Trees are a universal and eternal emblem of life and creativity. You can use them as the basis of a very useful and creative bulletin board in your classroom.
In this post, I have given some ideas of what to look for in a good tree bulletin board. I have also curated 22 ideas for you to use on your own boards.
Table of Contents
- Elements of a good tree bulletin board
- 21 Tree bulletin boards Ideas
- Final thoughts on tree bulletin boards
Elements of a good tree bulletin board
In a good tree bulletin board, there should be some kind of artistic element. This may be as simple as using paint in a creative way, or as complicated as using twine and twisted paper to create the branches of the tree.
The tree on a bulletin board should be adaptable. This means you can use it for different themes or occasions by attaching things to it, such as cutouts of fruit (eg. apples), depending on the purpose.
Your students should be able to interact with a good tree bulletin board. At the simplest level, this means they can paint the tree, or the decorations that go with it. They can also create leaves or anything else to be added to the trunk and branches of the tree.
A good tree bulletin board will encourage students to be creative. You can give them an idea to create a decoration for the tree. For example, encourage your students to draw, cut out and decorate apples that can be stuck onto the tree to make it more attractive.
21 Tree bulletin boards Ideas
- Reading leaves you happy by the Little Learning Corner
This tree bulletin board tells us Reading leaves you happy. It was created for Lorri’s School Library Blog, which aims to share ideas and thoughts with school librarians. The 3D nature of the board makes it stand out (catch my pun? 😊) and gives the tree a sense of character.
- Falling into a Happy Birthday By HomeEdu
This Bulletin Board Tree is a lovely way to record your students’ birthdays. You can also use it for other occasions, by changing the apples into leaves, or other fruit. The board is created by Home edu, where you can learn how to make it step-by-step. You can also adapt it for your class.
- Tu’Bshvat By Meri Cherry
This tree bulletin board was created to celebrate Tu’Bshvat (the birthday of the trees) and is featured on the MeriCherry site. It can be adapted for many different uses. The idea is to create a tree with a blank trunk and branches. The students then make cards that are relevant to the theme, time of year, or occasion, which are stuck onto the stem and branches.
- Tree of Thanks by Deborah Kratz
This particular tree bulletin board was created by children to express their thankfulness in different ways. They could choose any words or phrases to add. You can produce something like this in your class. The students could each have a leaf that they decorate. This may be something meaningful like sayings or phrases, or it may be for a special occasion, or to show birthdays. Each leaf would be stuck onto the tree to complete the bulletin board.
- Handy tree By DIY Home Decor
This handy tree is actually part of a DIY kids interior décor ideas site, DIY Home Décor Guide, but wouldn’t it make a wonderful bulletin board? You can create the trunk and branches of the tree as large as you wish to accommodate the prints of your students’ hands. They don’t have to be discreet, but can overlap slightly, to create a fully leafed tree.
- Growing in Rm 4 By Bulletin Board Ideas
This is another idea for a tree bulletin board featuring hand prints. It is about the class Growing in Rm 4. It is one of a number of ideas for tree bulletin boards that you can easily create or adapt for your class. The size of this board means you will definitely fit all your students’ hands in.
- Look whooo’s on 3rd grade by Traci Kiros
I love this idea for a tree bulletin board, because it gives ample space for every student in your class to put themselves on the tree. With this tree, you can use any small climbing animal or bird to represent the students. In fact, instead of only using one for everyone, why not let each child choose their own animal?
These ideas for tree bulletin boards are both from the virtual vine, which is a useful source for some interesting ideas for bulletin boards of all kinds.
- God’s word tree By It’s a Creative Journey
This is a bulletin board featuring a tree has a particular theme. It is a lovely image of a tree that you can use in a variety of ways. The trunk is broad, which mean there is plenty of space to draw, add, or stick on decorations your student produce. The twirly branches also lend themselves to being decorated. This idea is from It’s a creative journey, where the blog features input about aspects of your life that may be more creative.
Number Bond Hearts by Our Strange Class
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a touch of math! These vibrant Valentine Number Bond Hearts are perfect for students to practice decomposing numbers. With colorful hearts to determine parts and wholes, students can use candy hearts or dry erase markers to find missing numbers. The set includes 2 sets of task cards, a recording sheet, and an answer key, making it a comprehensive and engaging activity for the season of love.
