Celebrate the 90th Day of School: 90s Themed Activities, Ideas and Free Printables

Sure, the 100th day of school may be the classic halfway-there milestone, but for the millennial and Gen X parents among us, there’s something way more fun to celebrate: the 90th day of school, featuring a full-on tribute to “the late 1900s”. (Yoinks...did that make anyone else feel old?👋)

Celebrating the 90th day of school is the perfect excuse to break out that neon windbreaker, dELliA*s bucket hat, and *NSYNC tee you've been hanging onto since '97. We've got tons of 90s themed throwback activities and ideas to help your school celebrate, along with a FREE  "90 Days Smarter" student certificate and "Our teachers are all that and a bag of chips" sign. Get ready to celebrate the 90th day of school with a totally rad throwback to the best decade...like, ever!  

Free 90th Day of School Printables

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90th Day of School Ideas & Activities

• Have a 90s themed spirit day: Invite staff and students to dress in their finest 90s attire. Think scrunchies, neon windbreakers, bucket hats, choker necklaces, butterfly clips, fanny packs, Nirvana//Pearl Jam//*NSYNC//Britney Spears//D.A.R.E. tees, track suits, overalls, baggy jeans, hammer pants, Doc Martens, Clueless plaids, Doc Martens, and a whole lot of flannel!  Award the teacher with “the most rad” outfit. 
• 90s themed treats for students: Dunkaroos, Cool Ranch Doritos, or Bugles, or classic 90s must-haves, like slap bracelets, scratch-and-sniff (or Lisa Frank) snickers, Paper Mate multi-color click pens, and scrunchies

• Play 90s music for students at morning drop-off. Make sure you get one of your volunteers (or even better, the principal) to hold a big ol' boombox on their shoulder, like we did in the "olden days". You can use this clean, teacher-approved “90s Babies” classroom-safe playlist on Spotify.
• Set up an "Artifacts from the 1990s" display! For this fun idea, your PTO will need to coordinate ahead of time with parents to collect nostalgic items from the 90s to display and share with students—think Motorola flip phones, Nintendo Game Boys, Koosh Balls, Paper Mate multi-colored click pens, VHS tapes (Be Kind, Please Rewind), slap bracelets, Furbies, Mead Trapper Keepers, Mall Madness, a real wall phone, 90s teen magazines, and Beanie Babies. Give live demonstrations, like how to make a mixed tape cassette (peak 90s culture), or (wait for it)...roll out a cart with a TV and VCR on it. BEST DAY EVER!

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Malinda Nichols - Millennial History Teacher for Gen Alpha (@hipsterhistorywithmrsn)

• Have students make tie-dye T-shirts 
• Set up a 90s game station, featuring classic board games and activities from the 90s, like Bop It, Pogs, Moon Shoes, Sorry!, Trouble, The Game of Life, Connect Four, Candy Land, Mouse Trap, Guess Who?, Tamagotchi/Giga Pets, Skip-It, Game Boy, and Pokémon.
• As the beloved golden age of stickers, a 90s sticker trading station is a fun activity for younger elementary students. Think Scratch and Sniff stickers, glitter and puffy stickers, Lisa Frank stickers, and any kind of hologram stickers.
• Have a 90s throwback recess: teach students hand clapping games popular in the 90s, like Ms. Mary Mack, Double Double, and The Spades, give a skateboarding lesson, play Four Square, freeze tag, Red Rover, Duck Duck Goose, Simon Says, and hopscotch, and toss a Koosh Ball or kick around a Hacky Sack. 
• Use ChatGPT to create "Blockbuster Video Membership Cards" for students and staff and pair with movie-friendly snacks, like popcorn or pretzels. Movies popular with elementary schools in the 90s were The Mighty Ducks, Jumanji, Matilda, Toy Story, 101 Dalmatians, and Air Bud.
• Have a 90s themed "Learn to Breakdance" activity station for students, featuring popular 90s hip hop tracks, like DJ Jazzy Jeff's Fresh Prince of Bel Air, U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer, Pump Up the Jam by Technotronic, Here Comes the Hotstepper by Ini Kamoze, and *clean radio edit* versions of This is How We Do It by Montell Jordan and O.P.P. by Naughty by Nature. 
• Roll out a "Woahhhh, we're halfway there" Bon Jovi themed teacher treat trolley! Print out copies of Bon Jovi and affix to drinks or snacks to celebrate the halfway mark (because teachers are basically livin' on a prayer at this point!). 

Photo credit: Olmito Elementary School PTA, Brownsville, Texas

• Plan a 90s "All That and a Bag of Chips" chip bar for staff, featuring chips and salty snacks popular in the 90s, like Bugles, Doritos, Planters Cheez Balls, Harvest Cheddar SunChips, Combos, Cheetos, Pringles, and Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream. Download our FREE 90th Day of School "Our Teachers and Staff Are All That and a Bag of Chips" sign
• Get your principal in on the fun, too! Encourage them to wear their finest 90s attire (gold pants, perhaps?) and DJ morning announcements (we love "DJ B-Rad" below!) and play "Name that tune" or "Finish the lyrics" for staff, featuring songs popular in the 90s. 

• Plan a "totally awesome" 90s glow day or dance party. Encourage students to wear neon and give out glow sticks. Have blacklights and 90s music for students to dance to. 

• Decorate with inflatable cell phones and boomboxes, this 90s cardboard cutout stand up photo prop from Oriental Trading and this Back to the 90s banner

90s Teacher Appreciation Ideas

Check out 90s themed teacher appreciation ideas for the ultimate list of 90s ideas to celebrate your school staff. Below are some of our favorites! 

• A flavored water hydration station, with an "Ice, Ice, Baby" sign 
• A chips and dip bar, with "When I Dip, You Dip, We Dip" sign 
• A coffee and juice bar, with "Sippin' on (Coffee) and Juice" sign 
• Subs and chips lunch spread, with "You're All That and a Bag of Chips" sign
• "Adult Lunchables" - invite teachers and staff to make their own snacklebox 
• Saturday morning cartoons cereal bar, featuring cereals popular in the 90s
• 90s lunchbox snack spread, featuring snacks and drinks popular in the 90s, like Dunkaroos, Fruit Rollups, Gushers, Capri Sun, and Lunchables
• Eggos frozen waffle bar 

• "Pump up the jam" breakfast featuring bagels and jams
• 90s candy bar, with Fun Dip, Pop Rocks, Ring Pops, Push Pops, Gobstoppers, Sour Patch Kids, Warheads, Fruit Stripe gum, Gushers, and Bubble Tape
• DIY Bucket Hat bar 
• “Book It” themed lunch featuring Pizza Hut pizza
• "Oh My God, Becky...Look at That Drink Cart" teacher treat trolley 

Photo credit: Alden Hebron PTO in Hebron, Illinois

• The ultimate 90s bonding activity for teachers? An awkward JC Penney photo shoot! Check out the photos from the JC Penney teacher photo shoot Liberty Elementary PTA in Colleyville, Texas, arranged for their school's teachers below!

• Flashback to the 90s: display staff baby pictures in the hallway and invite staff members (and students) to guess who’s who!

Get the full list of 90s Teacher Appreciation Week ideas  👉