
Although you could play this anytime, a plastic egg match is one of the perfect Minute To Win It games to play in the spring. Scatter halves of plastic eggs around a room and then have players race to match as many as they can and return them to a basket in the corner of the room.
Do you need a Minute To Win It game but don’t have any supplies on hand? All you need for a good old-fashioned staring contest is the ability not to laugh first!
34. Obstacle Course
Set up a DIY obstacle course using everyday objects, then have kids maneuver their way through the course in less than a minute. Create a graph of the time it took in seconds for each student to complete the obstacle course for an extra math component.
35. Book Balance
Set up a course for students to walk through and have them complete the course with a book balanced on their head.
36. Backward ABCs
This one is so simple, but don’t let that fool you. First, see who can say the alphabet backward in a minute. Of the people who can do it in a minute or less, see who can do it the fastest.
37. Spin Doctor
All you need for this game is a level surface and some coins. Students compete in pairs. One partner sets a coin spinning and the other has to stop it, then send it spinning back. Keep track of the number of times each pair sends the coin from one end of the table to the other.
38. Cookie Face
See who can get a cookie off their face and into their mouth in under a minute.
39. Toilet Paper Pull
Before playing this Minute To Win It game, unwind several rolls of toilet paper across a table with a heavy-ish object on one end. Make sure each object is the same weight. Then, place some painter’s tape down on the end where the players will sit. Finally, have players race to roll up their toilet paper without breaking it or knocking the object off the paper.
40. Whipped Cream Christmas Tree
Grab some friends and cans of whipped cream and then see who can build the tallest Christmas tree in a minute’s time.
41. Plate Head
The premise of this game is so simple, but it will be sure to have kids laughing. One player balances a paper plate on their head while a teammate races to see how many objects they can place on it without it falling.
42. Bite It!
Cut up paper bags to various heights and place them around the room. Players race to pick up as many as they can in a minute using just their mouth.
43. Dizzy Mummy
Students work in pairs. Each pair has a roll of toilet paper. One person spins while the other unrolls the toilet paper, wrapping the first person up in toilet paper. It’s a great way to get some energy out and have everyone in giggles.
44. Shoe Flick
Set up a series of tables 10 feet or more from where participants are standing. Everyone attempts to throw a shoe onto the first table. If successful, they can attempt to throw it onto the next table, and so on until the minute is over. The player to get the shoe the farthest wins.
45. Oven Mitt Race
Give each participant a pair of oven mitts and then see how many Hershey’s Kisses they can unwrap in a minute. For extra motivation, let them eat whatever they can unwrap!
This is one of the perfect Minute To Win It games for the littlest competitors since it reinforces color recognition and gross motor skills. See who can sort the most M&Ms or similar candies by color in a minute. Students can do this at their tables or using a relay format running to and from a pile of M&Ms and bowls.
47. Rhyming Race
Assign a word and then see who can come up with the most rhymes for it in a minute.
48. Whipped Cream Worm Search
Put down a tablecloth. Then, hide gummy worms in a pile of whipped cream. Students race to see who can find the most gummy worms. The trick: They can only use their mouth.
49. Junk in the Trunk
Fill a tissue box with Ping-Pong balls. Then, stick the tissue box onto someone’s backside (with a belt or tape). Students have to shake all the balls out of the tissue box in one minute in order to win. The only rule: Students may not touch the box with their hands.
50. Ponginator
Place a large egg create (18 or 24 eggs) in the center. Pass out Ping-Pong balls to students who stand at an equal distance away from the egg crate. Then, students toss the Ping-Pong balls into the egg create. The team that throws the most Ping-Pong balls into the egg crate wins.
51. Cookie Unicorn
Students with good balance (we guess) will do well with this Minute To Win It game. Students have one minute to stack cookies (think sandwich cookies, like Oreos) on their forehead. If the cookies drop, they have to start over. You can play to a set number, like five cookies, or focus on stacking the most cookies they can. And the full stack must remain on their head for three seconds.
52. Marshmallow Toss
Put cups on a flat surface and have students stand 2 to 4 feet away. Each student has a set of marshmallows (or another small candy) and tosses the marshmallows into the cup. The student that gets the most marshmallows into the cup in one minute wins.
53. Apron Race
Students put on an apron, either a baking apron or a half apron. They fill the pocket of the apron with pennies, beans, Ping-Pong balls, or other items. Then they run from one spot to another. If they drop anything, they lose.
54. Ball Drop
In this Minute To Win It game, students try to get a ball into a cup, but from a vertical drop (instead of a horizontal throw). Students stand over a cup and drop a ball into the cup. It’s harder than it sounds!
55. Balloon Stomp
Blow up balloons to the same size. Tie a balloon around everyone’s ankle. Then, students try to stomp on each others’ balloons. The last person with an inflated balloon around their ankle wins. You can also arrange this challenge in rounds.
56. Choosing Cups
You’ll need 25 cups. Put a sticker on the bottom of some of the cups. Fill each cup partway with water. Players choose one cup at a time and try to find the cup with the sticker.
57. Applestack
Give each team five apples. They have one minute to stack them. This is harder than it sounds, so working in teams is a good idea.
58. Nose Dive
Prepare three bowls, one with a little petroleum jelly, one with cotton balls, and one empty bowl. Students dip their nose into the jelly, then into the cotton balls. Then, they run with the cotton ball on their nose to the other bowl and drop the cotton ball into the empty bowl. They repeat for one minute, and the student who transfers the most cotton balls in this Minute To Win It game is the winner.
The first few days of school are so important—it’s a chance to get to know your new students and set the tone for the year ahead. But finding icebreakers for high school students can be a real challenge. Older kids can see the usual “getting to know you” activities coming from a mile away. And they don’t want to risk looking silly or awkward in front of their peers.
