Squeeze a little more learning into the last day. Prepare a "Family Feud"-style review game that will spark students' competitive spirit. Split students into two teams. One student from each team comes to the front. Give each student a bell. Ask a question. The first student to ring his bell gets to answer the question. If he answers correctly, his team gets 10 points and the chance to answer questions until they miss one. When they miss, the other team gets a chance to "steal" and earn 50 points by providing the correct answer.
Take a cue from "Jeopardy!" and split knowledge into five or six categories, such as "Spelling Bee," "Reading is Fun" and "Math Adds Up." Split students into three teams and draw straws to see who chooses a category first. Ask a question. Call on the first student who raises her hand to answer. Instead of individuals, teams get 10 seconds to collaborate on the answers. A correct answer gives them control of the board; a wrong answer gives the other two teams a chance to "steal" and take control.
Before the last day of school, prepare a scavenger hunt for your third-graders. Include items inside your classroom and in the school common areas, such as "An empty milk carton." Caution students to be quiet and not run or disturb other classes. Split students into groups of three and give each group the scavenger hunt list. Give them 20 minutes to look for the items. The group that brings all the items back first wins.
You could also challenge your third-graders to use their powers of reasoning in a murder mystery game. Either recruit a few students to play the necessary roles or have parents volunteer. The student to correctly guess the murderer is the winner. Ask follow-up questions about details of the murder scene and the characters to test their observational skills. Play this game after lunch to wake up sleepy, last-day-of-school brains.
Head to a big, open playing field and have your third-graders play Capture the Flag. This schoolyard favorite is an excellent way for kids to both release pent-up energy and think strategically with teammates. Divide the playing field in half, with one team on each half. Place a flag (or any cloth) at the back of each team's area. Opposing teams must run across the boundary, evade opposing team members and "capture" the flag, then run back across the boundary without being tagged.
Hold a class Olympics on the last day of school. Tell students to choose a partner for the games. Have a three-legged race, an egg toss, a water-balloon target throw and an obstacle course. Award 10 points for first place, six for second place and four for third. The pair with the most points after all events wins the "gold." Make it extra fun by awarding real medals (available at large craft stores).
Test how creative your third-graders are after a year under your tutelage. Hold an improv tournament. Explain the concept of improv. Stress the importance of thinking "on your feet" and using whatever materials are available. Show an online video clip of an improv skit to demonstrate. Put students into groups of four. Tell them that they will receive on a slip of paper a scenario, such as "Standing in a long, slow-moving queue," that they must act out for the rest of the class. The class should be able to guess the scenario after the team has finished. Each group must go for at least 30 seconds from the first word spoken.
Make several dozen strips of paper and write a silly statement on each, such as "The country should be run by dogs." Each student picks a strip and has one minute to argue for the statement written on it. This game often produces hilarious results, especially if you make the statements particularly outrageous and encourage students to use whatever reasoning they like, and will put everyone in a good mood to start summer vacation.