Last Day of School Party Idea

It's O'fish'ally a party!! :) Whether it be the last day of school or a birthday,  a fish-themed party is a lot of fun and easy to put together.  

Every year we have an end of the year party for our students, staff, and parents to celebrate the year and send off the kiddos transitioning to kindergarten.  Our first step to a successful party is making class shirts.  

Last years fish party was supposed to be an outdoor event but the rain changed that plan.  Instead it was complete with an inflatable pool to go fishing in (with no water). We filled the sensory table with sand, seashells, pails, and shovels. We also had a frog toss and the traditional "Go Fish" game modified for little hands.  The fish always go so fast making them hard to catch and causing frustration. Therefore, we added Velcro to each fish and the fishing pools. 

We also added a place to put the fish after you catch them to use our sorting and put in skills.  Not a day goes by that we aren’t teaching our students, even if it is the last day of school! :)

After rotating through the various games with parents and staff, the students enjoyed a fishy snack complete with pails of goldfish crackers and blue jello mixed with Swedish fish which the Buddy Bears made the day before in glass fish bowls.  

  

Note: They also made the ocean table cloth!

Following snack time the children, staff & families watched our traditional end of the year slideshow.  Each student gets to take the slideshow home on a DVD as a keepsake of their time with the Buddy Bears.

      

Following the video, the children gave out appreciation gifts to staff.  Last year’s token of appreciation was a coffee mug.  

I got the mugs from Michaels for a $1.99.  (When I googled them, I could only find 9.00 ceramic mugs.) If you can’t get the mug and paint kit cheap, you can always buy a mug at dollar tree and decorate with sharpie marker, then bake it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  A trick I learned from a Pinterest find via A Beautiful Mess. 

Love all the fishy ideas??? Here’s a few more from my son’s second birthday.  It was held just a few days after our last day party.

For the event, we painted him a polo that said “o’fish’ally two" on the pocket and two handprint fish on the lower corner.  

Sorry you can’t see it very well in the picture because with all the party festivities I forgot to take a closer shot!

We started the party with a small meal complete with PB&J "fish" sandwiches, ham and swiss "fish" sandwiches, and turkey and cheese "fish" sandwiches.  I got the idea from another pinterest find at Amanda’s Parties to Go.  I purchased the fish cookie cutter from Copper Gifts.  I then completed the small meal with a few pails full of chips and a pail full of watermelon, Payton’s Favorite.  

On the other side of the bar in our kitchen, I put a cupcake stand of "fish" cupcakes and glass fish bowls filled with a variety of fish crackers.  

Following the meal, the kids had a fish piñata...thanks to grandma!  

The kids used fishing nets from Dollar Tree to hold all their candy and toys.  It was so much fun! 

After the piñata, the plan was to go swimming in our pool. But it was too cold so the kids just used their fishing nets to go fishing in a small inflatable pool.

We were sad we didn’t get to swim as the birthday boy and his brother had special swim shirts for the occasion.  

 

But despite the unpredictable weather, we had two successful fishy parties!! If you need more end of the year party ideas you might check two posts from last year: our garden party and EJ’s treasure hunt party. 

Best wishes for your end of the year parties, festivities, field trips and graduations!  -Lindy