10 Ways to Celebrate the 100th Day of School

I make our 100th day a time to play with numbers and pat ourselves on the back for being over half way through the school year.  It also lands perfectly in the winter doldrums, so it’s an opportunity to ditch the normal schedule and make it a special day.

Here are 10 ways to have a little fun on 100th day:

1. First of all, mark the day!  Decorate–just a simple message on the white board, or even break out the balloons and streamers.  I personally like making things a surprise, so I didn’t tell the kids ahead of time.  They were pretty excited to walk into the schoolroom on a Monday morning to see our whiteboard pictured above.  The pocket chart held the list of 100-themed activities we were going to do.

2.  I type up a quick and easy list of 100th day questions.  I’ve varied the questions, but basically ask about their thoughts on the year so far and then some 100-themed questions.  What has been your favorite activity of our school year?  What would you buy with $100?  I would like to have 100 _______.

3.  To get out the wiggles that can go along with a special day we did 100 exercises!  I simply cut five index cards in half and on each half wrote an exercise we would do 10 times, then the kids took turns choosing a card.

4. Make a picture from the number 100!  I gave each of them a big 1-0-0 cut out of paper and instructed them to make them into a picture.  My daughter’s finished product really cracked me up!

5.  We had some fun with estimating.  Which container has 100 items?  How far will we go in 100 steps?  How far can we run in 100 seconds?

6. Lunch and Breakfast were 100-themed.  Breakfast looked like the number 100 and lunch was 100 items!

7.  Each of them completed a 100-piece puzzle.  (I read aloud while they worked–we can’t have a day without reading aloud!)

8.  We played Chutes and Ladders, since there are 100 spaces!

9.  The highlight of the day was a Lego Challenge: What can you build with 100 Legos?  To add difficulty I chose the 100 Legos and they had to build with just the ones in the tray and use every piece.  My daughter built a car (with storage in the back–creative spot for the pieces she didn’t have a place for) and house complete with pool and side play yard for pets.  My son’s creation was a factory.  He turned his wheels into a conveyer belt!

10.  Write a 100 word story or poem.  We ran out of time before getting to this due to a large mountain of snow outside waiting to be made into a fort.  I planned for this to be an optional activity, figuring my 10 year old daughter would be interested but not my 7 year old son.  I will add this idea to the list for next year.  My daughter writes very long stories, so I think having to choose words carefully and make it shorter would be an interesting challenge.

What ways do you celebrate the 100th day?  I’ll need some fresh ideas for next year!