End of the Year Staff Morale Ideas

Are you looking for fun ways to thank your staff for a great year at your school? These end of the year staff morale ideas are sure to be a hit! Come along to see my favorite activities, gifts, and tokens of appreciation to boost staff morale at the end of your school year!

Staff Morale Ideas to Celebrate a Great Year

The end of the year in any school is a very busy time! Teachers, administrators, and school staff are working hard to close up shop for summer. After years of running a Sunshine Committee in my own school, I've learned a thing or two about how to celebrate staff in a meaningful way. And don't worry, these ideas aren't time-consuming or expensive either! This means they'll fit every budget and come together quickly! Let's celebrate staff as the year comes to a close with these 5 ideas!

1. Summer Mirror Shoutouts

Is there anything better than looking up to see a kind, cheerful note waiting for you? In my opinion, this is one of those "little things" that mean so much! To help staff feel recognized and "seen" during the busy end of the school year, I created these Summer Mirror Shoutouts. The idea here is that you'll print the summer messages included on bright paper. Then, cut them out and attach them to the mirror in staff bathrooms. When staff enter, they'll be greeted with a fun summer message that's sure to make them smile. 

The messages include fun summer puns like "Long time no sea" and "Tropic like it's hot". In addition to the traditional use of these shoutouts, you can also make a photo booth for staff to pose in! Simply attach the messages to wooden dowels and set up a summery backdrop. This would be great for your end of the year party or last staff meeting! 

2. Build a Bouquet 

One of my favorite gifts to give and receive is flowers. They brighten up even the darkest days and always make me smile. While giving out flowers in the traditional way is wonderful, I wanted to add an out of the box spin on this for my staff members. That's how the idea for Build a Bouquet was born! Here's how it works:

1. Collect donations for flowers, filler, vases/buckets, etc. 
2. Set up long banquet tables with decor & bouquet supplies 
3. Determine how many flowers and pieces of filler you have 
4. Divide the number equally among the staff

Once you've got everything ready to go, invite staff to build a bouquet with the pre-determined number of pieces. Staff will walk through the line of tables and build their bouquet with the flowers and fillers of their choice. Then, they can wrap the bouquet up in colored paper and take it home! This is so much fun and always a huge hit with the staff. It's even more fun if you can manage to keep it a total surprise. Staff will be amazed by this thoughtful and fun activity! 

Inside the resource, you'll find everything you need to make this event happen! You get a timeline, printable directions, decor posters, and printable donor lists. It will make planning this end of the year staff morale idea a breeze!

3. Jar of Sunshine 

This next idea is perfect for staff who are retiring, or simply a special way to show appreciation to members of your team! This Jar of Sunshine is one of my favorite end of the year staff morale ideas for many reasons. It comes together easily, is very inexpensive, and allows team members to share kind words with each other. The idea is that you'll create a jar for staff who are retiring, or anyone you'd like to give special recognition to. In addition to the resource, you'll need one mason jar for each staff member you'd like to recognize. 

This resource includes paper slips that can be filled out by staff and colleagues and decorative jar toppers. Colleagues will use the paper slips that contain sentence stems to write kind words to a specific staff member. I like to print these on brightly colored paper so they really pop. I have included 12 sentence stems that would work for any staff member and 4 that are great for retirement specifically. 

Once staff have filled out the paper slips, add them to the jar and use one of the decorative jar toppers included to complete the look. I also like to add a pretty ribbon. Finally, present the jars to the special staff members and watch as they light up with delight. This is a gift that everyone will cherish and truly enjoy reading through! 

4. Retirement Book of Gift Cards 

Do you have a staff member retiring that you'd like to gift something special to? If so, you'll love this Retirement Book of Gift Cards! This is a useful gift that everyone always really appreciates. In my school, we passed around an envelope ahead of time to collect donations toward this retirement gift. This is a great, low-pressure way to collect donations that allows staff to contribute what they feel comfortable with. Once you've got your donations, you can purchase gift cards for the following categories:

• R is for Relax 
• E is for Eat 
• T is for Travel 
• I is for Indulge 
• R is for Read 
• E is for Enjoy 

You may have noticed the letters spell "RETIRE", which is a lot of fun! There are tons of options that fit these categories depending on the personality and likes of your retiree. Then, select pages from this resource to create a booklet where you place each of the cards. They will LOVE flipping through to see all the goodies inside!

5. Inflatable Beverage Gift Tags

Ready for one more end of the year staff morale idea? I think you're gonna love this one! These Inflatable Beverage Gift Tags are so cute! This idea starts with these adorable drink holders that float in the pool. You'll purchase these ahead of time along with an assortment of soft drinks. Then, print the gift tags in this resource and attach one to each little floaty. Add a drink, and you're good to go! 