So in order to gain real buy-in, you’ll need to choose activities that are meaningful and fun. The key is to make them forget themselves temporarily because they’re so wrapped up in the game or challenge. We have a little bit of everything on this list, from speed-dating-inspired activities to snowball fights. Most of them make terrific icebreakers for middle schoolers too!
Getting To Know You Icebreakers for High School Students
Now you’re ready to ask kids to reveal a bit about themselves. This is an opportunity to find ways to connect with them in the months ahead and for them to find new friends too. Here are some high school icebreakers that really do help teachers and students get to know one another.
1. Unpopular Opinion
You’ve probably seen the threads and viral videos where someone shares an unpopular opinion like “Kittens and puppies are annoying, not cute” or “Ketchup is gross.” As students introduce themselves, ask them to share one of their own unpopular opinions. They might be surprised to discover that some of their classmates agree!
2. Would You Rather?
We Are Teachers
Would you rather … do math homework or go for a 2-mile run? Read a book or watch a movie? Wrestle a gorilla or swim with alligators? No matter what questions you ask, this is such a fun way for kids to mix and mingle. Pose your question, then have kids move to different sides of the room to show their answers. Give them a few minutes to chat about the topic before moving on to the next one. Check out the Would You Rather questions on this list to get started.
3. Classmate Bingo
Use this free bingo card generator to create your own Classmate Bingo cards. Give one to each student, then set them loose to find another student who can initial each space. If you have enough kids, make a rule that each student can only initial one space on any card. Offer small prizes to the first student to fill in a row and the first to fill their whole card.
4. Blobs and Lines
Students respond to prompts either by lining up (in order of height, birthday, alphabetical by middle names, etc.) or gathering in “blobs” (grouped by type of shoes, hair color, favorite ice cream flavor, and so on). It’s ridiculously easy, low-risk, and gives teens a chance to find out what they have in common.
5. Speed Meetings
The old “interview each other and introduce them to the class” bit is pretty played out. Try this twist instead, which is a lot like speed dating. Divide the class in half, and have them sit in two concentric circles facing each other. Ask an icebreaker question, set a timer for 60 seconds, and let each pair discuss. When the timer dings, the outside ring moves one seat to the left. Give the new pairs a new question, and set the timer again. You can continue this as long as you like. Tip: To increase engagement, have kids help you generate the list of icebreaker questions before you start.
6. What Do You Meme?
We Are Teachers
Find some popular meme images on the web, print them out, and post them in various places around your classroom. Start class by asking kids to find and stand by the meme that best represents how they feel about the subject you teach. Let them chat in groups for a minute or two, then pose a few more icebreaker questions for them to group together and discuss.
7. Collaborative Playlist
Music is meaningful to all of us, and the songs we love can be a window into our personalities. Ask each student to contribute one song choice to a class playlist, along with an explanation of why they love that song. (Depending on students’ ages, you can decide on parameters for lyrics and language.) Create the list on Spotify so all students can listen to one another’s songs. If you allow music in your classroom, add this playlist to your collection.
8. Toilet Paper Pass
Some kids may already know this one, but it’s still a classic. Pass a roll of toilet paper around and tell students to take what they think they’ll need for the day. Once everyone has a handful, explain that for each sheet they took, they must share an interesting fact about themselves.
9. Two Truths and a Lie
This one’s another classic icebreaker, and for good reason. Ask each student to share two facts about themselves and one lie, without identifying which one is untrue. Other students try to guess which one is the lie. Kids always have fun coming up with stuff to fool each other!
10. A Funny Debate
Debate team isn’t for everyone, but there is a way to make it fun for the whole class. The key is to pick a not-so-serious subject like what is the best pizza topping or whether or not clowns are scary. Then, watch as your students get into defending their positions. If you need ideas, check out these funny debate topics.
11. Word Clouds
We Are Teachers
The words we choose to define ourselves can be really telling, and word clouds are a fun way to see that in action. Kids can create word clouds by hand on paper, or try one of these free online word cloud generators instead.
12. Stand Up, Sit Down
This one is super easy, and it’s a perfect use for these icebreaker questions. Simply ask a question, and if students answer yes, they stand up. If no, they sit down (or stay seated). You can fly through questions quickly, or slow down to see what everyone’s answers are.
13. Paper Planes
We Are Teachers
Each student writes a get-to-know-you question on a piece of paper. (Encourage them to think creatively so you don’t wind up with the same question over and over again.) Then, they fold the paper into planes (Here are some free printable paper airplane folding directions.) and spend a minute throwing them across the room. Afterwards, everyone picks up a plane and they take turns answering the question on theirs.
14. Common Thread
Divide students into groups of four and have them sit together in these small groups. Give each group five minutes to chat among themselves and find something they all have in common. It could be that they all play soccer, or pizza is their favorite dinner, or they each have a cat. Whatever the common thread, the conversation will help them get to know one another better. Repeat this activity in new groups as many times as you like.
15. Show-and-Tell
You’ll need a little advance planning for this one, but it’s always a lot of fun. Ask students to bring something for Show-and-Tell on the first day of class to help their classmates get to know them a little better. They’ll feel oh-so-grown-up as they reminisce about how fun Show-and-Tell was when they were “young”!
16. Beach Ball Toss
Presley Bryant via We Are Teachers
Write some icebreaker questions on a beach ball. Start the game by tossing the ball to a student at random. Ask them to look at the question their right thumb landed on, then share their answer with everyone. Then, they toss the ball on to someone else. Continue until everyone has had a turn.
