This activity has been one of our favorites for YEARS now! It starts on the very first day of school. If a student moves in at any point in the year, they ALWAYS do this on their first day with us!
We simply pass out the paper, have the students write their name on the bottom line, and then draw a picture of themselves on their first day. If a student does not know how to write his/her name, we DO NOT help them! I know, we’re so mean! But trust us, this makes it even better at the end of the year!!
We collect the papers when the students are done (even when we want to tell them to add more or keep going) and KEEP them ALLLLLL year.
On the last day of school, we pass out the “This is me on the last day of Kindergarten” page. We don’t remind the students that they did this on the first day. And in all our years, not one single child has even remembered! We simply tell the students to use their best handwriting to write their name and to use as much detail as they can to draw a picture of themselves.
Then the magic happens!
When the students finish, they bring their paper to us. And then….we show them what they did on the first day of school! Their reactions are priceless. Sometimes we laugh together. Then they show their friends and they laugh with them. But the best part is their smiles and sense of accomplishment. You can literally SEE how proud they are of themselves with how far they have come. (goosebumps)
Then we make it all pretty and glue both pages to 12×18 construction paper so the students can see their transformation side by side. By far one of the best keepsakes.
This item is available in our TPT store. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