There are 11 different summer-themed tags with cute messages. They print 4 to a page and are bright and colorful, so they look great on the floating beverage holders. I've also included a black and white version that looks adorable printed on Astrobright paper. Drop these off to the staff on the last day of school to make everyone smile! 

Make Planning End of the Year Staff Morale Easy 

Which of these end of the year staff morale ideas was your favorite?! I know, I know, I can't decide either! That's exactly why I created a BUNDLE of End of the Year Staff Morale Activities for you! Inside, you get all 5 of these ideas so that you can easily plan fun activities to celebrate a year of hard work. 

The bundle not only saves you money, but it will also make it super simple to plan! You won't have to spend hours combing Pinterest for ideas when you grab this bundle of fun staff morale resources. It will simplify your end of the year celebrations and ensure that everyone on your team feels recognized and appreciated! I hope these end of the year staff morale ideas help make those final weeks extra special! 

Want to Get a Jump Start on Planning Next Year's Staff Morale Activities?

I always liked to use the summer months to get ahead on planning. If you'd like to do the same, you might enjoy reading these posts next! 

• Planning a Year of Staff Morale Activities
• How to Budget for Staff Morale Activities
• August Staff Morale Resources

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Make sure to pin this post on Pinterest so that you can come back to it when you're ready to plan your own staff morale activities for the end of the year! 

10 Engaging Summer Literacy Activities for Primary Learners

Are you looking for some fun literacy activities to carry you through the final weeks of the school year? Or, maybe you're teaching a summer program and in need of some fun options to keep those kiddos engaged. Either way, I've got you covered! Come along for a round-up of summer literacy activities that your primary students will love! 

Let's Make Literacy Fun! 

As a long-time primary intervention teacher, I have learned a thing or two about literacy lessons over the years. When it comes to teaching literacy skills, the most important piece is to make sure you turn up the fun. This is especially crucial for our littles who are struggling. We want to help them see that learning to read can be fun, not frustrating. While there will always be moments of struggle along the way, my aim is to make them WANT to sit down at the small group table with me and get to work. After all, the more engagement we have, the better they learn, right?

My go-to for making literacy activities more fun is to switch things up. We can't do the same thing every day and expect great success. That's just plain boring, right?! So instead, I recommend that you weave in a variety of activities that use hands-on learning and challenge kiddos to think in different ways. Oh, and if you're anything like me, you probably appreciate a good theme too! Embracing the seasons, holidays, or another fun topic is a great way to keep lessons feeling fresh. So, let's talk summer literacy activities that check all the boxes and will make lesson planning a breeze! 

1. Summer Visual Discrimination Cards 

Visual discrimination is an important skill that helps our students train their eyes to see the subtle differences between letters. To help hone this skill in a fun way that feels more like a game than learning, give these Summer Visual Discrimination Cards a try in your room. In this resource, you get 84 different cards with two pictures on each one. There are pictures that are an exact match as well as ones with subtle differences in color, size, or orientation. Some differences are easier to spot than others. 

Before you begin, teach students two distinct hand movements to indicate if pictures are a match or not. (Think, a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down") You'll hold up one card at a time, and students will silently give their answers. This activity works well for small groups as well as an activity for your whole class. Either way, I know it will be a hit! 

2. Summer Syllable Count 

Next up, a fun activity for learning to count syllables in words! This Summer Syllable Count includes 40
different numbered cards that feature different pictures. Students will choose a task card and write what number it is on their recording sheet. Next, they clap out the syllables and determine how many syllables it has. Then, they circle the number on their recording sheet. 

This is a wonderful activity for independent learning once students understand how to use it. You can set this up as a literacy station in your class and have students work through each of the cards. This resource also works well as a Scoot game, and I've even included heading cards if you prefer to have students sort cards by syllable. The variety allows you to use this resource in many different ways. 

3. Missing Letter Game

This Summer Missing Letter Game is a perfect addition to your literacy centers. Included there are 24 lowercase letter cards, 24 uppercase letter cards, as well as a recording sheet and an answer key. 

To play, students choose a card and study it to determine which letter is missing from the sequence. You can have students use magnet letters to fill in the missing letter on the card, or laminate the cards and have them use dry-erase markers to write it. The recording sheet is great if you want a way to keep students accountable for their work or prefer to play it as a Scoot game. 

4. Summer Letter Hole Punch 

Looking for a way to practice letters while targeting hand-strength and fine motor skills? I know you'll love these Summer Letter Hole Punch Cards! There are 104 cards included in this download that print 4 to a page. The idea is that students identify the key picture in the center of their card  and the letter it starts with and then find that letter around the perimeter. They will hole punch each corresponding letter as they go around the card. 

