Can you believe it?! You and your students have made it 101 days into this school year. (Are you calculating 180-101 in your head right now? 😉)
I love celebrating the 101st day of school with my students because the day has such potential for fun learning opportunities! I know kids who have left elementary school and are STILL talking about their 101st day celebrations years later.
Let’s look at ideas for your 101 Days of Fun! It’s an entire day full of 101st day activities, snacks, games, STEM, and more!
I want my 101st day celebration to feel like an exciting day for my students, but I also know that there are many learning opportunities, too! I created a schedule that we follow that is jam-packed with math, reading, writing, problem-solving, STEM, art, and more. Most importantly, I chose activities that I could use year after year, regardless of my schedule or learners.
The sample schedule above has been my outline each year. My precious pups love the Dalmatian theme, and this order of events is perfect for engagement.
To get my students and families engaged and excited, I send home a note in advance inviting the students to dress up as Dalmatians to match our theme. You’ll be surprised at their creativity! They can participate if they want and decide on the extent of their costumes!
If you choose to make shirts as part of your classroom activities, simply ask families to send in a plain white t-shirt and use a black permanent marker to make the dots.
To save you some time, I’ve created these editable themed invitations where you can add your own details and information!
Here are a couple of quick ideas to make your room a cool celebration spot!
🐾 Cover the tables with white paper or a white plastic tablecloth. Cut out spots using black construction paper and tape them to the top!
🐾 Put student supplies in plastic dog dishes from the Dollar Tree.
🐾 Blow up balloons for 1-0-1!
🐾 Add a plush or inflatable Dalmatian for fun photos!
However, if the thought of dragging desks and tables around your room like a makeover episode on HGTV has you saying, “no, ma’am,” I get it! This part is totally optional. 😉
For a special morning job, we make 101 days of fun hats! These work well for kids who didn’t dress up but want to participate by wearing something fun! As students come in, I have drawing materials on tables so they can get straight to work.
💡 Teacher Tip: Pre-staple the hats to sentence strips or old border pieces to make assembly quicker!
The 101st day of school is the best day for math practice that doesn’t feel like work! Our favorite game in my classroom is “Top Dog!”
Here’s how you play:
• This game is very similar to the card game “War.” First, each player flips a card over.
• Next, the students compare the two numbers.
• At this time, the person with the greater number is the TOP DOG for the round and takes both cards.
• In the end, the player with the most cards is the TOP DOG for the game.
⭐️ For a challenge, players can flip 2 cards and compare the sums!
For additional math activities, we also write numbers 1-101, add numbers with sums to 101, and show different ways to represent the number 101! Who says math can’t be pawsitively engaging?!
My kids love this 101 Dots on a Dog art activity! If you want to paint, kids can use their fingers or cotton swabs to make dots. For a totally mess-free option, markers and crayons look great too!
Included in my freebie below is a chart to help kids keep track of how many dots they make! You can also practice counting by one and by tens.
It’s impressive for both you and your students to think about how far they have come since the first day of school! These reading and writing activities help everyone to recognize and celebrate their incredible progress.
I love to use the 101 Words are Fun page for a write-the-room activity. If you’ve never done a write-the-room, students can walk around the room and fill up their paper with words from the classroom posters, books, and more!
Other writing options are to write about their favorite school activities or what they would do with 101 dogs!
Dalmation Dots are the perfect snacks to celebrate in the classroom or as a take-home treat. Fill a snack bag with Oreos or Mini Oreos. Fold the top of the bag over and staple the cute label over the top! Believe me, Dalmation Dots are a delicious hit with the entire classroom!
Kids easily fall in love with the Doghouse Designer activity. They love the importance of figuring out a doghouse that is just right!
The best thing about this STEM activity is that you can use anything in your classroom for materials! My class used notecards, pipe cleaners, paper clips, craft sticks, and tape. If you wanted to use paper and tape to keep things simple, you could easily do that.
If you’re a teacher who uses morning tubs, those would also be great for doghouse designers. Materials like Legos, magnetic tiles, and blocks are perfect for this STEM activity.
Kids can work independently, in partners, or in small groups for the Doghouse Designer STEM project. Use the planning page above to prepare your ideas and allow the students to guide their project.
When your students complete their doghouse, they should test the design using the paper dogs, or small plush dogs. Based on that outcome, they should revisit their strategy to improve their design!
Allow them time to share their finished project with the class and to explain their design ideas!
I love celebrating with student certificates at the end of the 101st day of school celebration! If you’d like to save on prep, you can personalize these with names, dates, teachers, and school information! There are also color and black-and-white options to fit your needs. These photos are also ideal for sending to families via your classroom app.
I hope your 101st Day of School is a doggone good one! 🐶 I’ve done all the prep work for you, so you can save time on activities that fit any classroom or schedule. Have a ball and don’t forget to tag me to show me all of your final projects. I love to see your classrooms in action!
I’m a teacher who believes in creating a classroom kids love and activities that keep them engaged all day!
©2019 Polka Dots Please. All Rights Reserved. Designed by Ashley Hughes.
4 Responses
I could agree more . The 101st day is equally as fun and momentous as the 100th day. I have always celebrated the 101st day of school because usually the 100th day and Valentine’s Day seems to be closely connected around the same time. I have also done a 101 Dalmatians theme. Great minds think alike. I think I got the idea originally from a bulletin boarder I bought. I later found several Valentines craft projects that we all constructed from heart shapes (pig, penguin, puppy, fish) And one of the animals was a puppy that I modified to be a white and black puppy instead of a brown puppy! I also introduce 1-1000 scrolls. Once students can write and count numbers past 100 they can continue to 1000!
These look awesome! Can’t wait to use them!
I’d like any freebies please!
Hi Cassie,
Thanks so much for taking the time to reach out! You can enter your email above in the post and freebies will come right to your inbox.
Happy Teaching!
Emily