It’s the end of the year and you want to make a classroom theme day for your students that will leave a lasting impression. A spy-themed educational day may be just the perfect day for you to plan with your students! You can motivate and reward students while sneaking in some academics. This is a great theme for any elementary grade level. My kindergarten students said, “This is the best day of my life!” Scroll to the bottom to see ALL the photos from our day.
SPY DAY PROCEDURE
Once they accept the mission, they will make their id badge. Place red or white streamers or yarn across a doorway or other area for them to prove they can make it through the “lasers” without setting off the alarm before their mission begins. They step over the yarn. Then, give them each a Top Secret Journal, a pencil, flashlight and a passport before they start their centers.
I created all the resources I needed in my classroom and uploaded them the following year to bring you something you can easily use with your students. I like the idea of having centers with some parent volunteers, so I created six centers for students to complete in any order during the day. Food is also important to our themed day. Parents brought in a spy cake, water bottles with truth serum labels, juice packs labeled Adrenaline Pack, and other “classified” munchies!
THE CENTERS
- Create Your Own Secret Agent ID Badge
- The Secret Agent Fingerprint LAB
- Pick Your Alias and Memorization Station
- The Photo Booth with Disguises
- Write the DARK Room
- I SPY Sight Words Using a Magnifying Glass
SPY DAY PROCEDURE
Students arrive dressed in black or a suit to mimic a spy. There is James Bond music playing in the background as the enter the room. Lights are dim. I tell the students they will be asked to accept an important mission that is impossible. They need to recover a stolen item that you know they will miss. They need to work as a team to recover it by creating a new identity, finding clues and being very quiet.
Once they accept the mission, they will make their id badge. Place red or white streamers or yarn across a doorway or other area for them to prove they can make it through the “lasers” without setting off the alarm before their mission begins. They step over the yarn. Then, give them each a Top Secret Journal, a pencil, flashlight and a passport before they start their centers.
Students will travel to the different centers while the spy music plays. Parents assist students in their fingerprint dusting lab, finding words around the room with their flashlight, taking pictures of them in the photo prop booth, picking an alias to memorize and the teacher’s job is quizzing them on their new identity to see if they can memorize their alias. I bought each child their own small flashlight and let them keep it.
Write Around the DARK ROOM
For the Write Around the DARK Room activity, I pick a phase that tells them to come to me and do something silly like jump up and down or tell me a secret code word like BANANA HANDS. Then, they get a clue envelope that they can’t OPEN until everyone finishes their centers. If student finish early, they can do puzzles while they wait for others to finish. Then, they open their envelopes together and realize they must put the words in order to solve the mystery that tells them where to find the stolen item.
Students who complete all the centers get a Spy Certificate for completing the training. I let students watch a spy video and invite parents to celebrate with the snacks at the end of the day.
Spy Day will be a day students will remember forever!
Looking for MORE fun end-of-the-year themed days? Try a May the Fourth Star Wars Day.
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