Basic Layout
Decide on a theme for the board. The first step in decorating your bulletin board should be to choose the theme. Think about the purpose of the board, such as welcoming students to your classroom or encouraging them to read. Then, pick a color scheme or a fun theme to tie everything together, and choose decor that fits that theme. For instance, if you're making a board for back-to-school, you might choose "Hop to Mrs. Taylor's Class!" as your theme, then decorate it with frogs and lily pads labeled with your students' names. If you need help finding bulletin display ideas, school calendars, holidays, and upcoming lesson plans can be great sources of inspiration!
Cover the board with craft paper for a colorful background. Once you choose the colors for your board, pick a solid-colored craft paper and completely cover the back of your board. You may need to overlap two pieces of paper to ensure you cover the board from top to bottom. For your frog-themed bulletin board, you could use a blue background to look like a pond, for instance, or you could opt for brown to resemble mud. For a festive holiday board, you might use wrapping paper instead of craft paper. However, avoid using anything with a complicated pattern or multiple colors, as a busy background will make your design hard to see. You can find large rolls of craft paper at your local classroom supply store or craft store.
Create borders that match your color scheme for a defined look. If you like the look of more traditional bulletin boards, you might want to add a border. Luckily, you can purchase pre-made bulletin board borders at most craft stores, classroom supply stores, and online. Pick one that goes with your design, then staple it into place. Borders come in a variety of colors and patterns, including stripes, dots, zig-zags, and more. You can also make your own border, if you prefer, or you can leave it off altogether.
Put important information in large letters at eye level. When you're planning your board decoration, think about the message you want to convey. Then, put whatever that information is at about an adult's eye level, and try to make it a little bigger than the rest of the details on the board. For instance, on your back-to-school board, you might put the phrase "Hop to Mrs. Taylor's Class!" about a third of the way down the board, in big, bold letters. If you're making a board about an upcoming school dance, you might put "Winter Dance" in big letters at the top of the board with the date slightly smaller underneath.
Add bright, colorful decorations that match your theme. Once your background is set up and the basic information is in place, choose cheerful cut-outs, artwork, or photos to decorate the board. Try not to overcrowd the board, but do try to add enough detail that you're not left with large empty spaces in your design. On your back-to-school board, you might add a few large frogs, then write a student's name on each lily pad. Arrange the lily pads so they're grouped across the bottom two-thirds of the board, and place the frogs in the top corners of the board.
Fun Ideas
Create a new board to correspond with each unit your class studies. If you're decorating a board in your classroom, consider updating it each time you switch to a new unit in class. That can help keep students engaged in what they're learning, and your classroom will feel fresh and exciting throughout the year, since you'll have a constantly-rotating source of notice board topics. For instance, if you're teaching multiplication in the first quarter and division in the second quarter, you might start out with a board containing times tables, then switch to a board on grouping. Try This Idea! Make a word search or crossword puzzle with words from the unit your class is studying.
Try a selfie board to encourage students to celebrate success. If you email pictures of your students to parents regularly, consider setting up a selfie station in your classroom or the hallway. Decorate your board with a simple, eye-catching design that will look great in pictures. Then, whenever your students have an accomplishment worth celebrating, snap a shot of them in front of the board! For instance, your board might say something like "Reading Stars!" You might decorate the board with stars. Then, each Monday, you could take a picture of the students with the top 3 reading scores in your class for the previous week and post it on your classroom website. Consider creating a classroom hashtag that you can include on the board!
Use your board to celebrate upcoming holidays. If there's something coming up on the calendar that you think your students will be excited about, consider making a board to acknowledge it! For instance, you might create a bulletin board that reminds students to read over summer vacation, a flag-themed board commemorating Veterans' Day, or a board with mittens and snowmen before winter break. To be sensitive to students' diverse beliefs, avoid boards that single out particular religious celebrations. However, a multicultural board covering different cultures' celebrations, such as winter holidays or worldwide New Years' festivals, may be fine.
Celebrate Spirit Week with a board listing each day's theme. During Spirit Week, each day will have a certain theme, and students may be encouraged to wear outfits that fit those themes. These spirit days can be school-wide, although sometimes certain grades or classes will have their own themes. If you want to participate, make a board in your school's colors, and include a poster with the theme for each day. For instance, your board might say, "Monday: Sock Hop Day, Tuesday: Wacky Hair Day, Wednesday: Tacky Day," and so on.
Make a board that lists your classroom goals or rules. If you'd like to make a board that you can leave up throughout the year, consider putting up a list of affirmations, goals, or rules in your classroom. These visual reminders can be a great way to help keep students on task throughout the school year. To keep your board feeling positive, try phrasing rules as "Things We Should Do" rather than "Things We Don't Do." Goals might include things like achieving a certain score on standardized tests or reading a certain number of books throughout the year. You can even include a chart to track class progress toward the goal!
Class Involvement
Use the board to share when students are caught being kind. One great use of school bulletin boards is to ask students to anonymously share when they see another student doing something kind for someone else. Then, post those accomplishments on the board to brag about how great your students are! If you prefer, you can ask other teachers to contribute to the board instead of students.
Have students help decorate the board to engage them. If you're designing a new board mid-term, try to get your students involved! Have each student write, draw, or decorate an element of the board, then feature them all in the finished design! For example, if the theme of your board is "Reach for the Stars," you might give everyone a paper cutout of an arm and a hand that they can decorate. If your theme is "Future Careers," you might have each student write down what they'd like to be when they grow up.
Make a Student of the Week board to recognize outstanding students. Students love to be bragged on, and a notice board boasting of accomplishments is a great way to do that! Each week, feature a different student or group of students, including a little about each person and what they did to be recognized. Try to revolve your students of the week so each student gets a chance to be recognized, rather than focusing on the same high achievers each week. For instance, your board might say, "Hats Off To..." Then, you might decorate the board with a tophat with the student's name and picture.
Try hosting a notice board contest between classrooms for a fun competition. If each classroom on your hall has its own board, consider inviting each class to decorate their own board. Then, ask the principal or teachers from another hall to judge the boards when they're finished. Be sure to get your students' input for the design of your board! Consider having a prize like a pizza party or an extra recess for the class that wins. You can also hold an art contest among students and hang the winners on your board.
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