17. Say Hello!
Here’s a super-simple icebreaker for high school students. Sit in a circle (or at least in a way that makes it easy for everyone to see each other). One student stands up and says, “Hi, my name is [name].” The whole class responds, “Hello, [name]!” They sit down, and the next person does the same. This is a terrific way to learn names, and it gives kids a chance to help others learn to pronounce theirs if it’s a little tricky.
18. Favorite Quote
We Are Teachers
Give everyone a piece of paper and a marker, and ask them to write their favorite inspirational quote. You can give them a little time to do some web research; use our enormous collection of quotes to get started. Afterwards, use the quotes to decorate your classroom walls.
19. Candy Pass
Pass around a bowl of wrapped candy that comes in different colors, and ask every student to choose just one but not eat it yet. After everyone has theirs, tell them they each must answer an icebreaker question based on the color they picked. (For instance, if you picked red, share the best meal you’ve ever eaten. If you picked green, tell us your favorite joke.) Be sure to hide the questions until everyone has their candy in hand!
20. Find Me
Ask each student to write a unique fact about themselves on a note card. Gather and mix them up, then pass them back out randomly. Have students mingle and chat until everyone has found the person who matches the card they’re holding. You can repeat this over and over again so everyone has a chance to meet up and chat.
21. Fakebook Page
We Are Teachers
Your students may or may not use social media in real life, but they can all use this classroom-safe free online Fakebook generator. Kids can personalize these in ways that are appropriate for school. (This also gives you a good opportunity for a lesson on responsible digital citizenship.)
Setting Classroom Expectations Icebreakers for High School Students
Many teachers start the first day of school by sharing their classroom rules, assigning seats, and introducing the year’s agenda. Now, let’s be honest: Most kids tune out when you start sharing your rules. They’ve heard them all before, right? So, try giving your students some ownership over the expectations in your classroom. You’ll be surprised at how this can be a real game-changer.
22. Seating Plan Spin
In the beginning, any seating chart you create is pretty arbitrary. The main purpose is to have students in the same seat each day so you can get to know their names, right? So start out by letting students decide how the initial seating chart works (but they CAN’T pick “sit wherever we want”). They might suggest options like “alphabetical by middle names,” “grouped by birthday month,” and so on. Then, they vote to choose the winner. Finally, kids figure out how to get themselves into the right seats using the rules they chose.
23. Right or Wrong Skits
First, share your classroom rules and expectations. Then, divide kids into small groups, one for each rule. The group has 10 minutes to prepare short skits showing the right way to follow the rule and the wrong kind of behavior. Kids really have fun hamming up the wrong behaviors, and they’re all much more likely to remember your rules.
24. Classroom Constitution
By middle school and high school, students tend to know instinctively the rules they need to follow. Give them ownership by letting them draw up the class constitution. Brainstorm expectations for a good classroom, then create the guidelines they’ll need to follow to make that happen. Craft the language and have everyone sign. This is a project that can take more than one day, but it’s especially fun in social studies, history, and government classes. Get a free online lesson to walk you through the process here.
25. Shared Goals
From day one, you’ve got an agenda with lesson plans ready to go, of course. You’ve probably got standards to follow and routine projects you do every year. But that doesn’t mean you can’t take time on the first day to find out what your students really want to know. Post a few anchor charts around the room with the questions listed below. Have kids circulate and write their answers on the charts. Then, look each one over as a class and talk about the responses. Try these:
What do you think you’ll learn in this class this year?
What do you really want to learn in this class this year?
How can your teacher help you learn and succeed?
What are you most looking forward to in this class?
What do you dread most about this class?
26. Blind Kahoot
Here’s another fun way to introduce your class to what they’ll be learning. Create (or find) a Kahoot that covers the basic fundamentals of your syllabus. Kids will likely moan and groan over each question, but it will give you a chance to learn what they already know, and help them discover what’s coming in the semesters ahead.
27. Student Expectations
Start by writing “Expectations” on a whiteboard. Then go around the room and have students do three things: They should introduce themselves, share their expectations of the class, and, finally, share their idea about the best possible outcome if their expectations are met. An example might be, “Hi, my name is Harper. I’m expecting to learn to see different perspectives. My wildest expectation is that if I knew how to do that, I would become more open-minded and make friends with more people.”
28. Rules Snowball Fight
Once you’ve gone over classroom rules and expectations, hand out blank pieces of paper to your students. Then, have them try to remember those rules and write one on their paper. Now for the fun part: Have them crumple up the papers and throw them inside the circle. Finally, have them grab any paper, read it, and elaborate on the importance of the rule.
Team-Building Icebreakers for High School Students
Team-building activities can be a lot of fun, though you’ve got to pick them carefully, especially with this age group. Be sure to debrief when you’re done—ask students to think about why you had them do this activity and what they learned from it. And if you’re choosing something physical, remember that not everyone in the class may be able (or willing) to participate, so think about how you’ll handle that in advance. Find a list of our favorite team-building games and activities here, which are great to use for high school and middle school icebreakers, or try some of the following ideas.
29. Tarp Flip Challenge
Spread a few tarps on the floor. Get groups of students to stand on them. The challenge? They have to flip the tarp completely over without stepping off of it. Other students can watch to help keep them honest!
30. Scavenger Hunt
There are so many ways to use scavenger hunts as high school and middle school icebreakers. Is this a new school for your students? Send them out to explore it. Want to show them around your classroom? Set up a hunt for different areas and resources. Just want a fun chance to get to know them? Do a hunt to see which group can produce various items (purple pen, hair scrunchie, breath mint, etc.) from their bags or pockets the fastest. The point is to get kids working together in groups and having a little fun. (Grab our free collection of printable scavenger hunts here.)