Fact Family Number Bond Work Mats by Easy Peasy Resources
Elevate foundational math skills with the Fact Family Number Bond Work Mats. Tailored for first and second graders, this resource emphasizes the vital connection between number bonds and fact families. The color-coded design ensures an efficient learning experience, catering to each student’s level. With 4 printable pages, these mats are versatile, extending their utility beyond traditional math classrooms and into various subjects.
Number Bond Flash Cards by Easy Peasy Resources
Strengthen number bond proficiency with these flash cards tailored for number sets 5-10. Simple yet effective, these cards provide students with a practical way to practice their number bonds. Ideal for math tubs or practice centers, these cards are a must-have for educators aiming to reinforce foundational math concepts in a fun and engaging manner.
- Christmas trees By Pam’s Drawing Board Blogspot
This idea is from Pam’s Drawing Board blogspot, which is jampacked with ideas for creative arts projects. I love the idea of creating stained glass Christmas trees for a holiday bulletin board. It can be a creative project for your students. Perhaps make it a group activity, so that you can work with bigger trees.
- Apple tree By Around the Kampfire
It’s the creativity in the execution of this tree that appeals to me. It would make a great feature on a tree bulletin board. You could adapt it and use it for any time of year. This particular board uses apples as a feature on the tree. You could use cutouts of any fruit, which may depend on the time of year.
- Classroom wall tree By Always Expect Moore
This is an inspiration for a 3D classroom tree. This particular tree is attached to the wall, but you can use it as a feature on a bulletin board. This tree is created from cord, but you can simply use twisted paper and it will get the same effect. If this style of tree is on your bulletin board, you can ‘hang’ things from the branches, or create animals to sit on the branches.
- Four seasons by Teacher’s Paradise
This bulletin board is an idea from Teachers Paradise, which features bulletin board sets. I really like the way that all four seasons feature. You can put up a bulletin board like this in your class. Possibly change the picture/s under the tree to suit your class.
- Our Learning Tree by Glory in the Ordinary
Our Learning Tree would make an excellent bulletin board for your class that is relevant throughout the year. This version features numbers, letters and key words that relate to education in general. There is a lot you can do with the elements representing the leaves and fruit to suit the different subjects in class.
- Holidays Recycled By University of Maryland
I love the 3D nature of this classroom decoration. The use of recycled elements is also great. It will just take a little creativity for you to use this idea to create a tree bulletin board.
- “Up” and Away in 4th Grade By Cartoon District
When I saw this classroom feature, it struck me that the idea could make a very effective tree bulletin board. You could draw the bare tree, trunk and branches on the bulletin board. The students can blow up balloons for the leaves, blossoms or fruit. They can write their names, the months or even vocabulary words on the balloons.
- Birthdays are a Hoot By Shelle’s Playschool
Isn’t this a cute way of using a tree bulletin board to record your students’ birthdays? Their names and dates can be written on the leaves. Then the photograph of the student who has their birthday on a particular day can be stuck in the central hole in the tree.
- Pick a new friend By Shelle’s Playschool
I love the idea of this bulletin board that uses trees to remind the students to Pick a New Friend. The trees are wonderfully 3D, especially with the apples that are stuck on them. Each apple represents a student. You can use the idea of making friends to encourage the students to get to know each other.
- Palm Tree By One Creative Mommy
It’s unusual to use a palm tree on a bulletin board, so this is an innovative idea that will stand out in your classroom. The way the board is designed gives you the opportunity to teach initial letters to the students. Using each with a child’s name will help the students to make the link between the written and aural letters.
- Family Tree By Home Confetti
This is an amazing idea for a tree bulletin board from Home Confetti. You can use a whole range of images as tree foliage. Here, some of the circles are photos, presumably of students. It would be fun for each student to bring a photo of themselves as a baby, or you could simply put a photo of them in your grade.
- Welcome By Schoolgirl Style
This lovely apple-themed bulletin board is from Schoolgirl Style. It’s attractive and the banner is an interesting touch. You can replace it on different occasions, or to reflect themes in your class.
- Can You Guess Your Teacher’s Favorite Book? By Teachers Paradise
This colorful, exciting, and amusing fall-themed bulletin board allows students to guess their teacher’s favorite book. You might also say that this is a tree of knowledge.
Final thoughts on tree bulletin boards
A tree is a very effective image to use on a bulletin board. You can interpret and adapt the trunk, branches and leaves to just about any season, theme or purpose. There are 22 ideas in this post that can inspire you to create your own bulletin boards using trees for your classroom.
