Celebrate the 50th Day of School in the Classroom

Do you celebrate the 50th Day of School in your classroom? If you do not, you should! It is such a fun way to practice the number 50, and engage your students. So you may be wondering, what do you do on the 50th day of school? You do all the things from the 1950s!

Dressing the Part

As a teacher, we have to dress the part.  My grade-level partners and I  bought poodle skirts for this shop a few years ago.  They have worked out great! We encourage students to dress up, but this is completely optional! The great thing is the 50th day of school is usually around Halloween, so there are plenty of costumes available for kids if they wish to dress up.

So many of our students find cute things and dress up in poodle skirts or as a greaser. Look for some cute fabric to make a photo backdrop. You will then have the perfect mix for cute photos! We always have a parent taking photos for us.

This is a picture of my son and me from when he was in first grade.

50th Day of School Stations

We set up our day, so the kids are rotating through stations throughout the morning. They are at each station for about 15-20 minutes. Here are the stations we have had.

Working With the Number 50

We always start the day off with some fun math activities focused around the number 50.  

Sock Hop

A sock hop is a must! Your students will love some of the music from the 1950s. There are some fun KidBop videos on YouTube you can search for as well.

Root Beer Floats

Making root beer floats is a must! This is a great way to practice sequencing. First, we learned the steps so when they went to that station they were familiar with the process.  We had a few disagreements as to which comes first; the root beer or the ice cream.  Which do you prefer?

Later in the day, we sequenced the steps for making root beer floats. This is a great lead into how-to writing.

Jukebox Craft

It’s too bad jukeboxes are not very common anymore. They really were fascinating and so different from how we listen to music these days. You can find pictures and videos of them on the web and on Youtube. Since we can’t see a jukebox in real life, we made our own craft! Our students love making these jukeboxes. 

On the back of these, we write about our 50th day of school experience.

1950’s play

Play! Yes, we have a room that is dedicated to playing, but with toys from the 1950s for kids to play with.  There is also a great youtube video about toys from the 1950s.  Just search for toys from the ’50s on youtube.

Bubble Gum Blowing Contest

Can your students blow a bubble? That is a challenge we put out to our students. They love trying, plus they get to chew gum at school! 

Hula Hoops, Jump Ropes, and Hopscotch

One of the stations we have outside is a 1950’s outdoor toy station. We have hula hoops, jump ropes, and hopscotch available to play. We have a couple of parents set up at this station to help teach them how to play or do these activities.

Hand Jive

Our music teacher gets into the 50th Day of School as well. She comes in later in the day and teaches our students the hand jive. What a great way to incorporate motor skills.

Tootsie Roll Measuring

Tootsie Roll measuring is a fun way to practice nonstandard measuring. One tip I have is to have the tootsie rolls unwrapped and ready to use. Students will use the unwrapped rolls for the measuring. When they are done, you can give them a wrapped one to eat!

Record Exploration

Records are not something students have much exposure to anymore, so we put out feelers for a record player to borrow. We have collected old 45’s that we let the students touch and play with.

If you are able to gather extra 45 records, you can turn them into a fun memory keeper using pictures from the day.

These activities make for a full day of fun and learning! Do you celebrate the 50th day of school? What are some of the activities that you do in your classroom?

If you are interested in some of the activities from this post, you can find them in our 50th Day of School Activities pack

50th Day of School Words

In addition to math, we also write about the 50th day of school. Our 50th Day word lists help my students generate ideas. You can grab your own 50th day of school word list below.