These fun activities will help you beat the end of the year blues!
We are hearing over and over in the schools where we work…
The teachers are tired. The therapy team is bored. And the kids are DONE!
But there are still plenty of school days left to fill with meaningful activities that address IEP goals and that keep kids engaged and learning in the classroom.
We thought it would be fun to give you some inspired activity ideas that will have everyone happy and smiling through the end of the year!
Beat the End of the Year Blues!
1 || Go with a theme! Create an entire lesson plan around a spring or summer theme that will have kids looking forward to a new activity each day/week/session. For instance, try going with a beach theme. Create a sensory bin full of sand and sand toys. You might even get creative with how they might play in this sensory bin — toes, anyone?!?!
2 || Play board games! Games are GREAT for encouraging social skills like turn-taking and how to win or lose. There are also games that can be great for practicing handwriting skills!
3 || Make ice cream in a bag. Who doesn’t love squeezing and squishing a zip top bag full of cool, soft ingredients? You will be happy because kids are working on bilateral coordination, , fine motor skills and direction following. Kids will be happy because they can eat it when they’re done!
4 || Water balloons. Yep, we know this isn’t for everyday, but it would make for a very special last day of therapy. Make targets on the sidewalk with chalk and test kids’ hand-eye coordination.
5 || Squirt Bottles. Fun summer activities like this are not only great for hand strengthening but also amazing for visual motor practice and that all-important core strengthening!
6 || Sidewalk Chalk. This warm weather staple can get kids moving, expressing their artistic side and working on fine motor skills.
7 || 10 Days to Conquer. Climbing the monkey bars, doing a cartwheel, and pumping a swing are all rites of passage on a school playground so why not do a few mini workouts to facilitate these skills?
8 || Card games for movement. A deck of cards is easy to find and so fun to use for gross and fine motor play.
9 || Playground Games. There are so many fun games that require nothing more than a group of kids. Take them all to the playground or an empty field and play!
10 || Outdoor Sensory Motor Scavenger Hunt. Print out this scavenger hunt and set kids lose to use all of their senses to find the requested objects.
What are your favorite ways to count down to the end of the year? Share them in the comments below!
