Using A Theme To Count Up To 100-Day
Having a theme in place is a fun way to manage what you’ll do on 100-Day. I have several suggestions in this two-part article to help get you thinking.
![caterpillar bulletin board, ideas for counting to 100 day, 100 day interactive bulletin board, back to school ideas, first day of school ideas](/images/stories/cater_head.jpg)
Caterpillars:
We're Wiggling Our Way To 100 Day!
- Is a cute way to count up to 100-Day.
- Make a copy of my caterpillar head out of emerald green construction paper.
- Add wiggle eyes, a pink pom pom nose, some pipe cleaners for antennae, stickers for cheeks and draw in a magic marker mouth and you’ve got yourself a beautiful bug.
- Cut 50 yellow and 50-lime green cirles from my template to make100-segmented body pieces.
- Have students vote on a name for their caterpillar creature.
- Each day choose a child to write that day’s number on either a yellow or lime-green circle and then add it to the growing body of your caterpillar.
Hang the caterpillar in the middle of a hallway wall, close to the restrooms.
- That way, when students are using the bathroom, you can review patterns and count up to whatever number you’re at, while you wait for everyone to finish.
- On 100-Day you can have gummy caterpillar-worms as a special treat/snack!
- Click on the link to view/print 100-Day Wiggles and the things I have related to him.
Butterflies:
Our second graders study Monarch butterflies in September.
- I don’t do butterflies ‘til April, but I thought it would be fun to whip some “Fluttering Our Way To 100-Day” stuff together as I LOVE LOVE LOVE butterflies! If you do too, maybe this is the theme for you!
- Perhaps you’d like to toss in a butterfly thing or two with your caterpillars! After all, metamorphosis could have taken place in those 100 days of counting! How cute would that be!
Simply draw a big jar (use clipart) on construction paper and cut it out.
- You can make your jar out of light blue or gray paper and the lid can be wrapped in aluminum foil. This is a photo of my firefly bug jar.
- Put my poster (see photo above-left) above or beside your jar.
- You can make this poster 3-D by cutting two sets of butterflies.
- Glue only the thorax to the bottom butterfly; fold the wings up and wahla "flying butterly!"
- Buy 100 butterfly stickers.
- Each day choose a student to add a butterfly to the jar.
![back to school ideas, ideas for the first day of school, ideas for counting to 100 day, september bulletin board ideas](/images/stories/butr_congrats_pg.jpg)
- On 100-Day choose a “pick me” Popsicle stick that has your students’ names written on them and that child gets to take the poster home as a 100-Day prize!
- Just like the blog before, I’m endeavoring to keep things brief, so I have another mini-sub article after this one.
- Keep scrolling down if you’d like to see more tips on this topic and read about trains and apples as themes for counting up to 100-Day!