100th Day of School

By Pam Henderson

When school children return to the classroom after the December holidays, they’ll be gearing up to celebrate the 100^th Day of School. On what date the 100^th Day falls is dependent upon the start date for each school – and perhaps the number of snow days that occur over the next few weeks – but, generally it falls toward the end of January/early February.

The 100^th day is simply a fun twist on practicing all the new skills that students have learned since the school year began. The “100 Days” was a new concept to me when my daughters entered elementary school, and my husband and I quickly learned what a big deal it was to them. It was hard to contain their excitement for the Big Day. Whether you are a teacher planning 100^th Day activities or a parent looking to incorporate 100^th Day activities at home, you might enjoy these ideas I’ve gathered from Scholastic, Inc. and the National Education Association. I’ve also thrown in a few of my tried-and-true ideas from my daughters’ 100^th Day of School activities:

Look at a map to find what is 100 miles north, south, east, and west of your school or home.
String necklaces with 100 beads or cereal rings.
Calculate what year it will be when you turn 100 years old.
Find the names of two cities in every state, to add up to 100 cities.
List 100 cities to where your classmates or family members have travelled.
Do 100 hops or 100 jumping jacks.
Name 100 things you like about your school or town.
Glue 100 beans to a piece of cardboard.
Fill a jar with 100 pennies.
Count by 2’s to 100. Then, count by 5’s. Then, count by 10’s.
List 100 nice things you can do for classmates, family members or neighbors.
Learn how to say “100” in different languages.
Blow up 100 balloons.
Write a story with 100 words.
Compare weights: 100 marbles, 100 pennies, 100 paper clips, 100 cotton balls, 100 dried beans.
Compile a list of your 100 favorite books (or the favorite books of your classroom or family).
Fill each clear sandwich bags with 100 objects: chocolate candies, coins, beans, jelly beans, seeds, cereal. (Add some flair to this activity – Try to pick something unique, that no other classmate is likely to bring.)
Cut out 100 shapes from construction paper and turn them into an art project glued to a paper plate.
List what items you would buy with $100. Include the cost per each item. The catch is you cannot spend the money on yourself.
Create a list of 100 individuals who changed history and what they did.
Draw a picture of what you will look like when you are 100 years old.
Collect 100 cans of food for a food pantry.
Create an imaginary ice cream cone with 100 scoops of ice cream. Staple a giant waffle cone to the classroom bulletin board and ask the children to design new ice cream flavors. They can create a visual of their scoop using a circle cut-out decorated with markers, stickers, dried beans or cotton balls (e.g. strawberry carrot ice cream, or marshmallow broccoli ice cream). Then, with a glue stick, stack the “scoops” onto the cone.

You can make the giant cone at home with a large piece of paper or posterboard and crayons or markers.

The possibilities for a 100^th Day of School celebration in your classroom or at home are endless. An internet search can lead you to countless ideas and projects that the children in your life are bound to enjoy. They will be having so much that they won’t even realize that they are practicing their math and writing skills.