19 Highly Engaging End-of-Year Activities

Whether you’re guiding kindergartners toward a summer of Popsicles and sprinklers or seniors toward college or work, the final days of the school year offer an opportunity to ensure that students conclude the year feeling accomplished, connected to you and each other, and ready for future challenges. The year-ending activities described here can help you craft a meaningful sense of closure, a positive coda that impacts how your class will be remembered.

Reflective Activities

Before the goodbyes, employ these exit activities to remind students of what they’ve learned in the course of the year.

1. Memory Murals: Reflection turns into visual art when student groups design murals based on different units or memories from the year. Have students use poster boards or flattened cardboard boxes (for an eco-friendly touch) and include images, key vocabulary, and important quotes from the year. Alternatively, take this activity outside and have students make chalk murals on the pavement. When they’re finished, facilitate a gallery walk. Email students and guardians photos of the murals with an inspiring message, such as, “Remember all you’ve learned and that your life is a masterpiece!”

2. “Our Year” Digital Memory Book: Have students write and illustrate one page that you photograph and add to a digital slide show that can be sent home. Here are some suggested topics: 

• Favorite book
• Favorite class activity
• Memorable class moment
• Personal accomplishment
• Biggest academic lesson
• One thing I learned about myself
• Survival tips (for the incoming class to read)
• “Then vs. Now”: Students split their page into two parts—one side for a drawing and a short paragraph describing their feelings, skills, or mindset from the first day of school, and the other side depicting who they are today.

3. Aha!: Each student writes about a specific class idea or skill that was once confusing but eventually made sense. Sentence starters might include these:

• _____ finally became clear for me when…
• At first, I didn’t get _____, but then…
• The moment I understood _____ was when…
• _____ helped me realize that…

If any students feel like nothing major “clicked” this year, encourage them to write about a moment they saw progress or felt more confident. After students complete their chosen prompts, have them share their reflections in small groups before coming together as a class to discuss patterns and insights.

4. Success Circles: Organize students into two concentric circles, with each student in the inner circle facing one in the outer circle. Each student pairs with the one facing them, taking turns responding to questions like the ones in “22 End of Year Questions to Ask Your Students.” After the pairs exchange answers, have students in the inner circle take one step to the right to face a new partner. When several rounds have been completed, give students a few minutes to jot down and then share a key insight or memorable response with the whole class.

5. Portfolio Share: This one starts early in the year or semester. Have students assemble a portfolio for the course that includes things like the following:

• Science: Lab experiences, lab reports, and visualizations of the scientific method.  
• English: Best writing pieces with annotations that highlight improvements in style, voice, and structure.
• History: Project reports, research papers, or historical analyses that demonstrate critical inquiry and evidence-based reasoning.
• Mathematics: Problem-solving exercises, creative applications of mathematical concepts, reflective journals, or project-based work.
• Visual and performing arts: Artwork, digital media projects, recordings of performances.
• Social studies: Essays or projects that examine cultural, political, or global issues.

Each portfolio should conclude with a reflective essay in which students respond to prompts like these:

• How have I grown in this subject?
• What was my biggest challenge, and how did I overcome it?
• What was a surprising insight that shifted my understanding of the subject?
• How can I apply what I learned this year to future projects or studies?
• Which piece of feedback made the biggest impact on my learning?

During the final class, have classmates read and discuss a selected piece from their portfolio with small groups of peers.

Letter Writing

Writing letters helps students find meaning in their experiences and feel connected to peers, next year’s class, and the people they’re becoming.

6. Letter of Appreciation: Each student writes an anonymous note to one or more members of the class, highlighting something kind, encouraging, or memorable that the peer said or did during the year. After collecting the letters, quietly give them to the recipients and watch faces light up. To ensure that no one is left out, write anonymous notes yourself to each student so that everyone receives at least one heartfelt message.

7. Legacy Letters: Invite students to write letters to the learners who will sit in their seats next year, addressing questions like these: What felt challenging at first? What helped you succeed? What made the class memorable? Explain that on their first day, the new class will receive these letters, helping them feel welcomed and inspired.

8. Future Me Letters: Direct students to write a short letter to their future selves using the FutureMe website, which will email the letter to them one to 10 years later. Tell them to focus on a moment of growth when they overcame a challenge and discovered their inner strength. Use this structured prompt to guide their reflection:

• What was a challenging moment or obstacle that pushed you to grow?
• How did you triumph over this challenge, and what success did you achieve?
• What did this experience teach you about your strength and resilience?
• Tell your future self what reminder or encouragement you want to carry with you as you navigate life’s challenges.

