Peshtigo kindergarteners celebrate 100th day

PESHTIGO — Every year, Peshtigo kindergarten students celebrate their 100th school day.

“The 100th day is definitely a day full of celebration,” kindergarten teacher Laurie Dura said. “It is full of activities all day long that revolve around the theme of the special number, 100. We’re teaching all day and covering the standards we need to cover, all while we’re having a lot of fun. I really look forward to our 100th day of kindergarten”

In advance of the day, families are included in a mystery bottle project. Students select something small enough where 100 of the mystery items can fit inside of a plastic bottle. With their families, students practice counting with their parents, in groups of 10 up to 100. With parental help, students create three clues to reveal to classmates. Students in class love trying to guess the mystery bottle ingredients, Dura said.

On the 100th day, kindergarten students put on their 100th day hats and capes and parade around the school, shaking their 100th day bottles. Students count out by 10’s up to 100 for all of the other grades to hear. Then they return to their classrooms for a full day of activities centered around the number, 100.

Students read about the 100th day of school. They listen and count to 100-day songs. They practice counting by 1’s, 10’s, and perform 10 movements 10 times each. Students chart out 10 groups of 10 types of snacks totalling 100.

“I teach my students to say the number 100 in Japanese, hyaku,” Dura said.

The fun doesn’t stop there. Students complete search and color activities. They write about what they’d like to have one 100 of. Students also practice writing by writing down 100 rhyming words.

Students respond well to food-related lessons. They make their morning snacks with 10 items of 10 different snacks. Students make Fruit Loop necklaces grouping colors in groups of 10 totaling 100 Fruit Loops, improving fine motor skills along with counting. One afternoon activity involves searching for 100 separately numbered Hershey’s Kisses hidden about the classroom and numbered.

“We chart each one on our 100 board,” Dura explained. “They love finding them all!”

Students graph out how many licks it takes to make a small sucker disappear, counting each lick. “Students are usually surprised that their suckers still aren’t gone until over 200 licks,” Dura said. “The kids were really pumped up and excited before the day even began. By the time students went home, they really seemed to enjoy the day.”

“I want to do this over and over,” student Emma Kaster said.

Student Storm Schambureck exclaimed, “Amazing day!”

One of the cutest comments Dura heard was from student Grace Johnson who said, “This was the best day of my life!”