This year make plans to start a sports league, or a drama program, or a dance group. One of your group leaders probably has experience and would love to be in charge of such an activity. If you have a little money in the budget you can try a project like Lego® Robotics or building a giant 2D (or even 3D) puzzle. And of course, don’t forget about service learning projects.

Don’t give up on the teaching and learning! Find activities for your afterschool program that include both learning and fun so you can keep your students always wanting more and coming back week after week.

What fun stuff do you have planned for this new school year? Comment and share with us

Table 1: Assigning Students to Teams by Grade Level

Table 2: Assigning Students to Teams with Mixed Grade Levels

In Table 1, you only have room for one team of second graders – probably 20 students at the most.  What happens if your program suddenly becomes very popular with second graders?  In Table 2, you have room for about 30 second graders.  Mixing grade levels across teams also allows you to move students from one team to another if needed, and that can be a great relief if a conflict arises.

Here’s another tip:  schedule one or two extra students on every team.  If you are working from a grant – as so many Afterschool programs are – you probably need to meet a particular attendance requirement every day to get your maximum funding.  No matter how hard you try and how good you are at getting students to show up, someone will always be absent.  If you overbook your teams by one or two students each, you should hit your desired/required numbers every day.