31. Classroom Escape Room
If you really want to impress and engage your students, start off with an escape room. You can theme it to help them learn more about you, about the school, or the subject you’re teaching. Kids will have to work together to beat the clock, and each student’s individual skills will make the group stronger as a whole. Here’s how to set up your own classroom escape room.
32. STEM Challenge
STEM challenges are great high school and middle school icebreakers because they get kids thinking outside the box and working together. There are so many you can try, and they almost all only require the most basic of supplies. Looking for ideas? Find our big list of STEM activities for all ages here.
33. Perfect Square
This activity requires strong verbal communication and cooperation. Kids need to be blindfolded, so you may want to allow some students to opt out and be observers instead. Blindfolded students try to take a piece of rope and form a perfect square. It’s harder than it sounds, but if kids master it too quickly, ask them to try a harder shape, like a circle or a hexagon.
34. Classification Challenge
Prepare a tray (or a picture collage) with 20 unrelated items—for instance, a spool of thread, an eraser, a juice box, etc. Divide your class into groups and challenge them to put the 20 items into four categories that make sense to them. For example, they may put an earring, a glove, a headset, a sock, and a smile into the category “things you wear.” Have groups work quietly so that their ideas are kept secret. When each group is finished, give each one time to present their categories and their rationale behind each category.
35. Follow the Leader
Ask for a volunteer guesser and have them leave the room. While they’re gone, choose a leader and have the group stand in a circle. The leader begins a movement, which the rest of the group must mimic. (For instance, the leader might jump up and down or wave their arms over their head.) Invite the guesser back in to stand in the middle of the circle as the movements continue. Every so often, the leader changes the movement, and the rest of the group follows. The guesser must try to determine who the leader is by watching the group’s actions closely.
36. Game Day
Imagine your students walking into class on the first day to find a stack of board-game boxes! Games actually make terrific icebreakers, and lots of them help you with team building too. Try cooperative party games like Codenames, Herd Mentality, Pictionary, or Decrypto. Find more terrific classroom games here.
37. Balloon Tower
First break your class into small groups of four to six students. Then supply each group balloons in a variety of sizes and shapes, and a roll of masking tape. Give each group several minutes to brainstorm techniques before they actually start building. Finally, challenge each group to build the tallest tower they can. We love that this activity will get even the shyest of students talking!
38. No-Hands Cup Stacking
So simple and so fun! Students use a rubber band attached to pieces of string to pick up and stack cups into a pyramid. Want to make the challenge even greater? Don’t let them talk while they’re working, limit them to one hand only, or make the strings different lengths.
39. Password
One student sits with their back to the whiteboard while the other students sit facing them. Write the secret “password” on the board, and set a timer for 60 seconds. The other students must figure out how to get the player to say the word written on the board, without using it directly. Make this even more challenging by telling them they can’t talk at all.
40. Emoji Charades
Here’s a modern take on a classic game. Print a variety of emojis on cards, then mix them all up and place them upside down in a pile. One student comes to the front of the room and draws a card, then tries to act out the emoji for other students to guess.
41. Human Knot
Speaking of classic games, this icebreaker has been around for a very long time, but it’s still a popular pick. Students stand close together and put their hands in the middle, each grabbing two other hands at random and creating a giant “knot.” Without letting go, students must slowly untangle the knot until they’re standing in a circle (it’s OK if some people are facing forward and some are backward). It seems like an impossible challenge, but it can be done!
42. Silent Line-Up
This icebreaker helps kids get to know each other while also encouraging teamwork. As you call out each instruction, students must figure out how to line up properly without talking at all. Start out easy by asking them to line up by height. Move on to a more challenging task: lining up in order of birthdays (January at one end, December at the other). Tricky but fun!
What high school and middle school icebreakers do you use? Come share in our We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook!
As the school year draws to a close, it’s important to plan end-of-year activities that help bring closure to your time together with students. Talk with your students about what made this year special, recall the good memories, and reflect on all you’ve learned. After all, you’ve all put in a lot of work to get to this point. Have fun with these end-of-year activities and assignments, and let the countdown begin!
1. Hold a class family circle
Life Between Summers
A family circle is a great way to wrap up a terrific year. Prepare a set of reflection questions, then allow students to take the mic and ask a friend one of the questions. Continue around the circle until every student has had a chance to answer.
Awesome for building reading comprehension skills, whodunits are also a hoot for students to solve! Students must read the clues and collaborate to solve the mystery. Try this one: Who Freed the Fish? And pretty soon your students will be tapping into their inner Sherlock.
It’s amazing what beautiful poetry can come from just about any piece of writing. All you need is a photocopied article, essay, or book excerpt and a Sharpie marker.
Learn more: Blackout Poetry at Just Add Students via YouTube
4. Let students teach
Have your students sign up to teach their classmates a 20- to 30-minute mini-lesson about something they’re passionate about. Some examples include leading the class in a game, song, or other group activity.
Kids love a little friendly competition, especially when it’s quick and easy. Sneak in rounds between activities and hold the finals on the last day of school.
Split your class into two teams facing each other. Have each student write three things about themselves and wad it into a snowball, then let the snowball fight commence! Set a time for a few minutes of “fight” time, then have students each grab a snowball and read the items listed, guessing whose paper it is.
Here’s a sweet way to celebrate the end of the year! Make paper ice cream sundaes with a different memory on each scoop. You can have kids draw these themselves or buy a printable version at the link below.
Flip is one of our favorite classroom tools, especially when it comes to end-of-year activities. Post topics like “What did you learn this year?” or “Share your favorite memory from the past year.” Kids post their video responses and check out other students’ contributions too.
