3…2…1….HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! But wait, we’re still struggling to make it to winter break over here! How can we even BEGIN to think about trying to celebrate New Year’s? With my help of course! Get ready to relax your entire break because you’ll be so set with all the activities for when you go back!
New Year’s is a super fun celebration we normally don’t get to experience with our student’s on account of winter break. Some of our students also might not have a celebratory tradition for the new year so why not have a little fun when you come back together? I want to share with you some awesome ways to incorporate a Happy New Year Celebration, while also helping students think about and set goals for the new year. So what’re we waiting for? Let’s get ready for some fun!
Captivating Countdowns
Everything is so much more exciting with a countdown, am I right?? Even though the actual countdown to the new year is over, that doesn’t mean you can’t still create a memorable experience with your students with a countdown of your own! This resource allows you and your kids to countdown every hour of the school day with an exciting activity to participate in! Talk about fun!!
With this FREE resource, you get everything you need to set up an adorable countdown board. Just add balloons and confetti and you’re good to go! You and your students will participate in things like reading about the New Year, making DIY noisemakers, watching the ball drop and more! The best part? There are blank versions so you can come up with any activities you and your class will love! You can also check out THIS bundle to get even more pre-made activities for your class to enjoy.
Celebratory Crafts
Crafts are always a fun activity and with all of these New Year’s crafts, student’s get to set their goals for the new year! First craft up is a super stylish way to show off your new year goals! Check out these goal setting sunglasses that are a great way to get students thinking about what they’d like to accomplish in the new year.
Maybe your students want to shout their goals from the rooftops with this fun megaphone craft?!
To TOP it off, we’ve got this fancy top hat that holds even more space for all your goal setting needs. No matter what craft kids choose to use, they are sure to have all the fancy accessories to attend any celebrations in your classroom!
You can also check out a digital version of each of these activities HERE!
If you love these writing crafts, you can grab this one for FREE just by subscribing!
Love this FREE resource?
A Kid Writing Craft
Since we’re already in a crafty mood after all those fun activities, here’s another great one to incorporate some more writing skills in your celebration. This resource allows your students to “peek” into the next year and talk about all the things they’re excited to do and accomplish in the new year!
A Peek into the New Year Writing Craft
Would You Rather
Would you rather have Fridays off for the rest of the school year or have off Mondays for the rest of the school year?! Talk about a tough choice!! This game is full of mind-provoking fun that can be played with students. You can start your day with this activity or use it as a time filler throughout the day. Don’t be afraid to take it up a notch and add some movement in there to get all the wiggles out! How about doing jumping jacks if you’d rather having Fridays off? Take a seat if you just can’t with Mondays and would rather have that day off. Get creative and I guarantee you will ALL have a blast with this simple, yet super fun game! With this activity you get 18 different New Years themed prompts included along with editable slides to add all the questions you’d like! Check out a few of the fun prompts below.
New Years Would You Rather Activity
Refresh Those Mindsets
We can’t go into the new year without a growth mindset right?! This activity is the PERFECT companion to the book The Bad Seed by Jory Jon. This book is about a baaaaaad seed that does all kinds of bad things, but eventually he proves that it’s never too late to change your ways. Students get to reflect on some of the “bad” things they’ve done and how that made them feel as a person, while learning that it’s okay to make mistakes while they’re growing.
This resource is jam packed with a bulletin board display, sorts on growth and fixed mindsets, as well as another cute writing craft! Let your students show off their goals on how they plan to grow together!
The Bad Seed Change Your Mindset
Dream Big
Vision Boards are an AMAZING way to set goals by incorporating meaningful visual components. They are a great way to help motivate and encourage students to keep working hard to make their dreams come true. This vision board is COMPLETELY editable so you can easily adapt it to meet your needs and it’s a PERFECT way to engage with families. Students can set goals for their health, academics, talents, and so much more! It’s a Google Slides activity, so no matter what your classroom set up is like right now, it can quickly be pushed out to students.
Roll Out The Red Carpet
Who doesn’t love to feel like royalty? If you ask me, no celebration is complete without a crown! I don’t know about you, but as a kid if you put a crown on my head, you couldn’t tell me anything! I felt like the coolest kid in the class showing off my skills, waiting for someone to ask me about it so I could tell them what I’ve learned or accomplished. Let your students strut their stuff! Roll out that red carpet, straighten those crowns, and let kids celebrate how awesome this New Year will be!
A Look Back
There’s something about sitting back and reminiscing on some really amazing moments isn’t there? Just as much as we love to remember great times, our students do too! This activity is all about our top ten moments over the past year together. It’s a sweet time to spend with your class to really reflect what you all loved about each other and the learning that took place. It’s also pretty eye-opening to see what really stuck with them throughout the year and what things truly impacted them.
New Years Reflection Writing Craft
The Ultimate Lifesaver
Below you’ll see the jam new years bundle that includes ALL these engaging activities… with a FREEBIE of course! This bundle will help you have an engaging, fun, and hands on new years experience that your students are sure to love and remember! The best part is that you can enjoy this bundle forever because you can redownload it every year for an update!
I really hope you enjoyed learning about some fun ways to celebrate New Year’s in your classroom! Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! You will get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the Slide Blending FREEBIE! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
To follow me on TPT and get all the latest updates on HALF OFF new products, click HERE!
Love these ideas but don’t want to lose them? Don’t forget it, PIN it below!
Leave a Reply