This sweet day is a fun end of school year activity filled with goodies to get you through those last days of school.
Inspiration for Strawberry Day
In the spring of 2019, my husband and I decided we couldn’t take another summer of lazy teens. They literally would sleep all day if we let them and hide in their room. At the time their ages were 19, 17, 15, 15, 15, 15, and then Charlie who was 5. Our summer rule was downstairs from 11-7 and no technology. The fifteen-year-old children were too young to get a real job, but that didn’t stop us. Downtown at the farmer’s market there was a local family who had a strawberry farm, and they were in need of pickers. So, we supplied them with 6 pickers for the month of May and June.
I’m still not sure it was worth all the moaning and groaning, but we were determined to show them what hard work looked like and that we weren’t going to tolerate lazy. Every morning they had to get up at 6, drive a half-hour, and pick until 1:00. They were so mad at us. But in the end, it was a beautiful lesson. The farmers fell in love with our six kids and fed them lunch every day. By the end of June, the owners had our six kids down pat and couldn’t wait to meet Charlie. They had heard all about her during lunchtime. So, one day she went to the farm, and they showed her the ropes. In the end, they decided they didn’t ever want to pick another strawberry! We doubled their earnings to show them that sometimes hard work pays off. Ultimately, it got them up, out of the house, and they didn’t spend all day long being lazy.
I’m sharing this story with you because it was the inspiration for one of my fun end of the year theme days. Here in Ohio, June is strawberry picking season. I have yet to meet a person who doesn’t like strawberries, so I knew it would be a hit with children.
End of School Year Activity
Of course, I want these theme days to spark interest and be engaging on those last days, but I also want students to learn. I wrote a non-fiction book on the strawberry lifecycle. This book comes in color and in a mini version that is printable for your students. After reading about the lifecycle, your students can review and work on those non-fiction text features. I have tons of activities that go along with this book to complete.
I also included activities to go with the story, “The Little Mouse, The Big Hungry Bear, and the Red Ripe Strawberry” by Don and Audrey Wood. I have been reading this story to my students for 20 years. It is so adorable, and as you read it, you feel like you are part of the story.
It wouldn’t be Strawberry Day if you didn’t enjoy strawberries with your children. I have included a donation letter for parents to send in anything strawberry flavored to do a taste test, or you could simply just enjoy strawberries. I found some strawberry candies at the dollar store too if you want to make it simple. Or check out these options for Strawberry Day in my Amazon Store (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)
After doing activities together, you could spend the rest of the day doing centers. I included phonics, language, and math games, sorts, and activities.
I usually have these things set up after lunch and they work all afternoon in groups rotating around the classroom.
There are 4 strawberry craft options included. You could make a plain strawberry, write on the strawberry, make a basket of “berry favorites”, or list some special things from the year.
If you want to do multiple fun days, you can check out my MEGA BUNDLE of End of the Year Theme Days here. They would also make great options for summer camp days too!
Read more about some other fun theme days here!
Or check out my previous blog post, “Themed Days: End of the Year Activities that will Engage and Motivate.”
Here’s what a few buyers had to say about Strawberry Day:
“Great resource with lots of activities! Thank you! My class loved learning about strawberries.”
“My students loved learning more about strawberries in different and engaging ways. Thank you for the great resource!”