10. Create a collaborative puzzle
Top Teaching Tasks
Give each student a piece of the puzzle and let them get creative! Suggest a theme such as best memory or most important thing I learned or I’ll never forget, etc. Students can write on their puzzle pieces. Once the puzzle is done, you can take a picture and make sure every student gets a copy.
Songs are like smells—just hearing one can bring back all kinds of memories. Ask students (as a class or individually) to compile a list of songs that relate to the past school year and have them write about why each tune has a place on the list. Celebrate the last day of school by listening to songs from the playlist as you reflect on the year gone by. And while you’re at it, check out 85 Awesome Songs for Your End-of-the-Year Playlist.
Give each student a brown paper bag, then ask them to decorate the front and add some reflections about the year on the other three panels. Then, each student adds 10 items from the year to their bag, with notes about why each is important. Finish up by having each kid lay out their items on their desk. Have a gallery walk around the room for everyone to see one another’s selections.
Commencement speeches aren’t only for graduations! Finish out the year by reading or watching other great commencements speeches (the web is full of them). Then challenge students to write—and deliver, if you like—their own speeches for the year they’ve just finished.
What a great way to look back over what kids have learned! For each letter of the alphabet, have them write and illustrate something they learned or did throughout the year. Hit the link below to get a free printable template for this project. Learning virtually? Have students create a Google Slideshow instead.
This is a skill every kid should learn: writing and sending thank-you notes. So why not incorporate it into your lineup of end-of-year activities? Have kids write a note to someone who made their school year special, then seal them in envelopes, address them, and deliver them by hand or mail. And while you’re at it, why not write a thank-you note to your own class?
Ask your students to sum up their favorite school-year memory (Science fair? Field day? Creative class presentations?) in one snapshot. Younger kids can draw pictures of the event, while older kids are likely to have a photo on their phone they’d be willing to share. Assemble them on a bulletin board—real-world or digital—with a few words from each student about what made that moment so special.
Instead of counting down the days until the end, count up the days from the year behind you! Get students counting by having them use a calendar to figure out how many Mondays you’ve had this year, how many Fridays, how many P.E. days, and how many Jell-O-in-the-cafeteria days. Then work together to make a bar graph and hang it on the wall.
Take a break and let the students lead the class for a change. If you’re reviewing material for finals or another end-of-year test, have each student (or a group) lead the review session on a particular topic. You can also have your students create their own lesson on a topic they’re passionate about. Or have kids in one grade make and present lessons on what students in the grade below them can expect to learn the following year. There are a lot of options here, and all of them give you time to take a breather!
19. Talk behind each other’s backs (really!)
Have your students help tape a piece of lined paper to one another’s backs. Have each student get out a felt-tipped marker (not a Sharpie—it may bleed through). Set a timer and put on some favorite music. Let the students mix around the room and write a positive message on each student’s paper. For example, The best thing about you is …, What I appreciate most about you is …, I remember …, etc. After a set amount of time, have students stop, remove their papers from their backs, and enjoy reading the words of love from their classmates. (For a socially distanced spin, create a Google Slide or Padlet template for each student instead.)
Little ones especially have a hard time with the end of a school year. Next year lots of things will be different, and that can be a sad and even scary thought for some. Read-alouds are simple but powerful end-of-year activities. Check out these 11 End-of-Year Books To Bring Your Class Closure, like The Egg by M.P. Robertson, to spark conversations about what kids have learned and what lies ahead.
22. Dream about the summer ahead
Third Grade Love
Here’s an end-of-year assignment that includes both art and writing. Have kids draw a portrait of themselves, then use the template at the link below to cut out and decorate an enormous pair of sunglasses. On the glasses, have them write about their summer plans (or the things they’d like to do).
Students get a chance to practice public speaking in a very meaningful way with this end-of-year activity. Get a few liters of ginger ale and plastic champagne flutes from a party store, arrange your students in a circle, and have everyone say something—maybe a goal for the next school year, well-wishes for their peers, a favorite memory. After everyone has spoken, lift your glasses with a cheer and celebrate to end the school year.
24. Author a six-word memoir
Six-Word Memoirs Project
This project has taken the world by storm. In six words, can you capture the essence of your school year? Kids can spend a little or a lot of time on this one, refining their words and even illustrating them. Collect them all into a slideshow (anonymous, if kids prefer) to share on the last day.
This is one of the most exciting end-of-year activities for students. Take them to visit the classrooms they’ll be in next year. Arrange to spend some time with the teachers, talk to the students, and hear more about what they’ll be learning. This is a good way to allay fears many kids have about moving on from a classroom where they’ve been comfortable. (You can do this as a Zoom tour and meet-and-greet too.)
In this fun end-of-year activity that’s perfect for social studies, have your students design a “Great Seal” for their school. First, break them into groups to talk about what makes your school special and memorable for them. Then, have each kid (or group) create their own “seal” based on the ones used by states and cities. This project is especially meaningful for kids about to move on to another school like junior high.
Time magazine can’t have all the fun! Help your students compile a list of the “People of the Year” for your class. Include people important to your classroom (the custodian, the principal, everyone’s favorite “lunch lady”) along with classroom visitors and speakers from the year. Add in some people from current events and pop culture (the current president, a favorite musician) and even folks they studied throughout the year (Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart). Try to take or draw portraits of each, and assign each student to write a brief bio of one of the people included.
28. Write letters or tips for next year’s class
Diary of a Public School Teacher
Who better to advise next year’s class on what they’ll need to succeed than the kids who’ve just finished doing it? They can write letters on their own or work together to create a master list of what it takes to make it in the next grade.
