BACK TO SCHOOL BB IDEAS
"Well-Gum" to our Class (large gumball machine--kids faces and names on gumballs
Welcome Aboard (large ship--kids faces in portholes)
A brand New Batch of Preschoolers" (red & white checked background, large cooike sheet with names on cookies)
PENGUIN BB
i have the ks paint penguins ob big butcher paper as a shape lesson. 1 circle for body, 1 circle for head. 2 triagles for fins (1 one each side) 2 yellow triagles for feet and 1 for the beek. after it dries i have them paint on the eyes and 1 white circle on the tummy. i put white butcher paper along the wall leading into my classroom to create a winter wonderland, cut out penguins, line them up waddling into my room. my label is, "Waddle into Winter..." and post a little blirp about reading tacky the Penguin, etc. compare contrast characters, non-fiction, character analysis are some examples of the charting we compose and post ariound the room.
CHRISTMAS BB
My December bulletin board will be covered with brown craft paper with red-and-white striped border. The words will be, "Sugar and Spice.....and Writing That's Nice." I have two giant candycanes and will use gingerbread men die cuts in a darker shade of brown. You can go wild and wrap paper bowls and "clam shell" food containers with colored cellophane and staple on the board, too, to look like giant candy.
AUTUMN TREES
Submitted by Kathy
This was used to decorate the large bulletin board outside our classroom.
Cut a sheet of 8 x 12 construction paper lengthwise into 3 strips. Have children glue on bits of paper the colors of autumn leaves or use a leaf punch and punch autumn colored leaves. Use this as the wall border.
Cut out a large tree and have the children paint it using a couple shades of brown.
Using red, green, yellow, orange, brown construction paper cut out leaves that will fit into a salad spinner. Have children drop blobs of red, yellow, green, purple, orange and brown paint onto the leaf, close and spin. The children think it is magical when they see the effect.
Clearly write the child's name on the leaf and put on the tree, some falling and some on the ground. If you have a special poem you are doing with the children put it on the wall and everyone can practice it while waiting for the doors to open.
Add to the board as you go along ie, basket of apples, squirrels ect.
WHO STOLE THE COOKIE FROM THE COOKIE JAR?
Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar....
Blow up a large cookie jar. Have each child decorate their own cookie and put their picture on it (I use a digital camera and print them in color on my printer. You can have them holding their cookie in the picture. Some can pose with their finger up to their lips (SHHH)). Put it up in the hall and the kids love it. Play the game in the classroom.
Some "Beary" Special People At Our School
Submitted by Cynthia
This is a BB I began to use in my K-1-2 Learning Support class. I discovered that the children, even though they might be able to find their way around the school, did not "know" who they were looking for if sent on an errand ('Please take this to the nurse, principal, etc.).
I took pictures of the staff that the children would come in contact with the most: principal, secretaries, guidance counselor, janitors, head cook, librarian, nurse, security guard...you get the idea.
I made a big bear for each picture, pasted and labeled each bear with the person's name and title. I displayed the bears on a BB with the caption: Some "Beary" Special People At Our School.
If we take a tour, we can discuss who we saw when we come back to circle. If they need to go on an errand, they can take the picture with them to be sure the message slip is given to the correct person. When we talk about school rules, we talk about following the directions of the person in charge and if they are not with me, it just might be that person on our BB. The BB is up all year and is a big help to new students to learn "who's who". Thank you.
Every Piece is important to the puzzle.
Submitted by MaryAnn
I start by tracing the pieces of a floor puzzle on coloured bristol board. At the beginning of the school year, I take photos of all the children and place one photo on each puzzle piece (since I teach 2 classes of 25 students each, I have four different large puzzles) If you have any extra puzzle pieces, you can place key words on them such as, 'friends', 'sharing' 'reading' etc. Place the title: "Every piece is important to the puzzle" on the wall with the puzzles.
VALENTINE BB
This Valentine's Day display is as sweet as can be! Glue lace trim to a large red heart shape, and then mount the heart and a title on a wall. To make delicious-looking chocolates, provide each child with a personalized, tan construction paper shape. Have him paint his paper with brown tempera paint and top it with real chocolate sprinkles. When each shape is dry, glue it to a larger piece of crinkled black paper to represent the candy wrapper. Mount the finished projects on the heart.
SNOWFLAKE BB
Have each child fold and cut white paper or a doily to make a snowflake. In the center of the snowflake, attach a photograph of the child. Mount the snowflakes on a board that has been decorated as shown. If desired, lightly spray the background paper with artificial snow before mounting the snowflakes.
