Costume assembly activities build on the love of dressing up. A costume assembly can be used to celebrate a particular holiday or event, for example, dressing up in red clothes for Valentine's Day or as a rabbit for Easter. Encourage children to dress up as their favorite historical character for a history-themed assembly or as a pioneer on Thanksgiving. Award prizes or certificates for participation.
Promote literacy and an enjoyment of reading with a book swap assembly. Prepare by asking children to bring in a favorite book or magazine. Encourage children to swap books and ask the owner to describe a favorite character or scene. In a follow-up assembly, ask children to present a short book review. Alternatively, ask children to bring in old books and donate them to charity or sell for school funds.
This works for an end-of-year assembly. Prepare by asking children to bring in one sample of work or photograph from that year that symbolizes a happy or proud moment. Set aside a a Memory Wall in the assembly room--it can be a wall or display area--for children to attach happy memories. Encourage children to explain why this represents a happy time and discuss hopes and dreams for the year ahead. Reviewing the Memory Wall at the end of the following year is another idea for an assembly activity.
Introducing a show-and-tell activity to your elementary assembly will improve self-confidence and verbal communication skills. The show-and-tell object can be something from home, something from class or a review of a favorite book or DVD. Give a twist to your show-and-tell assembly by inviting a local speaker, for example, an artist or musician, and giving children the opportunity to interview him. Alternatively, use your assembly time to make a themed collage of a mystery person, place or animal and let children use the images to guess the subject's identity.