Milestones should be a big deal to us. They represent progress, growth and achievement.
The 100th day of school may not be a significant milestone in the overall perspective of life, but for teachers, parents, and students it offers a great opportunity for creative learning and celebration.
This year, try one or more of these 100th day of school celebration ideas.
1. Learn to say hello in 100 different languages.
2. Count to 100 in another language.
3. Exercise 100 times. (10 jumping jacks, 10 toe touches, and so forth.)
4. Make a class book where each child fills in: “If I had $100 I would buy _______.”
5. If the 100th day is in February, Black History Month, make a list of 100 African Americans who have made a difference.
6. If it is close to Valentine's Day, make 100 Valentine cards for local nursing home residents.
7. Clip 100 paper clips together. Hang the chain up in the classroom.
8. Have students draw a picture of how they will look when they are 100 years old!
9. Put together a 100-piece puzzle.
10. Make a list of 100 things your kids are thankful for.
11. Have the students pop 100 balloons in the gym and time them to see how long it takes.
12. Set up 100 cereal boxes in domino fashion and have children knock them down to watch them fall.
13. Give each student the same size container and have them find a way to fill that container with 100 of the same item.
14. Have students complete the sentence: “I wish I had 100 ______ because ______.”
15. Challenge students to run the 100-yard dash.
16. Have students collect 100 cans of food and donate them to a local soup kitchen.
17. On a map, have students point out places where the temperature was higher than 100 degrees on a specific date.
18. Have students estimate how long 100 inches and 100 feet are and check to see how they did.
19. Ask kids to finish the sentence: “100 years from now...”
20. Have children list 100 nouns, 100 verbs, and 100 adjectives.
21. Send a post card signed by your students to a school in a city 100 miles away from yours.
22. Have kids list 100 things they like about America (or wherever you live).
23. Make a list of 100 things that didn't exist 100 years ago.
24. Have students find out what happened on this day in history 100 years ago and share it with the class.
25. Make a cookbook of 100 favorite recipes. Have kids bring ideas from home.
26. Together with your class, write a 100-word introduction to a continuous story. Then ask 100 people to add to it.
27. List 100 flavors of ice cream, then have an ice cream party!
28. Make a list of 100 words that begin with C (the Roman numeral for 100).
29. Have kids make a list of 100 opposites.
30. Make 100 legs for a bulletin board centipede.
31. Make a bulletin board display of 100 important people. Have kids find them in newspapers or magazines.
32. Have students write 100 on a piece of drawing paper and turn it into a drawing.
33. Give students a list of 100 words to put in alphabetical order.
34. Invite someone 100 years old to visit the classroom.
35. Invite someone to bring a baby who is 100 days old, someone who is 100 weeks old, and 100 months old.
36. Talk about who the President of the United States was 100 years ago.
37. Ask students to think of as many addition problems as they can with a sum of 100.
38. Let kids imagine and list 100 things that will be invented in the next 100 years.
39. Write the words one hundred on the board. Have students make as many words as possible using the letters in those words.
40. See who can jump rope 100 times.
41. Play bingo with the class, using a 100's chart.
42. Can your kids come up with 100 jokes?
43. Make a celebratory snack using 100 raisins, 100 M&Ms, 100 pieces of cereal, 100 nuts, etc.
44. Have students make a picture using 100 shapes.
45. Have each child bring to school one thing that represents 100 (a $1 bill, a 100-watt light bulb,etc.)
46. Have each student bring a collection of 100 items on that day.
47. Make patterns or necklaces using 100 beads or fruit loops.
48. Write the numbers 1-100 on separate index cards. Shuffle cards and have students put them in order as fast as they can.
49. See if anyone can count backwards from 100 to 0.
50. Read a book that has 100 in the title.
With some planning and creativity, you could plan lessons for the entire day focusing on 100: math, science, geography, reading. Even lunch! All in all, the 100th day of school can be a great opportunity for learning and fun. It also means that the school year is more than half over. Time to celebrate!
Janis Meredith writes Jbmthinks, a blog on sports parenting and youth sports. After being a coach's wife for 27 years and a sports parent for 17, she sees issues from both sides of the bench.