WINTER BULLETIN BOARD
Bulletin Board
Brrr! This wintry bulletin board will get flurries of attention. Provide each student with construction paper, scissors, glue, two craft sticks, and a penguin pattern if desired. Have each child trace or draw a penguin and
then cut on the resulting outline. Have him glue craft sticks on the penguin to represent skis. Mount the penguins on a dark blue background along with cotton-batting snowdrifts and snowflake cutouts. Let it snow!
A SOFT PLACE
Submitted by Shirley
Brainstorm with the class what things are soft and what things are hard.
Talk about soft things and make a list of all things soft. Have the children bring in things from home that are soft like teddy bears, stuffed animals, cotton, velvet clothing. Make pictures of things that are soft and make a bulletin board of soft things. Title it "A Soft Place".
HURRAY FOR PRE-K
For a beginning school bulletin board, I put up a cheerleader with pompoms. I take each child's picture on their first day and put it on a megaphone around the cheerleader.
PRE-SCHOOL MAKES ME HAPPY
I use happy face stickers for each child during orientation and during art they decorate a flower petal shape with Dot Paint. When dry, I glue a yellow Happy Face in the center of the flower and staple to my bulletin board with my theme. Don't forget to add the child's name to their happy face flowers.
LAUNCHING A COLORFUL YEAR
We then made children, who were holding ribbons with colorful balloons connected to them, and then we put the children's names on the balloons.
FRIENDSHIPS BLOSSOM HERE
Make large construction paper flowers. Place these around the sides of the board, with large leaves. I even made tiger lilies,
by creating a cone shape, glue to long black strands or paper inside, and add little pompoms at the end. Children bring in a picture of themselves, and this is added to the board.
DIVE INTO A GREAT YEAR
Decorate your bulletin board as an underwater ocean scene. Then cover the entire board with green or blue saran wrap going across and stapling each row of plastic at a time. You may need a little help to hold it at one end. This gives off a dramatic effect to your bulletin board.
JUST HANGING AROUND WITH BUNCH OF MY FRIENDS
In my classroom we had cut out paper that was in the shape of a bunch of grapes, in one large shallow pan we added a little bit of purple, in the other we added a little bit of yellow-green. The children used bubble wrap to make prints onto the shaped paper. When finished with that we traced their hands on green construction paper to be the leaves. We ended up making a beautiful bulletin board with crumpled packing paper forming grape vines and hung the childrens grapes from them with the quote "Just Hanging around with a bunch of my friends"
BB IDEA
This display is child-created all around! To make a border piece, fold a coffee filter so that it resembles a rounded-edge triangle. Dip the pointed end into red-colored water, letting the color seep up to within an inch of
the edge. Then dip the rounded edge into green-colored water. Let the filter dry; then open and iron it flat. Cut each circle in half; then add seeds with a marker. Amidst the melons, mount children's illustrations of their summer activities.
Bulletin Board Ideas
Welcome to Our Bear-y Wonderful Class!
Write out each child's name on a picture of a bear or teddy bear.
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We are a Great Bunch!
Apples on a tree with each child's name on an apple.
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A Bushel of Fun!
Drawing a large basket with apples in it, and once again, have each child's name on an apple.
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Fall into Reading!
or this poem:
The leaves are falling
One by one.
Summer's over
School's begun
Large tree with colorful leaves with each child's name on a leaf.
Have each student make a sunflower. Cut out a circle out of brown construction paper. Cut out strips out of yellow paper. Glue one end of each strip to the back of the brown circle. Wait until the glue dries a bit then pull the other edge of the paper strip and glue it down on the circle. Cut leaves and stem out of green paper and glue on. In the middle of the sunflower write the child's name out and around it glue a few sunflower seeds down.
Display the sunflowers on the bulletin board and in the middle place this
poem:
The sunflower children
Nod to the sun.
Summer is over,
Fall has begun!
APPLE PUZZLE FROM HOME
Submitted by Nance
This takes some work but is worth it in the long run. After you know your children in the classroom send them this activity to do with parent supervision.
#1. make a huge apple from white tag board and cut it out like a jig saw puzzle. Make sure that you have enough pieces for each child to have one.
#2. send a piece home with a welcome to my class letter. Instruct the kids to color the piece of the puzzle with a red crayon and then return it to school on the first day.
#3. when they arrive that day put the puzzle together on your bulletin board and talk about how all the pieces had to fit to make the puzzle look right and be complete. This goes for your classroom too. Discuss how each one of us is a part of this class (puzzle) and with everyone's help we can make it work and feel right!
