Hooray! Let's Celebrate the 100th Day of School

This is the time of year when teachers across the nation begin to prepare for the 100th day of school. In my classroom, the 100th day is quite an event. It is a day filled with activities all centered on the guest of honor: the number 100.

From the very first day of school, our class began keeping track of the number of days we have been in school. As part of our morning calendar routine, we add one popsicle stick to our hundreds pocket chart, then count our sticks. Blue sticks are equal to 10, and red sticks are equal to 1. This daily routine is setting the foundation for learning place value. On our hundreds chart, we move the clip over one number each day. Then the helper of the day uses the special pointer to lead the class in counting.

As we approach the end of the chart, the students realize that we are getting very close to the hundredth day of school. Somewhere around day 80, we begin counting how many days we have left until the big day.

Before the Big Day

To prepare for our festivities, I ask a few of my faithful parent volunteers to assist at our stations during the day. Once I know how many helpers I will have, I make my list of 100th day activities and begin collecting the supplies.

This year we will rotate through six stations, completing the following:

• Necklaces with 100 Froot Loops
• 100th day hats
• A class banner that reads “I Am 100 Days Smarter”
• Writing on the theme of "If I had $100 . . . "
• 100th day glasses available from Scholastic Printables
• 100th day trail mix. You will need one small, resealable zipper storage bag and enough of the following items for each student: pretzels, three types of cereal, fish-shaped crackers, mini marshmallows,
 chocolate chips, M&M'S, 
white chocolate chips, 
and raisins.

Tip: To help the kids count their cereal necklace pieces correctly, give each student a hundreds chart to place each piece of cereal on. Once all 100 squares have been filled in, students can begin stringing their necklace. The same concept can be applied to their trail mix snack.

Here is a copy of a hundreds chart you can download.

The Family Project

Two weeks prior to the target date, I send home a family homework project. With the help of family members, students are to create a display using 100 items. I am always amazed at the creativity and effort that goes into these projects. The feedback from families is tremendous. Sometimes I think that the parents are more excited about their child’s project than their child is. These are a few examples of some of the remarkable projects I have received in the past.  

I am including a copy of my 100th day homework assignment, which is in English and Spanish.

On the 100th Day of School

When my students arrive, they will be greeted with a banner that reads "Happy 100th Day!" We will kick off our day with a hunt for 100 numbers. I have taken 100 star die cuts and programmed them with numbers 1 through 100. Before students arrive, I will hide these stars throughout the classroom. Students will be given a hundreds chart; as they find the stars, they can color in the corresponding number on their charts.

While students are busy rushing about in search of numbers, I will be setting up stations and briefing the parent volunteers. After a majority of the numbers have been spotted, we will commence with our stations.

To bring our festivities to an end, we will share our 100th day homework projects while we snack on our trail mix. To commemorate the day, I'll also have a few extra special gifts for my students: I used a button-maker machine to create buttons for each student. I also found bookmarks and stickers and some special pencils that I will give out at the end of the day.

55 Ideas for the 100th Day of School

Are you in need of some new ideas for the 100th day of school? I’ve put together a list that just might help:

1. Blow 100 bubbles.
2. Bounce a ball 100 times.
3. Build a 100-cup structure.
4. Build a structure with 100 marshmallows and toothpicks.
5. Build something with 100 LEGO bricks.
6. Complete 100 math problems.
7. Complete a puzzle with 100 pieces.
8. Count to 100 by 1s.
9. Count to 100 by 2s, 5s, and 10s.
10. Create a picture with 100 colored sticker dots.
11. Create a picture with 100 pieces of pasta.
12. Create something with 100 fun foam shapes.
13. Create something with 100 pom-poms.
14. Create something with 100 Q-tips.
15. Create something with 100 stickers.
16. Do 100 jumping jacks.
17. Draw a picture of what you will look like in 100 years.
18. Dress up as if you were 100 years old.
19. Flip a coin 100 times and tally the results.
20. Frost 100 cookies.
21. Graph 100 jelly beans by color.
22. Hop across the playground 100 times.
23. Hula-hoop 100 times.
24. Jump rope 100 times.
25. Link 100 Unifix or linker cubes together.
26. Make 100th day glasses.
27. Make 100 tally marks.
28. Make a 100th day of school hat.
29. Make a 100th day poster.
30. Make a collage with 100 pieces of pasta.
31. Make a design with 100 pattern blocks.
32. Make a friendship salad with 100 pieces of fruit.
33. Make a list of 100 foods.
34. Make a paper chain with 100 paper links.
35. Measure 100 Unifix or linker cubes.
36. Measure a stack of 100 pennies.
37. Name 100 animals.
38. Pop 100 balloons.     
39. Read 100th Day Worries.
40. Read Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten.
41. Read One Hundred Hungry Ants.
42. Roll a die 100 times and graph the results.
43. Run 100 yards.
44. Search the classroom for 100 numbers.
45. Stamp 10 rows of 10 on a piece of paper.
46. Stamp 100 words.
47. Stamp the numbers 1–100.
48. Stand on one leg for 100 seconds.
49. String 100 beads or pieces of cereal.
50. String 100 buttons.
51. Weigh 100 paper clips.
52. Write 100 words.
53. Write numbers from 1–100.
54. Write using the prompt: "I wish I had 100 . . . "
55. Writing using the prompt: "What I would do with $100."

100th Day Books

Are you looking for some books to read on the big day? To help build anticipation for our big event, I will be reading a few of the books in the list below.

• Kindergarten Count to 100
• Happy 100th Day!
• The 100th Day of School
• Ms. Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten
• 100th Day Worries
• Count Up to the 100th Day Flip Chart
• Counting Our Way to the 100th Day
• The One Hundredth Day of School!
• One Hundred Hungry Ants
• From One to One Hundred
• One Hundred Ways to Get to 100

Our 100th day of school will be February 1. My students are getting very excited knowing that something special will be occurring on this milestone of a day. What do you do for the 100th day of school? I hope you will share your ideas with me.