In the P.S., have students write, “Future me, don’t forget to email [teacher’s name] at [teacher’s email address] and share what it felt like to hear from your past self.”

9. “Dear Teacher” Course Evaluation: Invite learners to compose a helpful letter evaluating the course and offering advice for future improvements. Encourage them to highlight what resonated most—favorite activities, engaging teaching methods, and the biggest takeaways, along with constructive ideas for how the course could improve for future students. To complement the letter, provide an anonymous digital survey where students can quickly rate which assignments, readings, and classroom experiences were most (and least) helpful.

Celebration and Recognition Activities

These closing activities recognize students’ contributions to your class with warmth, humor, and authenticity.

10. Epic Poem: Before she retired as a middle grades teacher, education author Elyse S. Scott created a class poem for every class and wrote at least four lines to each student, attempting to capture “their essence.” Scott wrote, “It was my gift to them.”

11. Awards: Host a relaxed class awards ceremony where every student receives a playful personalized award certificate that highlights something unique about them. Keep it light and specific (e.g., “Mighty Keeper of Snacks,” “Queen of Kindness,” or “Word Wizard”). As an alternative, have students create their own award categories. At the end of class, students can present their awards by saying: “My name is _____, and I gave myself the _____ Award. I earned it by _____.”

12. Memory Videos: If you or your students have been snapping photos or filming moments throughout the year, stitch them together into a short, music-backed montage using software such as iMovie.

13. Juice Box Toasts: Invite students to jot down a short toast, then raise their juice boxes for a spirited farewell.

Year-In-Review Activities

As the year comes to a close, these activities can be dynamic, interactive experiences that reinforce key concepts you wanted them to master.

14. Visual Timeline: To encourage students to reflect on their academic experience, have them create a large visual timeline of key events and concepts on butcher paper using markers. Assign groups different sections or topics to illustrate with drawings, symbols, and brief notes—for example:

• Math: Map progression from beginning to advanced math problems, highlighting key formulas and problem-solving strategies.
• Social studies: Chart landmark historical events, pivotal dates, and influential figures discussed during the semester.
• Sciences: Illustrate critical experiments, steps of the scientific method, and unit milestones.
• English: Draw book covers of texts studied and include symbols, themes, and important quotations. 

15. Team Mini-Lessons: Assign each group a key topic from the year and have them prepare a short lesson—using digital presentations, posters, or role-playing—that highlights crucial points and practical applications.

16. Slide Deck: Proof We Paid Attention (Sometimes): Ask each student to complete one slide that captures a memorable part of their experience in class. Include the following:

• Name and photo
• Visual representation of a class idea or skill
• An emoji or animated GIF to rate how difficult it was to learn
• Two sentences describing a proud class moment
• Funny footnote—for example: “This Slide Is Sponsored by…” (e.g., “Flamin’ Hot Cheetos”)

Compile the completed slides into a slide show to play on the final day with background music, highlighting each student’s unique perspective and reflections from the year.

Transition Activities

These closing activities ​​help learners prepare them for what’s ahead in their lives.

17. Hot Seat Exit Interviews: Arrange chairs in a circle, designating one of the chairs as the hot seat. Each student takes a turn occupying the hot seat to answer a reflective question within one minute. Let the previous hot seat participant draw a question from an envelope for the next student to answer. Consider prompts that validate their classroom experiences while gently pointing them forward.

• What are you most excited (or curious) about for next year?
• What’s something you’ve learned here that you’ll carry with you?
• What advice would you give yourself on the first day of class next year?
• What do you wish your next teacher knew about you as a learner?
• What are you most proud of accomplishing this year?

18. Goal Ladder: This activity helps students transform lofty goals into concrete, manageable steps. Using a ladder worksheet, students write their goal on the top rung. Starting from the bottom, they fill in each rung with a small, specific step that will move them closer to their goal. Students can share their completed ladders in small groups.

19. “What I Wish I Knew” Alumni Speaker Panel: Invite former students to share what they’ve learned since leaving this stage of their academic experience, whether they moved on to middle school, high school, college, or a career path. Cap the session with a Q&A session, inviting current students to ask follow-up questions and glean practical advice for their future academic and career pursuits.

Meaningful endings don’t just happen. They arise when we plan activities grounded in the true spirit of the class, provide time for students to reflect on how far they’ve come, and leave them with the belief that they’re ready for whatever comes next.