Elementary School Celebration Ideas
CHARACTER COUNTS! Week is an exciting time to celebrate and focus on character development. Here are some suggestions for fun and engaging activities that are easy to implement and easy to participate in for large groups:
- Select one of the Six Pillars of Character to feature during daily morning announcements, illustrating each Pillar with stories, quotes, or skits.
- Organize a food drive at the individual classroom, school, or district levels. Set a goal and create a caring Pillar with the goal at the top. Track your progress in a common area by filling the Pillar with red as you receive donations.
- Pair upper-grade students with lower-grade students to be reading buddies.
- Pick a day for a Random Acts of Kindness Day.
- Set aside time each day for children to recognize one another for exhibiting good character throughout the day.
- Designate one of the Six Pillars of Character for each day of the week and encourage children and staff to dress in the color corresponding to the Pillar of the day.
- Set aside time for everyone in the institution or organization to pick up trash around the community.
- Select books featuring the Six Pillars of Character for reading time throughout the week. Follow up with a discussion about the relevant Pillar.
- Incorporate a CC! lesson plan into each day of instruction. Check out available lessons on the CC! website where you can filter by Pillar and age.
Many of the above ideas can easily be modified to meet the needs of a virtual classroom, but below is a list of ideas to specifically address the needs of a virtual classroom. Other ways to celebrate when you can’t be in person include:
- Do a CC! virtual party! Some ideas for party activities could include:
- The Six Pillar Shuffle
- A CC! words search on a virtual whiteboard or play Pictionary with CC! Six Pillars on a virtual whiteboard.
- Move students into breakout rooms and ask them to create a skit, song, dance, or poem about the Six Pillars.
- Play CC! bingo. Fill the game cards with the Six Pillars. Create scenarios and see if students can match up the Pillar to fill up their bingo card.
- Have a Character Chat virtually. Encourage each child to bring a picture/image of someone who they admire for their character. Have them share their character champion.
- Ask students to choose one Pillar for each of their classmates that best represents them. Then create a word cloud for each student, so they can see how their classmates see them and their character.
- Purchase CC! award or incentive items from the CC! store and send them to the homes of students to celebrate character.
- Order custom yard signs through LRI Graphic & Signs with the CC! logo for students.