Class Shirts - Perfect for Field Trips, School Activities, and More!

Check out Whitney Daniels Designs NOW!

I have used that company for my class shirt designing needs for...forever! (Ten years +)

We start by having every child use a fine tip Sharpie tow rite their name and draw a picture of themselves, neck up. (Great for talking about details that make you unique, like glasses, curly hair, dimples, etc.) We also vote on a color shirt as a class. One year I made it a surprise.

Typically, I send the order form from the website to the families, and most families spend the $7-8 on a shirt for their child. Some buy for themselves, too! If anyone does not send the money back in for whatever reason, I pay for that child. I also buy 1-2 extra shirts every year in case a new student moves into our class or someone loses their shirt. (We order these mid-way through the year because it takes time for the order to come in. Also, most of our field trips and special days are near the end of the school year and we want to wear them for those days - it's fun and it helps me to easily spot all of my students because we are dressed alike!

This is definitely a keepsake that I love. A tradition that I would hope that my children's teachers do as well because it's so special!

Spark Student Motivation Saturday

I'm here, linking up with Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching, for Spark Student Motivation Saturday!

Class t-shirts!

I think that making your class as EXCITING as possible is always the way to motivate kiddos! Every child in my school knows that our class creates these AWESOME class t-shirts every year, and if you're in my class, it's definitely something to look forward to.

Each child uses a fine Sharpie to draw themselves and sign their name on an index card. (We discuss exaggerating our character traits or something unique that makes us special - like glasses, curly hair, earrings, etc.)

Next, we choose a t-shirt color. Kids pay $8 for a t-shirt. If they can't pay, I usually pay for them. Every year, I've had at least one parent send in extra money to help pay for another student's t-shirt because I do work in a lower income district and $8 is not easy for everyone to come by.

I send our pictures and money to Whitney Daniels Designs, where they are famous for this "self portrait" t-shirt. In about 6 weeks, we are sporting these stylish t-shirts that kids can keep for years to come!

I've been creating these t-shirts for five years now, and they are always beautiful. I do order a few extra, just in case we get new students throughout the year. We wear them for special days at school, field trips, etc.

Tried It Tuesday Linky Party

I'm linking up with Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday!

So, I have a few end of the year traditions to share that I've tried over the years and maintained. First of all, a letter to the parents. Not just a card or a mass letter, but personalized letters. Now, I keep the first two paragraphs pretty much the same for each student (I found a template from another teacher many years ago), and then I personalize the last paragraph. Here is an example of a letter I wrote to a family years ago! Honestly, when I write these letters, I cry. And I totally welled up when reading this letter again today!

End of the Year Letter for Parents

Another end of the year tradition I have is the gift I give students. There are plenty of cutesy Pinterest printables nowadays, but the class sideshow is my tried and true student gift. This is not your ordinary slide show. I am a photographer all year. A few days before the last day of school, I compile those pictures in iMovie, add music and transitions, and burn to dvd. I burn one for each child. I create a dvd cover. I invited parents for our screening. And yes, it is a screening. Like a movie. Because my slide shows are typically 90 minutes long! It sounds crazy, but these fourth graders sit for the entire time, loving it and remembering our year. It's so special. Most of them go home and watch it again that night!

Here's another fun event that I used to do at the end of the year as a class gift, but now I have students purchase these items in September. CLASS T-SHIRTS! We love them! They were surprising and wonderful when I did them as an end of the year class gift, but they became like a team uniform for special events and field trips when we made them in September! I order them through Whitney Daniels Designs. In order to get a screenprint t-shirt, like our class shirts, have each child draw a picture of their face on a notecard with a fine tip Sharpie, and send in the notecards to Whitney Daniels Designs. Each shirt costs $8.

Another end of the year activity is obviously class awards. Now, I teach fourth grade, but at the end of the year, my fourth graders move up to the middle school. So we have like a mini graduation with tons of academic awards. It's nice, but I like to do my own awards ceremony in the classroom, too! I have the kiddos nominate their peers for the majority of the awards. I list a bunch of silly and funny awards, and the students write down whoever they think best fits those awards, and I count the votes. I add my own humor into it as well, though, and create new and surprising awards that no one is expecting. We move our desks into two long rows facing each other, and make a runway down the middle, so when your name is called you walk like a red carpet to receive your award! It's a fun day, and everyone gets a few awards!

Okay, one more end of the year super fun activity! I don't have a picture of this, but as the end of the year approaches, I will take a picture to share from this year. I blow up balloons and put slips of paper with surprising events written on them inside. I attach the balloons to strings and hang them from the ceiling. Ten balloons. So, for the last ten days of school, we pop the balloon to find out our fun activity of the day! Sometimes it is something short, like a picnic lunch, playing Wii on the Smartboard, or relay races. Sometimes it is longer, like our BIG event two years ago...another teacher and I teamed up for one day. We paired up the kids and gave them a challenge. Construct a bridge to hold the most weight. They had to sketch their designs, and they had limited supplies. It took all morning to build the bridges, and it took most of the afternoon to compete in a weight competition. We added weight to the bridges until they snapped! It was a blast! Last year, we decided our building day would be similar to the bridges, but with height, so we had kiddos build skyscrapers. Oh! And every year one balloon has Minute to Win It games inside. THAT IS THE BEST!!!!!  You can google them or brainstorm your own, but the kids eat them up!!!

So, end of the year activities! If anyone else has some ideas, please share!

Examples of Class T-Shirts!

Cute, right? Make them with your class! I'm sure there are other screenprinters out there, but Whitney Daniels Designs has been making my t-shirts for years and they are FAMOUS for these Brady Bunch style class t-shirts! I AM OBSESSED!!!

Whitney Daniels Designs website

Make Class T-Shirts

When I was a newbie teacher, I had my heart set on making class t-shirts. I thought it would unify us, and make finding kiddos during field trips a breeze. So, I had the kiddos bring in a white t-shirt, and I ironed on class pictures. It was fine. It worked. The pictures started peeling off after being washed a few times. Not cool to see your students' faces peeling off by June.

So I started researching. I found this AWESOME website that sells screenprinted t-shirts. I've been using them for YEARS! Every September, one of my welcome to the class activities is to use a fine tip Sharpie and draw your face on an index card. Obviously we talk about defining characteristics, like bangs, glasses, freckles, curls, etc. Then, the kiddos write their first name underneath the picture. Once everyone, including myself, has finished their index card, I collect $8 from each child, we vote on a t-shirt color, and I mail the designs into Whitney Daniel Designs. A few weeks later, VOILA! Awesome t-shirts!

My kiddos wear these t-shirts for field trips, special days at school, regular days, whenever!

Click here to check out the Whitney Daniels Designs Website!

More pictures to come!