Ask your students to create a wall-worthy piece of art that reflects something they learned in science. Did you study plants? Maybe a watercolor of flowers. Or if you studied space, a cosmic-inspired number. Send their work home to help them remember, or collect them to create a bulletin board that will inspire next year’s class about what they’ll be learning.
30. Host an open-mic night
Teaching … the Art of Possibility
Encourage kids to share the writing they’ve done in (and out of) class with an open mic event. Set up a stage complete with microphone and stool—get great tips for this at the link below—then bring kids up to tell a story or recite a poem. Overcome stage fright with a cool casual vibe and plenty of snacks. Invite friends and family to attend or watch virtually via Zoom.
Write several story titles like “The Great Summer Adventure,” “How My Teacher Lost Her Mind,” or “My Teacher, My Hero” at the top of blank pages. Then, have each student start a story and, after five minutes, pass the story to a neighbor who will continue writing. (Do this digitally on Google Docs if you’re not able to share supplies from person to person.) Continue writing round-robin style until you have several stories to read aloud to the class.
32. Publish a year-end newspaper
Teaching With a Mountain View
You can do this one as a group or individually. Create a basic newspaper template and have the class fill in the front page news. Recap the year, offer advice, illustrate favorite memories, and more. Then, pass these on to the grade below to give them an idea of what lies ahead.
33. Perform a high school (or middle or elementary school) musical number
Break your students into groups and have them create (and perform) musical numbers commemorating the year. They can write new words to existing tunes, choreograph a lip-synch performance to an inspiring or memorable song, or even come up with something entirely new. Invite parents or other classes to a final-day performance, in person or online.
34. Assemble a Book Hall of Fame
Kerri Pierce via Pinterest
Have each student write (or draw) a reflection on the best book they read during the year. Then, save their reflections and post them on a bulletin board or Padlet so that next year’s students can glean reading ideas.
Looking for game-based end-of-year activities? Play charades! Have each student write out one memorable moment from the school year on a slip of paper. Collect all the slips in a bag, hat, or the like. Divide kids into teams and have them come up one team at a time, choose a slip, and act out the memory for the group. No need to keep score—the goal is just to relive all the happy memories from the year.
36. Start a school graffiti wall
The Literacy Leader
Choose a wall in your school or classroom and encourage kids to sign their names and date with a quote or other memory. Use permanent markers or small paintbrushes. Each year, photograph the wall and then paint over it to start anew. If you have enough space, these walls can last longer and only be painted over every so many years, creating much more enduring memories. No wall room? Try a bulletin board or large sheet of paper instead.
Take a day or a week to pass on important things you want your kids to know as they move on in life without you. Share poems, songs, TED Talks, quotes, books, and tips that you think will help them along the way. Don’t forget to include simple life lessons (registering and preparing to vote, protecting yourself online, how to behave on an elevator) that school usually doesn’t teach you. Learn more about this end-of-year activity here.
38. Print up a growing tree
Martin Koprowski via Pinterest
Capture each student’s fingerprint as a tree leaf. Label them with their names, then hang them in your room from year to year so kids can see who’s come before them.
Throughout the year, have students save their best work in a folder or box. At the end of the year, each student chooses their favorite items to display in a portfolio like a binder or display board. Invite parents and friends to come to view everyone’s achievements.
40. Put together time capsules
Mrs. Richardson’s Class
Time capsules are classic end-of-year activities. Students will have so much fun assembling time capsules to be opened someday in the future. These can be as simple as a plastic water bottle filled with written memories or a shoebox stuffed with items to represent what kids did and learned over the school year.
Classroom walls can start to look empty at the end of the year as you take things down to prepare for summer. Temporarily fill in the space with a long strip of butcher paper, then have kids create a timeline of the year. Break it down by month, then ask kids what they remember. Prompt their memories by having them look over their work (what a fun way to review!), and don’t forget to include events, speakers, and holiday celebrations.
42. Fill out an end-of-year roundup
Squarehead Teachers
Sometimes you just need a quick activity that doesn’t take a lot of prep, and that’s where this free printable comes in. Personalize it by taking and printing a photo of each student, or have them draw their own portrait in the space provided.
Build in time to celebrate the end of the year with some fun outdoor activities. Rotate teams for each activity so your students get a chance to mingle with all of their classmates. Here are 25 Clever Outdoor Games to choose from.
44. Put on a show
This is a fun end-of-year activity that could be presented to parents, a younger class, your whole school, or just for your own class. Students can perform skits, dramatic readings, act out a story, showcase a talent, or read a favorite piece from a book they read.
45. Create an end-of-year ABC book
Teaching With a Mountain View
You use them for novel studies, so why not create an ABC book for highlights of the school year? For each letter, students come up with one memorable event or lesson, write a few sentences, and draw a picture. Think of it as a literacy lesson/memory book activity.
One of our favorite end-of-year activities is a book museum walk. Students choose one of their favorite books and create a poster, diorama, trifold, or even dress up as a character. They can work on their projects at home or at school, and their project should provide a sneak peek or trailer of the book. When the students are ready to present, invite another class or grade level in to view the “museum.”
End-of-year activities can help wrap up subject matters like geography. For this fun assignment, have your students research different symbols that represent something unique about your state. Each symbol they discover will become an app for their homemade iPad. Have them draw the symbols on the outside of each app, and then write a brief summary about the symbols on the inside.
Traditionally, one of the classic school end-of-year activities was field trips. But sometimes budgets don’t cooperate, so why not take it virtual? They’re fun and easy, and no permission slips, chaperones, or packed lunches are needed! Check out our favorite Amazing Educational Virtual Field Trips.
