Half-life is one of the important characteristic quantities of radionuclides. In view of the current deficiencies in the experimental teaching of half-life measurement for nuclear majors in domestic universities, a teaching experiment for measuring the half-life of radionuclides through thermal neutron activation method has been optimized. The relevant experimental principles are introduced, including selecting suitable neutron activation elements, preparing activated samples, and establishing an experimental platform. The measurement data of the half-lives of ^116mIn, ¹⁰⁸Ag, and ¹¹⁰Ag nuclides obtained from the experiment have an error of less than 5% compared with the recommended values of the International Nuclear Database. At the same time, the selection of key parameters such as the thickness of the activated sheet, activation time, and measurement interval in the experiment, as well as the precautions for students in operating the experiment, are pointed out, which can provide reference for teaching half-life measurement experiments in other universities.