With the start of the school year comes the need to create some back to school bulletin boards. Before you jump into planning out your designs, think about a few things first. Consider whether or not you want your bulletin board to last into early fall. Think about whether or not you want to make the bulletin board interactive. And, above all, consider how much visual clutter an overly decorated bulletin board might introduce to your classroom. Once you have thought about those issues and how they relate to your own classroom, take a look at the ideas below and be inspired.
New School Year Bulletin Board Ideas for the Classroom
Let’s Grow with One Another Bulletin Board Idea
This bulletin board can last from the beginning of the school year to the very last day with some slight modifications along the way. Begin by covering the back of the board with light blue fabric or paper. Next, cut out a large, bulletin board size tree that features branches and a trunk. Your next step will be to add green leaves. At the base of the bulletin board, cut a manila file folder into the shape of a bushel basket. In the basket place apple cut outs with each child’s name. On the first day of school, invite them to find their name and hang their apple on the tree. As the year progresses, the apples can be harvested in the fall, the green leaves can turn to beautiful fall colors, and by winter the trees limbs are bare. Spring can see the rebirth of leaves and blossoms as you track the seasons on the class bulletin board. Another option is to label the leaves on the tree from 1 to 100 and, every day, have a student remove one of the leaves to count down toward 100 days of school.
Behavior Bees Bulletin Board Idea
Addressing behavior management from the first day is important for establishing clear rules and discipline. This bulletin board idea helps solidify those expectations by having students help you create the decorations for it. Cover the board with bee print fabric or plain brown paper. Cut out a large bee-hive shape and write your classroom rules on it. Have students write examples of how to follow the rules on smaller bees and hang them on the board around the hive. For example, if one of your classroom rules is “Be Respectful of Others”, students could write things such as, “Don’t talk when others are talking” and “Raise your hand.” This not only helps reinforce what the rules are, but gives children a chance to process what is meant by each one.
Who Am I? Bulletin Board Idea
Help your students get to know one another with a Who Am I bulletin board! On the first day of school have the bulletin board covered with brown paper and yellow caution tape until the activity below is completed. Give each student a short questionnaire asking them to list their likes and dislikes. Copy those answers onto circles listing each child’s interests and dislikes, but do not put their names on the circles. Take each child’s picture, laminate it after printing it out and place it in a basket below the bulletin board or in a file folder that has been cut down to form a pocket. Place the circles around the board in random order . Students then must match the correct picture to the correct circle. You can complete it in small groups, as a whole class or as an independent learning center.
What are some of your favorite back to school bulletin boards?
Is there one that you use year after year?
K.N. says
I have found a ton of great ideas at a teacher supply store back where I am from. They do a mix of different styles and designs. I usually do my welcome boards in the hall and keep my inside boards for student work.
Also, I do have a board where my students from the previous year have written to my new group of students. My new group always loves this board and they feel like they get some cool tips about their new teacher.
Dale Abraham says
My tip is to use fabric for your background on your bulletin boards. I usually use white burlap for the boards that I plan to change throughout the year. By changing the borders you can quickly change the look of your display. Also…I never throw away the “header” that comes on the bag containing my new bulletin board pictures. CD’s are great for putting mini pictures of all of the components of the set. I used these for folder games or some other manipulative. My newest favorite is the set “Alphabet: Kid-Drawn (Traditional Manuscript)”…..I cut the mini cards out and then made a puzzle cut on each on to seperate the picture from the letter. This can now be used as an individual sized center activity!
Charla says
My favorite bulletin board that I have used was to the theme CHICKA, CHICKA, BOOM, BOOM. I made a 3-D coconut tree using laminated bulletin board paper and attached it to the bulletin board with staples, tape, and push pins. I added a banner at top that said, “Chicka, chicka, boom, boom, will there be enough room for this year’s kindergarteners? Skit, skat, scoodle, doot, flip, flop, flee, welcome them to our school along with me!” I added large letters to the tree matching the first letter of each student in my class and writing each child’s name on his or her letter. On the first day of school, I added each child’s picture to his or her letter. Kids, parents, and teachers all loved it!
Amy says
We’re doing a puzzle theme with the title “We All Fit Together”. Each kid gets a large puzzle piece and has to decorate it so that it represents THEM. I’m thinking that the assistants, the teacher I work with and myself will all be making one, too. 🙂
Cheryl s says
I like the tree idea! I am awful at bulletin boards. I tend to put them up and not change them all year. I plan on getting better at it and I never do!
Sherrie weerheim says
I had the upcoming students do a page about themselves when we had switch day. I took pics of the kids and I’m going to use that for my back to school bulletin board.
There are some great things on edhelper dot com.
janine says
Thanks for the ideas. I love having a different beginning of the year BB for each school year. I love the BB that can stay up all year with slight modifications.
Cheryl Ener says
Thanks for the great ideas! My school is using a garden theme this year, so this ties in perfect. Thanks!
Tonya Coats says
I have a race track with cars going around to the room to motivate students to learn their grade level high frequency words. I have traffic signals on the track with numbers to monitor their progress.
