* I have the children bring in their own collections of 100 items.

Plan:

1. Collect empty plastic peanut butter jars to use each year.
   
   
2. Read 100th Day Worries by Margery Cuyler - It is about a girl who has to bring in a collection of 100 items. It's not exactly what we do, but it helps the children get some ideas, and know what NOT to do.
   
   
3. Place a label on the jar with the child's name (masking tape works fine).
   
   
4. Send a parent letter with the jar, which explains the 100th day of school, activities you have planned, and how filling the jar with a 100 collection will be important for their child's learning.
   
   Give suggestions: toothpicks, coins, beads, macaroni, paper clips... anything small enough to fit in the jar. All 100 items must be the same thing. (Don't send 40 paper clips, 20 toothpicks, 20 beads, and 20 marshmallows.)
   
   Instruct them to help their child count by ones to make 10 piles of 10 items. Then, they should count by tens to put them in the jar.
   
   Let them know what day they need to have their collections returned. I sent them home on a Wednesday, and asked to have them by Monday. (The 100th day was Wednesday of that week.) I had most collections returned by Friday!
   
   
5. We weigh & chart the items as explained in the related lesson below (100th Day of School Collections).

Comments:

After the children have counted the 10 piles of 10 items with their parents, they have a basic understanding of 100 before we do other 100th day activities.

For instance, when we made cereal necklaces, I gave them 10 sorting cups and instructed them to count 10 Fruit Loops or Cheerios into each cup before they strung them on their yarn. They caught on fairly quickly since they had already done the counting at home. Hint: If you do the cereal necklaces with yarn, the yarn needs to be taped on one end (like a shoelace) so it goes through the cereal hole easily.

Related Pages:

100th Day Activities ( K, 1-2 )
100 lipstick kisses, make a 100 stamp book, estimate time it takes to do 100 things, and other creative & fun ideas for the 100th day of school.

Favorite 100th Day Activities ( K, 1-2 )
Favorite 100th day activities shared at the A to Z Teacher Stuff Forums.

100th Day of School 50-50 Book ( Preschool, K )
Write a book listing groups of 50 opposites. I did this with my students, and they called it "The 100 Book" because each page spread has 100 items.

The Wolf's Chicken Stew 100th Day Celebration ( K, 1-2 )
Celebrate 100 by reading The Wolf's Chicken Stew, graphing, and making 100 pancakes!

100th Day of School Collections ( K, 1-2 )
100 items--children predict weights, weigh, and chart results. Also includes related activity ideas.