The 100th Day of School is a big deal especially in kindergarten and first grade. Last year when I was starting to plan out our celebration for it in first grade I wanted to do something a little different. I know many times teachers have students dress up like they are 100 years old so I thought – why not throw a birthday party for turning 100 years old! It was a hit! See all of the fun we had below…
About a week before the 100th day of school, I let students and parents know that students could dress up for the day like they were 100 years old. Then, the day before (Day 99 to be exact) at the end of the day I shared the above birthday party invitation with my kiddos. This way they knew something was coming, but still didn’t know exactly what it meant. This was a great way to build hype and excitement!
Most of the decorations that I got for our birthday party were from the Dollar Tree. I got balloon tablecloths and fun party centerpieces. We also made some “Happy Birthday” banners and hung up the door sign with streamers. We also made some balloons to hang around the room too! For some fun party decor – check out my Amazon Storefront – HERE.
I like to have a photo opportunity with most room transformations and I definitely wanted to take pictures of the kiddos all dressed up like they were 100 years old. I wish I could post some of those pictures, but due to privacy I can’t. But, I can tell you that the kids looked super cute! They were dressed up with suspenders, bow ties, wigs, canes, etc. They went all out, which made the day super fun. I wore an “old lady” jogging suit and tried to put baby powder in my hair (but that didn’t work so well). For the photo booth, I put up birthday wrapping paper that I got from Target and then used birthday photo booth props from Amazon. You can find the photo props and more decor on my Amazon Store front…HERE.
100th Day Stations
For about an hour-ish or more, students were rotating through 100th day stations with their group.
Station #1 – Pattern Blocks – Students were given 100 pattern blocks and they were able to build any kind of creation with them.
Station #2 – Write 100 Words – Students were given a paper with lines numbered from 1 to 100. Their job was to go around the room and try to write down 100 different words.
Station #3 – Unifix Cubes – Students were given 100 unifix cubes and could build any type of tower or creation that they wanted.
Station #4 – 100 Lollipop Licks – Students were each given a Tootsie Roll Pop and had to see how many licks it took them to get to the center. I got this cute recording sheet on TPT from Buckmastery – HERE.
Station 5 – Cup Challenge – Groups were given 100 Dixie cups and had to build the tallest tower that they could.
Another activity that students worked on during the day was creating their special 100th day snack. For this snack, you need 10 different items. Then, each child will get 10 of each of the 10 items and their trail mix will have 100 items in this. This year I used Cheez-Its, Kix Cereal, Cheerios, Pretzels, Raisins, Marshmallows, Goldfish, Gummy Bears, Chocolate Chips, and M&Ms. This activity is always a class favorite!
Math Birthday Party
During this time of year we had been learning all about place value, so Amy Lemon’s Place Value Party fit in perfectly. Students made a cake using place value with a 2-digit number and played Pin the Nose on the Clown with place value type questions. You can find these activities… HERE.
100th Day Scavenger Hunt
For our special scavenger hunt, students need special glasses to help them see. I make these 100 glasses using the school die cut machine and craft sticks and then students get to decorate them. They can see through the two zeroes and use it to help them with our scavenger hunt. For the scavenger hunt I hide 100 numbers around the room. This year I used stars and numbered them from 1-100. I color coordinated even and odd numbers. Students then use their special glasses to help them find all of the numbers. Then we put them in the correct order in a pocket chart.