When is the 100^th day of school?

Teachers and students alike are coming up on a milestone—the 100th day of school! Though it depends on when your school year starts, for most, the 100th day of school falls at the end of January or the beginning of February. It typically falls just after the halfway mark of the school year and is a great time to celebrate the progress that your students have made and the goals they still want to accomplish.

Why is it important to celebrate 100 days of school?

The 100^th Day of School is a cherished classroom tradition that offers an opportunity to reflect on the goals you and your students have set for themselves. These goals may be academic, social, emotional, or even physical. You can weave creative activities into the day that encourage your students to be proud of all they have achieved and inspire them to continue to dream big as they move toward the end of the school year.  

Nearpod can be part of the big day, too, by helping you share the following ideas to engage students in meaningful reflection. You can create rotation stations and display the steps for a different 100^th Day of School activity at each station via a Nearpod Self-Paced Lesson. Simply gather illustrative images and videos to outline the steps for the following ideas!

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

10 Interactive ways to celebrate 100 days of school

1. Depicting 100

To underscore what the number 100 looks like, challenge your students to gather 100 of the same items, such as pieces of popcorn, paper clips, goldfish crackers, band-aids, or buttons. You may want to give them some creative constraints: The item must begin with the letter H … The item must be displayed to make the shape 100 …

Start the day with a Nearpod math lesson to inspire “math speak” among your students around the concept of 100:

• Count to 100: Base 10 (Grades K-1): In this Matching Pairs activity, students strengthen their counting and cardinality skills by counting to 100, completing a vocabulary challenge, and solving practice problems.
• Place Value Hundreds (Grades K-5): In this Kids Academy video, students learn more about the hundreds place value.
• Multiples of 100 (Grade 3)*: Students explore multiples of 100 by relating numbers on a number line.

*This lesson is only available with Nearpod Math. Schedule a call with an expert to explore Nearpod Math and unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts. 

2. Build to 100

Give your students 100 dominoes, 100 blocks, 100 popsicle sticks, 100 pattern blocks, or 100 LEGO bricks, and see what they will construct. You could make a station with 100 red plastic cups to see how your students can work together to stack them into an original structure. There are literally hundreds of ways to celebrate 100!

Couple this hands-on activity by combining it with an interactive knowledge check that underscores the concept of 100: 

• Assessment: Counting by 1’s and 10’s to 100 (Grade K): Evaluate students’ grasp of counting by 1’s and 10’s all the way to 100.
• 1, 10, 100 More or Less (Grades 1-2): Invite students to use base ten blocks to explore the concept of more versus less.
• Hundreds Charts and Expanded Form (Grade 2): Encourage students to explore hundreds charts to solidify their understanding of place value and expanded form.

Though these lessons are designed for younger grade levels, even older students will enjoy the activity. See how you can challenge them and customize it for your classroom!

3. Host a 100-themed fashion show

Invite your students to make a chef-style hat from a band of construction paper attached to 10 thin strips; each strip can be adorned with the number 10 with puff balls, stickers, or paint dots. They can string 100 items onto a necklace — think Froot Loops, beads, or painted pasta — to practice their fine motor skills. They can decorate and assemble a pair of “100” glasses (try this free template!). Or you can challenge them to create their own design on a plain T-shirt that represents the number 100. 

Then—in accordance with your school’s media policy—capture your students’ creative expression through photos or video. You can create a Nearpod presentation to share your classroom’s artistic work and give access to students’ parents and guardians. Or you could stitch together video footage from throughout the day to create an interactive video. Give your students’ homes a glimpse into the many creative and interactive activities that you fold into a school day. Highlight these shining moments and accomplishments, all while promoting your students’ individuality.

4. Get active

Get your students to embody the idea of 100 with some physical activity. Do this during PE or to simply get the wiggles out, post-recess. There are many ways to incorporate 100, from the number of seconds to the number of reps. 

• Jump rope for 100 seconds 
• Run a 100-yard dash or relay race 
• Complete 10 reps of 10 different exercises (push-ups, jumping jacks, sit-ups, etc.) 
• Race through 10 legs of an obstacle race  
• Toss an item 100 times (ball, bean bag, birdie, egg, etc.) 
• Change up your dance moves to a playlist of 100-second song clips 

With more complex activities, such as the 10 different exercises or 10-leg obstacle course, you can demonstrate the different activities for your students with Nearpod via an interactive video. Include a timer within your Nearpod presentation to challenge students to complete activities within a certain time frame.