49. Pump up the school spirit
We Are Teachers
From dress-up days and community-building activities to outreach and volunteer projects, Spirit Week activities are a great way to end the year on a high note. Check out our massive list of School Spirit Week Ideas.
50. Story writing
Have each student start a story and then leave it on their desk. At your signal, have students rotate to the next desk, and give them a minute to read the story there and then add to the story. Keep rotating, giving students the chance to add to as many stories as you have time for. Let students know when you’re on your last rotation so they can wrap the story up.
51. Make a wearable keepsake
Happiness Is Homemade
Mark your time together by making fun tie-dyed bandannas or decorating T-shirts with everyone’s signature or handprint. Or try making friendship bracelets or necklaces. Every time your students wear one of these items, they’ll fondly remember your year together.
Photo booths are a great way to start the school year, but they’re also terrific for the last days of the year. Help kids capture memories with their friends before they part for the summer.
Kids are already dreaming of how they’ll fill the summer hours, so this last-minute math activity will be pure fun! Give kids a budget (say, $2,500), then send them off to research whether their dream trip can be accomplished. Make sure they include airfare or gas money, lodgings, food, spending money, and all the incidentals that add up when you travel.
54. Host a book tasting
Teaching With a Mountain View
Expand your readers’ palates with a book tasting and set them up for summer reading. A book tasting gives students the opportunity to sample some juicy reads in a short period of time and come away with a wish list of titles.
Provide kids with lots of options, then have them compile their own bucket lists for the summer days ahead. In addition to fun items, encourage them to add ways to help others or learn something new too.
Add a Random Acts of Kindness Challenge to your lineup of end-of-year activities and make it all the way to the finish line with good vibes. To get started, check out Random Acts of Kindness: 30 Activities for Elementary Students from American Montessori Society
57. See who knows you best
@kinderandcactus via Instagram
Challenge your kiddos to show who knows you best. Record your students’ answers on chart paper with markers or use Google Slides. It’s amazing how much kids pick up on our likes and dislikes!
Cultivating friendships is a huge part of going to school. It’s always a good time for class chats about making friends, helping and appreciating friends, and tackling friendship challenges. A solid collection of children’s books about friendship is an essential tool. We’ve pulled together this list of recent favorite children’s books about friendship you’ll want to add to your shelves. (Pssst: We love sharing picture books with all ages, so check these out even if you teach big kids!)
1. Friends Beyond Measure: A Story Told With Infographics by Lalena Fisher
Amazon
We love unique children’s books about friendship to get students looking at the topic in new ways. Friends Ana and Harwin describe their joyful relationship in diagrams, charts, timelines, and graphs. All the data points to fun, until they find out Harwin’s family must move overseas. The two mourn the news, and then get to work drawing up new ways to represent their friendship. This title is especially perfect to share when you’re learning about representing data in math and science.
This clever look at “making” a friend shows a child on a dramatic adventure to build a robot—who ends up falling in with the wrong robotic crowd and meets its demise in an unfortunate explosion. The real friendship advice sprinkled throughout the story invites classroom conversation. It ends on a positive note when the child meets a peer who’s also interested in robots.
Riley’s cousins are always so bossy, telling Riley the “right” way to play with toys. The ways Riley enjoys playing, like lining up toys or tearing up piles of paper, aren’t the same. The kids find common ground and learn that there are many ways to play that are fun. This is a sweet and helpful story about appreciating how friends like to play and finding ways to play together harmoniously.
What starts as two children arguing over the same book at the library turns into a lesson about the magical power of perspective-taking. Readers can infer, as the story unfolds, that one child loves the book because it’s a comfort during time spent at the hospital with an ill parent. The other child loves the book because it’s a refuge in their chaotic home. As the children learn about and connect with each other, an empathetic friendship develops.
Art and his dad head to the farmers market on the hunt for ingredients to make juice to fight a cold. They run into some challenges along the way, and plenty of friends are eager to help. It’s nice to share children’s books about friendship that aren’t solely focused on childhood friendships. After all, we need friends at all ages!
This poignant book acknowledges that making friends in new situations can be hard, and offers an encouraging example of how sharing more about yourself can help foster connection. Sora loves collecting shells at the beach with her grandmother during her summer visit. Then, while she’s already struggling to make friends in her new kindergarten class, her grandmother passes away. The sadness is too much to bear. But taking a risk to open herself to new friendships helps.
7. Feathers Together by Caron Levis and Charles Santoso
Amazon
Two storks, Malena and Klepetan, miss each other terribly when an injured wing means Malena can’t migrate with the flock as usual. They exchange feathers and promise to hold each other in their hearts. A human friend cares for Malena during winter while she can’t fly, and the pair joyfully reunite the next spring. This is a nice friendship-themed story for identifying story elements and practicing retelling and summarizing. Check out all the titles in the Feeling Friends series, all inspired by real-life animal friendships.
Elsie and her mom, Valentine, run a guest house. When a tiger comes looking for a place to stay, they choose to welcome and accommodate him, building a new friendship in the process. This entertaining look at themes of inclusion and community can get kids talking about how to create a friendly, welcoming classroom and school.
We’re always down for children’s books about friendship that spell out for kids how they can be a good friend—and this one does it so sweetly! A child helps all her animal friends by giving them just the kind of support they need. This is a fantastic conversation starter for younger kids about relevant human friendship situations.
Raise your hand if your childhood neighbors were your first example friendship! This group of animal street-mates hasn’t really connected yet; they all feel like they don’t have much in common. When one neighbor has a problem, though—the internet stops working!—it turns out another neighbor can easily lend a hand. This starts a chain of helping and connecting. Get kids talking about ways to form friendships in their own communities.
