If you’re ready to celebrate the accomplishments and talents of your students, check out this list of end-of-year award ideas.
The end of the school year is a special time because it’s an opportunity for students to reflect upon all of the great milestones they have reached.
While year-long positive reinforcement and praise are essential, there is nothing more special than spotlighting students’ achievements during an awards ceremony.
Honoring students with end-of-the-year awards shows that their hard work is valued and appreciated.
This recognition encourages them to feel pride in their achievements leading to higher self-esteem.
They will have a keepsake to cherish for the rest of their lives.
Here you will find a list of the best end-of-year award ideas that cover a variety of student personalities and abilities.
End-of-Year Award Ideas
Following are the best end-of-the-year award ideas for students which includes fun awards.
- Above and Beyond Award – consistently performs above grade level standards or does more than expected when it comes to helping others
- Academic Excellence
- Active Participator – always eager to participate during class discussions and activities; rarely if ever needs prompting from the teacher
- Amazing Artist – draws, sketches, or colors well; also a student who is talented in music or drama/theater
- Aspiring Author – able to insert any profession such as Aspiring Chef or Aspiring Athlete
- Avid Reader
- Awesome Athlete
- Awesome Attendance – may not have perfect attendance but his/her attendance record is above average
- Beautiful Handwriting
- Brilliant Behavior – a student who consistently demonstrates appropriate behavior without much direction from others
- Caring Classmate
- Certificate of Achievement
- Certificate of Completion – an all-purpose award that recognizes the efforts of a student who has successfully completed a task
- Certificate of Participation
- Chapter Book Champ – a student who loves to read chapter books
- Cheerful Award
- Cooperative Award – a student who follows instructions well or works well in a group
- Creative Award
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- Dean’s List – a student who has good grades throughout the entire school year
- Deep Discusser – a student who adds meaningful dialogue to class lessons and activities; may be a good debater
- Dependable
- Eager Participant
- Enthusiastic Helper
- Excellence in… – insert any subject area such as math, reading, writing, science, spelling, or social studies
- Excellent Effort
- Exceptionally Organized Award
- Fabulous Friend
- Future Third Grader -insert any appropriate grade level
- Goal Getter – a student who makes a strategic plan (and reaches) his/her SMART goals
- Good Citizen – consistently follows the Golden Rule and/or character education virtues
- Good Conduct
- Good Decision Maker – makes a good choice even when faced with a challenge or peer pressure
- Good Reader
- Great Listener
- Growth Mindset Award – always sees the positive in a situation; sees the glass half full
- Hard Worker Award
- Honor Roll – has had A or B grades all year long
- Imagination Award – very creative and/or comes up with unique ideas
- Improvement Award
- Innovator Award – loves to discover new ideas; has ideas for new activities and projects
- Inquisitive Award – asks a lot of questions; curious about everything
- Kindness Award
- Magnificent Manners
- Marvelous Manners
- Marvelous Messenger
- Master Mathematician
- Math Achievement
- Most Organized
- Mr./Ms. Manners
- Neat Handwriting
- Noteworthy Growth In… – insert any relevant learning objective
- Patience Award
- Patriotic Award – has a lot of pride in his or her country
- People Person Award – gets along with practically everyone
- Perfect Attendance
- Perfect Penmanship
- Perseverance Award – never gives up, even when the going gets tough
- Politeness Award
- Positive Attitude
- Positively Motivating – motivates and encourages others to do their very best; has a lot of confidence in himself or herself
- Principal’s Award – a student who is recognized for doing something spectacular
- Problem Solver Award
- Reading Achievement
- Remarkable Reader
- Respectful Friend
- Rockstar Reader
- Science Achievement
- Science Fair Winner
- Sight Word Superhero
- Skilled Scientist
- Spectacular Speaker
- Spectacular Sportsmanship
- Spelling Award
- Spelling Bee Champ
- Splendid Speller
- Sports Star
- Star Student Award – an all-purpose award that recognizes a student who excels in a certain area
- Stellar Sportsmanship
- STEM Star – excels in the area of science, technology, engineering, or math
- Super Speller
- Super Studious
- Superb Speaker – gives really good class presentations; articulates his or her thoughts well during discussions
- Team Leader – in group assignments, leads the group well
- Team Player
- Thinker Award – good with problem-solving or figuring out how to do something
- Voracious Reader
- Wonderful Writer
- Writing Achievement
- Young Author Award – a student who is a gifted writer
Fun End-of-Year Award Ideas
- Bear Award – protective and will not hesitant to stick up for others when needed
- Chapter Book Lover
- Class Comedian Award – makes everyone laugh
- Computer Genius – good with technology; likes to play video games
- Healthy Habits Award – brings healthy lunches and/or snacks to school
- Interior Decorator Award – always cleaning desk; desk or cubby is magazine-worthy
- Most Likely to Star In a Movie Award – a fun award for a student who regularly puts on a “dramatic” show when injured or in trouble
- Super Singer
- Superstar – an all-purpose award for a student who shines in a particular area
- Sweet Smile
- Tech Guru
- Top-Notch Behavior
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Candy End-of-Year Award Ideas
- 100 Grand Award – gives 100% perfect effort
- Bit-O-Honey Award – sweet and kind
- Cotton Candy Award – carefree and easygoing
- Gummy Bear Award – loveable, caring, and considerate of others
- Hot Tamales Award – on fire for learning
- Jolly Rancher Award – regularly in a good mood; cheerful
- Laffy Taffy Award – has a good sense of humor; makes others laugh
- Mounds Award – a student who does heaps of good work on a regular basis
- Ring Pop Award – a student who is a “gem”
- Snickers Award – student with a good sense of humor or who giggles/laughs a lot
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Final Thoughts On End-of-Year Award Ideas
Now you have lots of ideas for student awards for the end of the school year.
Create memories by hosting an end-of-the-year ceremony. Distribute to each student a special certificate that they will treasure forever.
If you liked these end-of-year award ideas, download end-of-the-year awards for students in PDF form.