Nicole says
I love the tree idea. I do that and leave it up all year. The students make fall leaves from coffee filters using fall colors, trace a leaf shape and cut out. (Takes alot of leaves, but it is beautiful and it has a 3-D effect). Then in the spring the students trace their hand on green construction paper of varying shades to place on the tree for leaves.
Micah says
Character development is stressed at my school. This year I will have a large tree with one large owl as well as one small owl for each student, labeled with their names. The title of the board will be “Look Whooo’s Talking About…” Each week I’ll write the character trait of the week on the large owl. The students will use a laminated speech bubble and write on/wipe off crayons to write their thoughts about the caracter trait for that week. We will discuss what the students are saying throughout the week. The board will remain the same each week, but will change with the character trait.
Candace O. says
I read the book “The Colors of Us” and then have my students create themselves using a photocopy of a head attached to a piece of construction paper. After attaching the head to construction paper they use flesh-colored crayons, yarn and other items to create themselves on the paper. Next students are given part of a sentence strip where they write their first and last name, “the first grade way,” and it is attached to the bottom of their heads. I hang these in the hall for all the school to see. This is such a fun, cute and enjoyable activity to do with each student. This gives me the oppurtunity to discuss with the students that we are all a shade of brown. It is fun to see them ask their friend, “Do you think I’m a chocolate brown or a coffee brown?” I love this activity!
Kelli Armanini says
I’m creating one right now that has words like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals . . . Etc, and all the words create a house on a foundation, and my bulletin board title says “have built a strong foundation?”
It’s for my Algebra class!
Beth T. says
Thanks, I really needed some new ideas. I am changing schools and grade levels this year, so my old stuff will not work.
Amber J says
I hadn’t thought of an interactive “get-to-you” board. Last year, I made a giant crossword puzzle with each student’s name, and it was such a hit! I might combine your idea with mine and have the kids make a fact for their name to match up with. I love watching them get excited to see themselves on display!
Becky Rawls says
I always use a black background. Everything POPS on black…try it!
Dana says
I like to get kids excited about reading quickly. I find some books the kids like and I make a bulletin board based on the books! It makes them walk in right away and be like “I liked that book!” And if they have not read it they see how excited others are and they want to read it too!
Valery says
I have two that are my favorites…one is doing a movie theme. You make a creative title that fits your class like “The Best Class” or “Fabulous Fourth” and then you put now starring and put all the students’names on stars. They start the day with 4 stars and they get taken away as they break the rules. If they keep their stars they get “movie tickets” at the end of the day. The second one is sports because I really love sports. I put up all kinds of balls and equipment used and the students are on the roster as the team players ( I usually put that on the door). I am the coach (and their parents) and there are rules they need (class rules). That one is so much fun.
Susan says
Although I teach first grade now, I’ve used this interactive bulletin board for other grades as well. When I send each of my students a welcome postcard I ask them to bring in a baby picture of themselves when they come on the first day (I scan them and send them back home). Then I always take each child’s picture as they arrive. The next day the bulletin board is complete with an assortmant of colorful folders hanging on the bulletin board with the printed baby picture on the front. After a guess the children can lift the baby picture to see the first day pictures of each classmate…and see if they guessed correctly.
Mrs. A says
One year I created a football themed bulletin board. It was titled Mrs. A’s Team Lineup. I cut out blue shirts to look like football jerseys. I purchased small white alphabet stickers and larger number stickers. I carefully placed their last names on the shirt and a gave them each a football number as well. I placed them on the bulletin board to look like football jerseys. I also found a bulletin board set that had cheerleaders, megaphones, and footballs and placed them around the outside of the board. Time consuming but it looked fabulous!
Tanya R. says
I love the Who Am I? bulletin board idea. Very interactive and sounds oh so fun. I may do this as my hallway display. Will give neighboring classes an inside look at my kiddos.
Ann Marie N. says
I am using hot air balloons this year. However, I love using trees – so I put what we have learned on leaves. I change colors of leaves throughout the year. It makes for a great way to show what students have learned.
Sarah says
Bulletin boards are the last things I work on when setting up for the new school year. I like the ideas of the behavior bee board (I already use bees as a theme) and the Who Am I? board. Looks like I’ll beeeeee busy this week setting up my room. 🙂
Melissa says
My favorite bulletin board to use is called Scoring Goals in Third Grade. I use a sports theme in my classroom. I found a large football goal post cut out at a party store (but you could make one easily). I have football patterns for the kids to trace and cut. In between the two brown pieces is white lined paper where they write down their goals for the year. Then I hang them up all around the goal post. It always looks great and the kids love it. Its always interesting to see what their goals are as well.
Nicole Lavinder says
This year I am going with a sports theme – “We’re teaming up for a great year!” and I’ll start out with football, possibly switching to basketball in the winter months & baseball in the spring. I’m contemplating creating a football field, complete with yard lines or just a goal post with “flying” footballs with the student names on them. This theme will continue in my classroom as I am going to focus on team building/collaboration to strengthen our classroom community.