5. Read, read, and read some more

Carve out some time for your students to Drop Everything and Read (who is a D.E.A.R. Beverly Cleary fan?). Kick off the day or reset post-lunch by reading some picture books that celebrate the 100th Day of School. Set up a reading corner and give your students time to explore some of the fun titles.  

For an added challenge, ask your students to try to read another 100 pages or another 100 books before the end of the school year. Each student can work at their own pace to improve their fluency and comprehension skills. Create a reading log where they can keep track of their progress. You can share some titles for students to read at home, too!

6. Create self-portraits

A fun and creative 100^th Day of School project is to have students draw self-portraits of how they look today and how they imagine themselves to be as centenarians. To inspire their artwork, you can share famous realist or abstract self-portraits for reference.  

Nearpod simplifies this activity with the Draw It feature, which enables students to digitally sketch their self-portraits. They can also incorporate text, images, and GIFs using this tool. Nearpod has several lessons on art for all ages that you can incorporate, including Shapes in Art* and Creating a Portrait lessons.

*This lesson is only available with Nearpod Math. Schedule a call with an expert to explore Nearpod Math and unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts. 

 7. Write a 100-word short story or essay

What can be said in 100 words? Well, quite a lot! Challenge your students to write a story or a poem using just 100 words (up to or exactly 100 is up to you!).  

If students have a bit of writers’ block, you could provide them with a 100-themed prompt: 

• If you were gifted $100 (or $100,000), what would you do with that money? 
• If you could travel around the world to 100 places, where would you go? 
• If you could travel back in time 100 years ago, what would you want to do? 
• If you could travel into the future 100 years, what would you expect to see? 

See what creative tale your students can write in 100 words. Create a Nearpod lesson that provides examples of prompts, and fold in Open-Ended Questions to capture their responses. For some of the funnier prompts, you could make a Collaborate Board where you can share and build off other students’ ideas.

8. Strive for 100%

Put kids to the test! Can they reach 100%? Quick checks for understanding come in all forms, from multiple-choice tests to more interactive activities like Nearpod’s Time to Climb. Try to create a fun yet challenging quiz with a 100 theme or take a cross-curricular approach by crafting 10 multiple-choice trivia questions that span math, history, science, and literature.  

Stumped on which questions to ask? Check out Nearpod’s new AI Create tool and practice your prompt engineering skills to generate a quick quiz.  

You can also ask your students how many points each of the questions needs to be worth to earn 100 percent—an opportunity for a mini-lesson on percentages! 

9. Interactive memory book

Creating an interactive memory book of classroom images from the first half of the year is a great way to inspire students to reflect on their favorite classroom moments. Can they think of 100 such memories? Students can practice brainstorming and collaborating.  

Nearpod can help facilitate this activity by using interactive activities such as Open-Ended Questions, Polls, Draw It, and Collaborate Board to inspire their reflection. The interactive features can help students brainstorm and share their ideas.  

Each memory can be written on a strip of construction paper, which students then loop together to form a collective paper chain for display in the classroom. If you have photos, you can work as a class to create an engaging slideshow showcasing the first half of the year in your classroom.

10. Express gratitude

There is so much to be thankful for when it comes to the 100^th Day of School—and the year isn’t even over yet! Carve out some time at the end of the day to share how grateful you are for your students and ask them to express their gratitude collectively for 100 things as well.

Share a Collaborate Board for your students to collectively brainstorm with a prompt like “What are 100 things that you love about your classroom and school?” Use these responses to then create a visual reminder on a classroom or hallway bulletin board to remind everyone of what they love about school for the rest of the year.

It’s time to celebrate—with Nearpod’s help!

What a year it’s been so far—and there’s still so much to look forward to! The 100th Day of School is a fantastic opportunity to pause, reflect on your students’ accomplishments, and celebrate the wins, big and small. Whether it’s through creative activities, meaningful math lessons, or simply enjoying the moment together, this milestone is one to cherish. As you continue through the rest of the year, don’t forget to use tools like Nearpod to help your class achieve its goals and finish strong!

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.