SEPT. BB
Submitted by Margo
First, cut out enough paper T-shirt shapes for each student. Have the students print their names in the middle of the T-shirt on a line (or print it for them). Have the students color the T-shirts, or draw pictures on them. Alternately, you could send the unfinished Ts home, requesting that parents assist their child gluing magazine pictures or photos onto the T-shirt representative of their likes/dislikes/favourite colour/pets, etc. in the form of a collage.
I then hang three horizontal lines of string across the bulletin board which act as 'clotheslines'. The caption is, "A Great New Line-up!" I fasten the completed T-shirts on to the 'clotheslines' with colorful plastic clothes pins.
BULLETIN BOARDS FOR PK and K
Submitted by Kate
I taught JK/K last year and did two different bulletin boards...
jks - I made a huge crayon box that read "welcome to a colorful bunch" and put each child's name on a different colored crayon and placed it around the crayon box on the wall. We had early visits for JKs in our school so I had also taken each of my students' pictures and placed it on their crayon too! When I took the bulletin board down, I pasted each of their individual crayons on their own folders to keep their work in! It was a dual purpose!
SKs - I had a sunflower theme... with about 4 different sunflowers with large stems and each child's name was on a leaf of the stem. At the top corner, I had a watering can that read "watch us grow in 5Kp"... it was cute and definitely colorful!!!!!
A PEEK AT OUR CLASS
Submitted by AJ
I put up a welcome board that I use all year. The title reads "A peek at our Class." I take cartoon characters (1 for each child) and cover the faces, up to the eyes, with a 3 x 5 piece of oak tag. I add fingers as if the character was gripping the oak tag from behind. I put each child's name in the center of the oak tag. This display becomes a recognition chart. I use shape markers as "stickers" and can easily reward the children any time. They love to watch their oak tag fill up.
DINOMITE!
Submitted by Marilyn
I got this bulletin board idea from someone on the web and thought it would be cute. The heading reads: WE ARE A DINO-MITE CLASS! Then underneath the heading you have cut outs of various shape dinosaurs in different colors.
Put the child's name and photo on each dinosaur.
BACK TO SCHOOL
Submitted by Debbie
For my first bulletin board of the year I tittle it "Let's Be Friends".
Then on a sheet of paper I place my painted hand print and my co-workers. Underneath we write our names. After the children are comfortable in the classroom, one of the first projects we do are their hand prints. When they are dry we cut them out, mount them on paper, and write the children's names. Over the first several weeks we take photos around the classroom. I add a picture depicting each child doing something in our room next to their hand print. It's a wonderful display for parents at Open House. When the hand prints and photos come off the board I save them for their "end-of-the-year" memory books.
Friendship Theme Bulletin Board
Submitted by Diane
Enlarge a set of friendly characters (like teddy bears, building blocks together) for this bulletin board that encourages cooperation and friendship. Mount the characters on a background. Then, as you see children working together, take an instant photo. On construction paper, write the students' description of their activity i.e. We can share crayons, We are building a tower, We can help clean up, We can do the puzzle together. Add the picture and the statement to the display. Title it "Friends Work Together"
A Circle of Friends
We've joined together as classmates as the new year begins
A year full of learning while we become friends.
We'll share and be kind as we work and play
And our friendship will grow with each passing day.
Thought this was very cute and intend to do it myself for September. A nice break from my usual apple tree.
Computer Bulletin Board
Submitted by Cheryl
We gave each child a small paper plate and had them color it black. Then we gave them yarn and had them make a spider web on the plate. We hung a small colored spider from the webs. We put these around our class computer and put up the title Our Web Site.
Pumpkin Prints
Submitted by Bonnie of Ocklawaha Fl
For my October bulletin board I draw a large scarecrow and fence on large paper to fit the board. I also make an individual one that fits on a standard sheet of paper. Each child is given a orange sliced cut in half (top to bottom). You will need orange paint to dip the orange into. I call each student up they lay the orange cut side down in the paint and make the print on both papers. We then draw a stem and vines with green paint. You then have a board made from the class and they have a picture to color, while others are doing theirs, and then to take home.
Pumpkin Bulletin Board Idea
Submitted by Gina
I got this idea from The Mailbox.
Cut an orange pumpkin shape from construction paper for each child in the class. Make it as big as a 8-1/2 X 11 piece of paper and cut a "door near the bottom big enough to display a picture of a child. Let the child help you write three or four self describing clues on the front of the pumpkin followed by the question "Who am I?". Tape a snapshot of the child near the bottom of her pumpkin then cover the snapshot with the "door" you cut. Have the words "look Who's Hiding in the Pumpkin Patch!" written above all the pumpkins.