These cards are in black and white, and since they print four to a page, you can easily cut them apart with a paper cutter. Just place the cards in a literacy center with reduced-effort hole punches and you've got a great hands-on learning activity to add to your lessons! 

5. Summer Letter and Sound Search

Looking for a way to target letter recognition and sounds in your classroom this summer? This Summer Letter and Sound Search is one of my personal favorites to fill that need. It's super simple to prep and can be used over and over since there are a few different options. Included, you get:

• 2 black and white worksheets with uppercase letters
• 2 black and white worksheets with lowercase sounds
• 4 black and white worksheets with beginning sound pictures 
• 1 color deck of task cards - uppercase 
• 1 color deck of task cards - lowercase 
• 1 color deck of picture cards 

The idea is that students will receive a worksheet with the skill that you are trying to target, along with a stack of task cards to work with. They choose a card, find the match on their paper, and repeat. You can match lowercase to lowercase, uppercase to uppercase, cross-case match, or match pictures to beginning sounds. With so many options, I know you'll use this activity again and again in your classroom over the summer! 

6. Letter Fluency Spinner Game 

Letter name fluency and letter sound fluency are likely skills you're targeting in your literacy lessons. If so, I know you'll love this Summer Letter Fluency Spinner Game. This is a great activity to use as a small group warm-up, center station, or independent work activity. To play, students spin the spinner, identify the picture, and then find the match on their card. Then, they read across as fluently as possible with a focus on either letter names or sounds, depending on what you'd like to target. I always recommend that you laminate these cards as they're a great activity to use more than once in your classroom. 

7. Hidden Treasure Sight Word Game 

Looking for a summer literacy activity to target sight words in your classroom? This Hidden Treasure Sight Word Game is sure to be a hit! Included, you get 100 different summer-themed sight word cards. I've used Fry's First 100 Word List for this resource. 

You will choose the number of cards you want to use at once and place them in a pocket chart. Then, hide the 5 included hidden treasure cards behind random words. Students will take turns pointing out a card and reading the word. If they read it correctly, they get to pull that card from the pocket chart and see if a hidden treasure is behind it! This is a great activity when engagement is low and you need something to snag attention and boost excitement! 

8. Summer CVC Spin a Word 

I was always looking for engaging ways to have my students work on blending CVC words. Instead of another boring worksheet, give this Summer CVC Spin a Word Activity a try! This resource includes work mats with spinner wheels. 

Students will lay a plastic spinner over the wheel and spin one by one. Each time they spin, they place a letter tile down for what they got. Once they have recorded all 3 letters, they read the word and then decide if it's real or not. There is also a recording sheet included if you'd like to have students also write the words they built and their choice on whether or not it's real. 

9. Summer Nonsense Word Sort 

Next up, I've got another fun summer literacy activity that's super simple to prep and can be used in a variety of ways. This Summer Nonsense Word Sort is a great way to practice reading fluency and decoding. There are 60 different summer-themed word cards with a mix of both real and nonsense CVC words. I've also included headings for real and nonsense. Students will choose a card, read it, and decide which category it falls into. Then, it gets sorted into the correct group. 

This is a great warm-up activity for your small groups! Students can take turns choosing a card, reading the word, and sorting it into the correct category. Once they know how to play, it also makes a great partner activity to use in a pocket chart and work together. I've even included a recording sheet so that you can have your students write down their answers as they go. 

10. Nonsense Word Fluency 

Last on this round-up of summer literacy activities is a Nonsense Word Fluency Game that I know your kids will love! This activity works just like the letter fluency activity I mentioned above. Students will receive a card and a spinner wheel. They lay a plastic spinner on top of the wheel, spin, and identify which picture they landed on. Then, they find the same picture on their card and read the nonsense words in that section as fluently as possible. There are 5 different boards and 5 different spinners included, so you'll be able to assign this activity more than once to your students. 

The best part about this activity is that it's a fun way to practice blending CVC words. The nonsense words are sure to make your kids giggle and make working towards reading fluency an engaging activity that everyone will enjoy! 

Make Summer Literacy Fun! 

So, which of these summer literacy activities was your favorite?! I know it can be hard to choose, which I exactly why I used them all in my room. Using a variety of lessons, games, and center activities is the best way to ensure that your students stay engaged in learning. Don't forget, you can find all of these summer literacy activities, along with many more options, in my TPT Shop. Have fun planning!

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Make sure to pin this post on Pinterest so that you can come back to it when you're ready to plan summer literacy lessons for your classroom.