Creative and Inspiring Back to School Bulletin Board Ideas

With the beginning of the school year just around the corner, teachers are busy planning their classrooms for the year and sorting through classroom themes to find just the right one for them. However, finding classroom decorating ideas can sometimes be difficult and may leave teachers wondering what to buy, how to prepare, and how exactly the ideas can fit into their classroom’s theme.

With the beginning of the school year just around the corner, teachers are busy planning their classrooms for the year and sorting through classroom themes to find just the right one for them. However, finding classroom decorating ideas can sometimes be difficult and may leave teachers wondering what to buy, how to prepare, and how exactly the ideas can fit into their classroom’s theme.

Creative Resources for Bulletin Boards in the Early Childhood Classroom, by Judy Herr, is a wonderful teacher tool full of back to school bulletin board ideas. Fun and engaging, the classroom themes and decorating ideas included in this book are also centered on the most important part of your classroom: your students!

Here are a few creative bulletin board ideas you can use in your classroom today.

My School Friends

Decorative Board: The children’s photographs fill this bulletin board.

Related Themes

• Photography
• Friends
• School

Alternate Titles

• Friends
• Our Class
• We’re Special

Materials

• Paper or fabric for background and border
• Construction paper or tagboard
• Pencil, markers, crayons or craypas
• Opaque or overhead projector, optional
• Scissors
• Photographs of the children
• Clear contact paper or laminate, optional

Preparation

1.Cover the background of the bulletin board with construction paper or fabric. Add a border, if desired.

2.Trace, cut and attach letters to create the title.

3.Sketch freehand or use the opaque projector to create the tree, bucket and individual apples on tagboard or construction paper. Make one apple for each child in the class.

4.Cut out the tree, bucket, and apples.

5.Attach the tree and bucket to the bulletin board.

6.Glue a picture of each child to an individual apple. If desire, cover with clear contact paper or laminate.

7.Attach the apples to the bulletin board as illustrated.

8.To create interest, use a felt-tip marker or fringed paper to add grass.

Variations

• Use the bulletin board for attendance and transition activites.
• Create an interactive board providing an additional set of name cards for the children to match.
• Encourage the children to print their names on individual cards.
• Encourage the children to create a self-portrait.

Developmental Goals

• To recognize the names of other children
• To develop visual discrimination skills
• To develop a sense of community

Red Rectangle Robots

Child-Created Board: Children create robots using red rectangles.

Related Themes

• Colors
• Shapes
• Robots
• Things that move
• The letter R

Alternate Titles

• Our Work
• Things Made with Shapes
• Rectangles

Materials

• Paper, tagboard or fabric
• Construction paper or tagboard
• Pencil, markers
• Red paper
• Scissors
• Glue

Preparation

1.Cover the background of the bulletin board with paper, tagboard or fabric.

2.Trace, cut and attach red letters to create a title.

3.Cut 8”x12” rectangles and 2”x7” strips from construction paper or tagboard. The number of rectangles will depend on the size of the bulletin board or the number of children.

4.Provide the children with an 8”x12” rectangle, scissors, glue and precut rectangle-shaped pieces of various sizes and textures.

5.Using felt-tip markers, print the children’s name on the strips.

6.Attach the children’s names to their designs on the board.

Variation

• For younger children, ask them to create their own designs and change the title to “Our Designs.”

Developmental Goals

• To recognize one’s own name
• To develop an appreciation for art forms and basic shapes
• To develop creativity
• To develop problem-solving skills
• To develop visual discrimination skills

What a Colorful Class!

Interactive Board: The children learn their own names and the names of other children.

Related Themes:

• Colors
• Writing tools
• Names
• Our school
• Friends
• School friends

Alternate Titles

• Colors
• My Friends at School

Materials

• Tagboard, fabric or paper for background and border
• Construction paper or tagboard
• Pencil, markers, crayons, or craypas
• Opaque overhead projector, optional
• Scissors
• Clear contact paper or laminate, optional
• Map pins or cup hooks
• Hole punch
• Basket, tray or box

Preparation

1.Cover the background of the bulletin board with tagboard, fabric or paper.

2.Create and attach a scalloped border.

3.Trace, cut and attach letters to create the title.

4.Sketch freehand or use the opaque or overhead projector to create a set of crayons, two for each child in the class, and a crayon box.

5.Cut out the crayons and crayon box.

6.Color and add details to the crayons and crayon box. Also, print a child’s name on each of two crayons.

7.If desired, cover the crayons and crayon box with clear contact paper or laminate.

8.Attach one set of the crayons and crayon box to the bulletin. Put a map pin or cup hook above each crayon.

9.Punch a hole in the second set of crayons.

10.Put this second set in a basket, tray or box adjacent to the bulletin board.

Variation

• If developmentally appropriate, each child can print his or her own name.

Developmental Goals

• To recognize one’s own name
• To practice decoding the names of other children
• To practice letter recognition
• To develop visual discrimination skill