Welcome Back Bulletin Board
Submitted by Teri
Look Who's Hanging Out (attendance/sign in idea)
Hang a clothes line on your wall. Have a T-shirt pattern for each child with their name and or picture on it. When they arrive at school they find their T-shirt and hang it on the line.
Back to school note to kids: include a feather and say something about being tickled to have that child in your class.
Birthday BB idea Goody Goody Gum ball It's Your Birthday
I also made a card on the computer with this title. I will give each child the card on their birthday with a gum ball inside of course.
Bulletin Board Idea
Submitted by Marylin
Last year I made a giant door in the center of our bulletin board. It had a round doorknob and a key hole. I then cut out different color keys to fit the key hole. In the center of the door was written "Open Door to Friendship" On each key was a child's name and their picture. This worked very well because the name of our program is Open Door Child/Parent center.
Another teacher Labeled her bulletin board Hop Aboard for Fun. She made train tracks and individual train cars in a variety of colors. Each car had a child's name on it with their picture in the front seat. Very cute.
Bulletin Board Themes
Submitted by Stella
CAPTION: "What a 'Grape' Bunch of New Faces!"
Make grape shapes out of purple construction paper and put child's picture on the grape. Form into a gigantic bunch of grapes. Finish the board by adding grape vines and a trellis and of course, your class name.
CAPTION: "The Perfect Batch"
Make cookie shapes out of brown construction paper and glue child's picture on the cookie. Use aluminum foil as your background (cookie tray). Draw a picture of a chef with a spatula...
CAPTION: "What a Great Catch!"
Make fish shapes out of different colored construction paper and glue child's picture on the fish. Background would be blue bulletin board paper. You can also sponge paint on it with darker blue paint or white paint to make it look more like the sea/ocean. Decorate with sea creatures like star fish, sea horses....
BULLETIN BOARD IDEAS
Submitted by Betty
Bulletin Board Hint - Cover your bulletin boards with fabric (simple calico or gingham, something not too busy)! It never shows the staple holes and it's always there! You don't have to run to the supply room or store to get that bulletin board paper. However, when you do want to use the bb paper, just staple over the fabric! At the end of the year, wash it and save it for next year!!
This year, I plan to make one big bulletin board with blue fabric because that seems to be the color I use most for the back drop of our theme related displays.....the farm yard, the sea and sky for transportation, etc. We'll see if that works easier than putting up that blue paper all the time!
MORE Fabric Bulletin Board Ideas
Submitted by Teri
I also use fabric for my BB letters. I usually laminate the fabric and then cut the letters out. They turn out beautiful. I also just read that you can soak the fabric in liquid starch and then hang outside to dry. After is is dry it is supposed to be stiff and then you cut the letters out. I haven't tried it yet but I am going to this week. I'll let you know if it works as well as laminating.
Bear Theme Bulletin Board
Submitted by Betty
I always start my Pre-k 4's year off with a Bear Theme and decorate my room accordingly. One bulletin board always displays my philosophy and areas of my curriculum so when parents come for orientation and/or the first day, they can see for themselves or I can direct their attention to it as a prop for my introduction.
I have used 2 methods: #1 - I have a big tree as the central focus. The tree has the words "The Tree of Learning". Up in the tree are different colored bears with words, i.e., Language, Math, Art, Science, Fine Motor, Gross Motor, Music, Religion (Cath. school) etc. Around these bears I have little child size green leaves with words associated with each area of curriculum, i.e., for Language stories, finger plays, singing, dramatic play, dictation, etc.
-Art would have painting, finger painting, creating, sculpturing, etc.
#2 - Along with the bear theme, I have also used this same idea with a Bee Hive as the focal point with the words "We are Beeeezy Learners" . Again I use the bears as the areas of curriculum, but instead of leaves I made
little bees with black netting for wings (3-D).
Title is "Children Fall For Kindergarten"
Submitted by Ruby
Make a large tree on a bulletin board and have children either make "make believe" leaves, leaf rubbings etc. The leaves are on the branches. Their names or pictures can be on the leaves. Make sure to use different colors for the leaves.
