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When students make it past the halfway mark at school, it's time for a celebration! That's why so many teachers make a big deal out of the 100th day of school. Some classes celebrate with 100-themed parties, craft projects that involve the number 100, collections of 100 objects, dress-up days where kids are asked to wear a costume that makes them look 100 years old or drawing and writing assignments that prompt them to imagine what the world will be like when they're 100.
While these celebrations may seem like a recent trend — or growing in popularity in recent years — they actually date back to 1979, says Allison Wilson, Senior Director of Curriculum and Innovation at Stratford Schools. "This momentous occasion supports young learners in their understanding of the number 100 through the science of counting," she says." Children also have the opportunity to reflect on their learning for the first half of the school year."
And what about all those posters, t-shirts, arrays and other projects that involve 100 items? They help kids understand the concept of 100. "Numbers may sometimes feel abstract," Wilson says. "Research tells us that young learners benefit from working with tangible objects, especially when children are first acquiring the skill of counting. Counting objects also supports grouping objects — by fives, by tens, etc. — to see patterns and relationships between numbers and objects. Designing a poster or shirt may also provide a sense of creativity, ownership and some fun, too!"
But what to choose? Here are some of the best 100 Days of School ideas for creative projects. Some incorporate their favorite characters. Others have clever ways of making the big count easy but breaking things down into 10 groups of 10. Others show off a kid's personality. May they all inspire your young scholar for the next 100 days.
Looking for more great educational activities? Check out these Good Housekeeping guides:
The Best At-Home Science Experiments | The Best Learning Activities for Preschoolers and Kindergarteners | The Best Learning Activities for Toddlers
100 Days Beaded Necklace
They'll have fun choosing their color scheme and making a necklace out of 100 beads. Bonus: Threading the beads onto a cord or lanyard also helps work on their fine motor coordination. A pendant or charm that says 100 is the perfect finishing touch.
100 Days Monster Shirt
In Greek myth, the Argus was a giant, fearsome creature with 100 eyes all over his body — but this monster is a lot cuter. Let them go wild with a bag of 100 googly eyes.
100 Days Flower Shirt
My, how they've blossomed! They can put the "garden" in kindergarten with a "100 Days of Blooming" shirt, complete with 100 artificial flowers of their choice.
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100 Days Butterfly Wreath
For something a little different, you can pass over the shirts and posters and go for a 3D wreath instead. This one has 100 butterfly stakes to symbolize how the year "fluttered by," but the same family also made a wreath of friendship bracelet knots.
100 Days LEGO Shirts
LEGO blocks, because of the way they line up so neatly into arrays and rows, are perfect materials for 100 Days projects. But instead of trying to attach LEGO bricks to a shirt, this blogger made 100 bricks out of heat transfer vinyl and then ironed them onto her son's shirts. You can download her pattern at The Scrap Shoppe Blog.
100 Days Gumball Shirt
Gumball machines are a classic 100 Days motif. This shirt was made with felt and paint, but you can also make gumballs out of pom poms, Do-a-Dot paint markers or big sequins.
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100 Days Insect Shirt
This design is not for the squeamish! For the future entomologists (or general pests) out there, this design features 100 plastic bugs.
100 Days of Faces Collage
This one requires some advanced planning: If you have an instant camera or a photo printer, be sure to snap a pic every day for those first 100 days. Then you can make a collage of all the different looks they've sported over the year so far. If they're into fashion, you can make sure you get their outfits in the frame and make grid of #ootd images.
100 Days Drawing Project
Some schools use the 100th day to have kids imagine what life will be like when they're 100 years old. Some kids are asked to come dressed as old men or old women, but this project — where kids draw what they look like today, and also what they'll look like when they're centenarians — is a lot easier to pull off.
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100 Days Button Shirt
Buttons are great for art projects like this because they come in so many colors, shapes and sizes, so they're perfect for grouping and sorting, if that's required. If they like the "Pushing My Teacher's Buttons" slogan, you can download a template at Just Add Confetti and print it on iron-on transfer paper.
100 Days Tally Mark Shirt
This shirt flips things around a little, taking note of how the teacher has survived 100 days! If you want to try to DIY the tally-mark look, either on a poster or a shirt, you can try colored craft sticks.
100 Days Balloon Poster
A bunch of 100 balloons is certainly eye-catching, but what really makes this poster shine is the expressions on the kids' faces in their balloon-holding photos. They really look like they're going to take off! You can find the free, printable template for the balloon design at Tried & True Creative.
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100 Days Star Wars Shirt
The Force is strong with this design. While this shirt's image and the "100 Days Smarter, He Is" slogan was designed in Photoshop, the 100 lightsabers were hand-drawn using paint pens.
100 Days Ice Cream Cone Craft
This craft wasn't conceived as a 100 Days idea, but with a couple of quick modifications it can easily be turned into one. Make five "scoops" of ice cream, put 20 toppings on per scoop — don't forget to count the cherry on top! — and there's your hundred. You can even vary up the toppings, with pom poms on one scoop, sequins on another, gems on a third, and so on.
100 Days Smarter Smarties
What candy better signifies that they're "100 Days Smarter" than Smarties? This blogger used the Smarties as a fun, celebratory pass-out, but you can also easily attach them to a poster. Conveniently, there are 10 candies to a roll, so you need 10 rolls to make 100. You can find the free, printable template for the "100 Days Smarter" tag at Love the Day.
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100 Days Crayon Wreath
It'll take some planning to ensure that this wreath is really made of 100 crayons, but once it's done it has a big "wow" factor. The chalkboard in the middle is the perfect place to write a 100 Days message, too.
100 Days Cereal Necklace
As an alternative to beads, kids can string any round cereal piece onto a necklace. Something like Fruit Loops, which comes in several colors, is a good choice because they can switch hues every 10 pieces, making it easier to visualize how 100 breaks down into 10 groups of 10.
100 Days Photo Frame
They can preserve the memory of the 100th day of school with a photo frame — and maybe a 100-themed photo booth with a backdrop, too? This set comes with 24 frames that students can decorate with school-themed stickers. The stickers aren't small enough to fit 100 on the frame, but that could be a good inspiration for a DIY project.
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100 Days Minecraft Shirt
This student is celebrating "100 Days of Creepin'" with a Minecraft-inspired shirt. They used big, green pom poms to make the Creeper, but using different colors of green felt squares can also give that pixelated look. If you head to Seeing Dandy, you can get an SVG file for the shirt.
100 Days Bookmark
This project has the potential to last them through to the last day of school and beyond! The bookmark will certainly be helpful as they do their reading assignments. Head to Artsy Fartsy Mama for the free printable template.