11. The Kindest Red: A Story of Hijab and Friendship by Ibtihaj Muhammad and S.K. Ali
Amazon
This sequel to the bestselling book The Proudest Blue, written by the first American woman in hijab to compete for the United States in the Olympic Games, spotlights the deep connections we can form with friends and siblings by helping others.
Walter and Xavier are best friends … until they aren’t. This touching story explores the idea that friendships don’t have to last forever, and how to deal with the roller coaster of emotions from sad to lonely to hopeful that can happen during friendship transitions.
Best friends Dandan and Yueyue meet one last time for their favorite activity—making paper snowflakes—before she moves to America. Will she ever find a friend in her new country like she did at home? Important insights about the challenges of being an immigrant are woven into a sweet and relatable story about making new friends while holding on to old ones.
Marjorie loves baking, knitting, and gardening so she goes undercover to find friends with similar interests at the local senior center. This heartwarming and upbeat book shows that friendship can come in many forms and highlights the importance of being true to yourself.
15. The Little Book of Friendship by Zack Bush and Laurie Friedman
Amazon
This is the perfect instruction manual for how to be a friend. Filled with activities, practical ideas, and short vignettes, this nonfiction book is a great addition to any classroom library and can be easily incorporated into social-emotional learning lesson plans.
The perfect story for anyone who feels like they don’t quite fit in. Shy Sophie feels most comfortable in her wolf suit, but when she wears it to school, her classmates make fun of her. Through this emotion-filled story, Sophie goes on a magical journey that teaches her (and her classmates) that good friends let you be you.
Full of beautiful illustrations that show a young girl enjoying solo activities, this tender book celebrates what we can gain from being alone and what we can gain from being with a friend. This is a particularly good book for more introspective and introverted students.
Henry really wants a friend, but when things often feel too loud and too close, this seems like an impossible task. This heartwarming book provides an important perspective about friendships from a child on the autism spectrum.
Brian feels invisible until a new friend joins the classroom and Brian helps welcome him. The timeless message about the power of kindness to help kids feel seen, heard, and valued makes this a perennial favorite for readers of all ages.
20. Don’t Hug Doug (He Doesn’t Like It) by Carrie Finison
Amazon
Doug likes a lot of things—including his rock collection, harmonica bands, and his many friends—but he thinks hugs are just way “too squashy.” When you need children’s books about respecting personal boundaries and different ways to show you care about a friend, definitely reach for this one!
Sam resists Agu’s attempts to join his game of pirates at first because he’s unfamiliar, but Agu wins him over with his real-life experience sailing the high seas. Gorgeous and thought-provoking, this book will help kids talk about how new friends can lead to new learning and new fun.
22. We Laugh Alike / Juntos nos reímos by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
Amazon
If you or your students speak Spanish, you’ll definitely want to add this unique children’s book about friendship across language barriers to your shelves. (And if you don’t, it’s still a great one to enjoy with kids, using the glossary to help.) Using a mix of English, Spanish, gestures, and open-mindedness, two groups of friends find common ground—and laughs—at the park.
23. A Thousand White Butterflies by Jessica Betancourt-Perez and Karen Lynn Williams
Amazon
Isabella is so excited for her first day of school—her “make-new-friends day”—after moving to the United States from Colombia. But then a snowstorm cancels school! A chance encounter shows her there are lots of ways to make new friends and have fun playing together. This touching personal narrative is one of our favorite new children’s books about friendship.
Jitterbug the chipmunk is hesitant about accepting a newcomer to her woods until her friends help her see the positives of welcoming “someone new.” Sign of a great book: Students of any age can appreciate this story and connect its themes to their lives.
We just keep coming back to this gorgeous book for all the literacy mini-lessons. Daniela and Evelyn are the best of friends, but Evelyn’s impending move is hard to swallow. Their poignant conversations show how friendship can transcend circumstance—and can help real-life friends facing a similar situation.
Making amends when you’ve made a mistake is a key part of friendship. This book manages to be both fun and serious as it teaches readers exactly what the title promises.
Sicily is a STEM wizard, constantly making creations from parts she finds in her apartment complex. Making friends, though? That’s harder. Throughout Sicily’s attempts, a parallel story of a neighbor boy unfolds in the illustrations—a fun example of how friendship can occur in unexpected places, and a reminder for kids that a big part of friendship is considering others’ experiences.
Simple, counting text describes a diverse group of children who come together at the playground. The illustrations will give your class lots to talk about and can help open a brainstorming session about inclusive ways to welcome others to play.
32. All About Friends by Felicity Brooks and Mar Ferrero
Amazon
Approaching friendship discussions through stories works for lots of kids, but for some, a more explicit primer can be helpful. This is one of the most comprehensive nonfiction children’s books about friendship we’ve seen. It uses straightforward language and plenty of charming pictures to teach key skills like how to use friendly body language, how to initiate conversations with friends, and strategies to use when friends argue.
Meesha never feels like she gets it quite right unless she’s making “friends” with craft supplies. When Josh quietly reaches out, though, she learns that doing something she loves alongside a friend can feel twice as nice. Share this story to honor the experiences of kids who find it challenging to connect with others.
Llewellyn and his friend Evelyn collect their favorite memories in jars. When Evelyn moves away, it’s devastating—until they find a way to use their special memories to stay connected. We love this hushed, beautiful children’s book about friendship for the range of ideas and conversations it inspires.
35. The Shadow Elephant by Nadine Robert and Valerio Vidali
Amazon
Friendship is often lots of fun, but sometimes being a friend means helping during hard times. When Elephant feels down, Mouse instinctively knows he needs time to let the feelings pass with a quiet friend resting by his side.
