33 Last Week of School Activities That Make the Final Days Count

Your end-of-year assessments are done, the decorations are coming off the walls, and your students are checked out… yet somehow, you still have five days of school left. The routines that carried you through the year have stopped working, and "watch a movie" can only take you so far.

Here are 33 last week of school activities organized by goal, so you can pick what your class actually needs, whether it’s something meaningful, fun, or relaxing.

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Celebrate the year

The last week of the school year is a celebration that your students have genuinely earned! These activities help them mark the moment in a way that feels significant and rounds out the year nicely.

1. Class superlatives – for memorable moments: Skip the "most likely to succeed" clichés that can make students feel alienated and make superlatives about shared experiences instead: "Best Class Debate," "Most Surprising Book," "Best Fact We Learned." Students vote and you read the results aloud.
2. Year-in-review slideshow: Pull 30 or so photos from the year, drop them into a slideshow, and pair the presentation with a feel-good playlist.
3. Student awards ceremony: Give every student a personalized, specific "award.” Not a generic certificate, but something that captures a real quality they bring to the table. For example, "Most likely to ask a question no one else thought of.”
4. Time capsule: Have students write letters to their future selves: what they're worried about, what they love right now, what their goals are. Seal them in envelopes and set a reminder to share them with students at the end of the following year.
5. Decorate a memory jar: Each student writes three memories from the year on separate slips of paper and puts them in a class jar. Spend the last hour of the last day pulling them out and reading them together.
6. Class recipe book: Ask each student to contribute a recipe – either a meal recipe they love or a "recipe" for something abstract, like a good day. Compile and share them digitally with your class.

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Build community

Some of your most meaningful community-building will happen in these last few days, when the pressure is off and students can actually relax and focus on connection.

7. Open mic: Invite any student who wants to share a talent they have. Keep it low-stakes and celebratory.
8. Student-led mini lessons: Give each student 5 to 10 minutes to teach the class something they know. "Something" can be a topic they're passionate about, a skill they have, or anything they learned this year that they want to dive deeper into.
9. Partner thank-yous Have students draw names and write a one-page letter to that classmate – specifically: what they noticed about them this year, what they appreciated, and what they'll remember. Have students read them aloud or hand them out privately.
10. "Things I learned from you" circle: Sit in a circle. Go around and have each student share one thing they learned from a classmate this year.
11. Class playlist: Each student contributes one song to a shared playlist that represents their year. Play it during the last week and enjoy the chaos of genre-mixing!

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Reflect and grow

Reflection is one of the most underused tools in the end-of-year toolkit. Students who articulate their growth are more likely to internalize and build on it. These activities turn the last week into a genuine learning moment.

12. "I used to think… now I think" writing exercise: Students complete the prompt for a concept, a habit, a belief about themselves, or anything else. You'll learn more about what they actually took from the year than any assessment could tell you.
13. Letter to next year’s students: Have students write advice for the incoming class: what to expect, what's hard, what helps manage the class, what they wish they'd known. It gives students a chance to synthesize the year and gives you insight into what actually landed.
14. "My best work" portfolio: Best for writing-heavy courses. Students look back through their work from the year, choose a few pieces they're proud of, and write a short explanation of why they chose each one.
15. End-of-year reflection questions: A guided set of questions about academic growth, challenges, friendships, and goals gives students a structure to reflect. These work as a writing activity, a partner discussion, or a whole-class share. (Download Brisk's free printable end-of-year reflection questions to have a ready-to-use set for tomorrow.)
16. "What I’ll carry with me" exit ticket: On the last day, each student writes one thing they're taking with them from this year, like an idea, a habit, a memory, a skill. (Need somewhere to start? Download Brisk’s free exit ticket template for students.)
17. Goal setting for next year: Have students write one goal for next year and one concrete strategy for reaching it.

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Just have fun

Your students have worked hard, and some of the last days of school can just be focused on fun.

18. Themed dress-up days: Make each day of the last week a theme: Pajama Day, Silly Hat Day, Decade Day, Movie Character Day, "What You Want to Be" Day. It takes zero prep and gives students something to look forward to every day of the last week.
19. Classroom olympics: Set up stations with silly challenges like paper airplane distance, marshmallow toss, chopstick relay, desk chair shuffle. Students compete in teams.
20. DIY escape room: Build a simple escape room using clues tied to things students have learned this year. Students work in teams to solve riddles and unlock the mystery. The planning doesn’t have to be heavy – four or five clues and a theme is all you really need.
21. Outdoor scavenger hunt: Take the class outside and give students a scavenger hunt tied to end-of-year themes. This is a fun way to get them moving and away from the desks.
22. Movie + discussion: If you're watching a movie, make it count. Pick something with enough substance to discuss afterward. Even 15 minutes of reflection turns a movie day into an intentional learning moment!

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Close out and solidify learning

The last week of school doesn't mean learning stops… the stakes are just a little different. These activities let students engage with what they've learned in a way that feels celebratory, not like unnecessary work.

23. Greatest hits from the year: Have students vote on the most interesting thing they learned in your class. Compile the results and spend time revisiting the winners.
24. Book talk: Best for ELA classes. Have each student recommend one book — something they read this year, or something they want to read this summer. A brief, informal book talk is enough: what is it, why do you love it, who would like it?
25. Math games tournament: Math teachers, compile a few of your favorite math games and run a tournament. It's a review without feeling like a review.
26. "Teach it back” challenge: Pair students and give each pair a concept from the year. Their job: explain it to each other as clearly as possible. The best explanations get shared with the class. This works across every subject and takes almost no setup.
27. Science experiment day: End the year with something hands-on and memorable. Slime, chemical reactions, simple physics challenges – something messy and joyful that connects to what students have learned.

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Slow down and savor the moment

This is the category most teachers skip, and it's often the one students remember most. These activities give the last week room to breathe.

28. Gratitude circle: Sit together and pass an object around the circle. Each student shares one thing they're grateful for. Keep it low-pressure: let students pass if they need to.
29. Free draw or doodle time: Put on a playlist, give students paper, and let them draw whatever they want for 30 minutes. No prompt, no goal. The absence of structure is the point!
30. Letter to your teacher: Ask students to write you a letter about what they want you to know and what they’ll remember.
31. Reflection walk: Before the very last day, take students to a quiet spot (outside if possible) and give them five minutes of genuine silence to think. Then ask one question: "What do you want to carry with you from this year?”
32. Freeze frame: Spend 10 minutes at the end of a day having students draw or write about where they are and how they’re feeling right now. It’s a great mindfulness exercise that helps students be present.
33. "Thank you" notes: Have students write a thank-you note to someone who helped them this year – for example, a parent, a friend, another teacher. It practices gratitude and writing skills at the same time.

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Building your last-week activity schedule

The challenge is choosing activities intentionally rather than just filling time. A few principles that help:

• Mix high-energy activities with slower ones so students (and you) don't hit a wall
• Anchor each day with one meaningful moment, even if the rest of the day is lighter
• Don't try to do everything. Three or four activities done well will leave a better impression than ten done quickly.

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If you want to put together activity materials faster (differentiated reflection prompts, a customized scavenger hunt, or tailored versions for students who need more scaffolding), Brisk's Create Anything tool can generate any of these in seconds, right inside Google Docs, Forms, or Slides. The planning takes less time, giving you energy to be present for the moments that matter.

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The last week of school is a chance to give your students a meaningful moment to reflect, relax, and just have fun. Enjoy it!