Objectives:
1. To increase creativity; 2. To recognize a scarecrow as a fall symbol; 3. To identify the function of a scarecrow, farm, etc.; 4. To identify outstanding qualities in people; 5. To distinguish real/make-believe
Materials: 1. 1 scarecrow bulletin board figure; 2. 20 little scarecrows; 3. Misc. Art Junk
Activity:
1. Find a book about harvests that has a scarecrow in it. Believe it or not, a lot of farm books will have one. If you can't find one, just talk about them after you read the farm book of your choice.
2. Put all sorts of art materials on the tables and let them "go for it!" We use tissue paper, pom poms, wiggle eyes, construction paper, and feathers.
3. Put them on a bulletin board with the title "Look Who's Outstanding in Their Field."
4. I have even taken pictures of my kids at the beginning of the year and I run off multiple copies of each picture. I give each child their own face and they glue it on the scarecrow's face.
Evaluation: Ask the children these questions:
1. Did you have fun making your scarecrow?; 2. Do you know what it means to be an outstanding person?; 3. What is the function of a scarecrow?; 4. What will happen if a field does/does not have a scarecrow?; 5. Are they real or make-believe?
Submitted by Melody
Materials:
BB
Large tree cut out
Leaf cut outs approx. 7" sq.
Photo of each child
I have a large tree painted on butcher paper (no leaves). I decorate it with paper leaves and place a picture of each child on a leaf with their name printed on the leaf under their picture. I have 2 classes of children in the room at different times. I place all the children on the same tree, using red leaves for one class and yellow leaves for the other class. (I carry those colors throughout other areas where the children share areas; such as the library checkout board and their cubbies.) Many different people work in my classroom and I don't have the children wear, so the board is an aid to name learning as well as a focus for the children. I think that seeing their picture on the board helps them to know that they are a part of the class right away.
BACK TO SCHOOL BB
Cut fish shapes out of various colors of construction paper and print each child's name on one. Attach these onto a blue background with each fish pointing in the same direction to form a "school of fish".
Cut out letters to read "Welcome to our school"
Cut bird house shapes out of construction paper. Put a picture of each child looking out of the hole in the front of the bird house. Cut out letters to read "Look who's in the nest"
(Ask parents to bring in a photo on the first day or take a Polaroid picture).
Title: Transportation Graph BB
Submitted by Kim
Materials
Copies or Punch-outs:
(a sneaker, a school bus, car and a school)
Chart on Chart paper - 4 columns and titled
IDEAS:
Place the chart near the door of your room on the first day. Allow parents who drop off their children to fill out the correct method on how their child will get home. And let them place them on the graph. If a child comes in alone ask the child how he or she will get home.
After the parents have made their departure access the graph. Keep graph posted during the first week the condense for subs near door for future use.
good luck
Title: All About Me" bulletin board
Submitted by Elise
I do with my K's at the start of school. When the children come to school, I already have this up. I use a "multicultural children" border around the bulletin board. I have a cut-out for each child already done on a skin tone colored construction paper - they are about a foot tall each. I have them on the board hand-to-hand (hands joined). The board is labeled "Friends In The Garden" (the name of my program is Children's Garden). I read a book called The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven. It is about a girl who draws a princess and cuts her out. The wind whisks her away and she has an adventure, but eventually makes it home to the little girl. Then we begin! Each child gets a cut-out from the bulletin board and we decorate. I have tons of collage materials out, including beads and buttons, fabric for clothing, googly eyes and, of course, hair! They can use markers, too, if they wish. I try to get them to make their dolls look as much like themselves as possible. When they are put back up on the board, we talk about how they have some similar and some different features and discuss what they are. I read We Are All Alike....We Are All Different
Title Job Chart
Submitted by Kris
My class has a maximum of 12 students. I make a large colorful circle (this year I may try a large paper plate), and draw 12 pie shaped pieces. This is my job chart. I write the children's names on clothespins to move around the chart every school day. You can write the names each way so they are never upside down as the pin goes around the circle.
Jobs may be: flag salute, calendar, cups, napkins (for snack time), prayer leader, wipe table, trash, lights, ball bag, line leader, and 2 "days off". I don't put the "days off" together. I label the job chart with words and simple pictures as the children learn to recognize the jobs and their names.
April/May bulletin board
Submitted by Kristy
Cut egg cartons into sections. You have to cut them to look like a tulip. (Cut slits in the top. Have the kids paint them red, yellow, pink, purple, etc. Then you put a green pipe cleaner for the stem. You can also add some leaves if you wish.
I added construction paper grass and a girl/boy holding an umbrella with little raindrops falling from the sky. Then add all the flowers. Don't forget the words "April Showers Bring May Flowers." This is a really pretty bulletin board and the nice thing about it is it can stay up for 2 months.
