Bulletin boards are a great way to visually communicate with students and create a welcoming classroom atmosphere; but coming up with unique bulletin board ideas can be a challenge. Looking at what other teachers have created in their classrooms can spark inspiration, which you can then use to tailor those ideas to the needs and interests of your own students.
If you’re feeling stuck and out of ideas, read on for our top tips for creating unique bulletin board presentations, along with examples of some terrific teacher creations.
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What Makes a Good Unique Bulletin Board?
We’re glad you asked! A good, and unique, bulletin board should incorporate a pleasing design but, more importantly, should also serve a specific purpose. There are three primary types of classroom bulletin boards: display, interactive, and informational. Of course, a well thought out bulletin board may serve more than one of these functions.
Informational boards give teachers a chance to present information to students in a highly-visual format. These boards can present new material, reinforce curriculum, or present general classroom information such as procedures, upcoming events/dates, and the like. Creating a unique, visually appealing information board encourages students to interact with material regularly. A good informational bulletin board incorporates students’ interests into the material presented. An example of this would be a Halloween board that uses skeletons and Halloween imagery to review anatomy.
Interactive boards allow students to engage with a board in self-directed activity. They can be used as a hub for information and materials which the student can use to complete assignments. Activities can be completed at the board itself, in small groups or individually, or provide a place to pick up one-time (or multiple use) materials for completing activities at a table or desk.
Display boards are probably the most common type of board, and offer a chance to really get creative with theming, colours, and unique touches. Display boards serve a dual purpose as classroom decor and a confidence-boosting place to show off your students’ work. Display bulletin boards can work both inside and outside of the classroom, where parents, other students, and teachers can check out what’s going on inside your class.
A unique bulletin board is one that is creative and tailored to your students, which means that it takes into consideration their age level and interests. It’s also important to consider your students’ cultural backgrounds when creating your bulletin boards.
A good, unique, bulletin board is one that is well-designed and placed to serve its purpose. Bulletin boards should be located around eye level in a place where students will regularly see the board.
Interactive boards should be particularly durable and easily accessible to students. For smaller children, this means placing the board at eye level, closer to the floor, or in another location where students can easily access the board on their own. Interactive boards offer a wonderful opportunity to reinforce your students’ independence by providing self-guided activities.
A good unique bulletin board is whatever works best for you and your students. While some teachers seem to be the naturally crafty type who love investing time in creating complex bulletin boards, you don’t have to be a craft maven to make attractive and unique designs. The internet is full of inspiration, examples, templates, and free or cheap bulletin board designs and supplies.
What will truly make a bulletin board unique is to add yours and your students’ own creative touches.
We’ve assembled a few examples of our favourite unique bulletin board ideas below. We hope that you’ll find them helpful as you plan your own projects.
Unique Bulletin Board Examples
- Peek A Boo Preschool Board By Play To Learn Preschool From We Are Teachers
This adorable, colourful board uses post-its to hide student pictures behind their names. It’s a simple-to-make, cheery way to help younger students get to know their classmates.
- R-2 Star Wars board From Teachers Paradise
What could be more fun than a Star Wars themed welcome back to school? This board, designed for junior high, features R2-D2 on a simple black background outlined with stars.
- Hamilton Board From We Are Teachers
We love this Hamilton-inspired board for its positive message and inspiring, but simple, graphics. Quotes from Hamilton star Lin-Manuel
Miranda will get students off on the right foot.
- Instagram Board From We Are Teachers
This unique board welcomes students to the first day of school while encouraging them to share their memories and selfies to immortalize the experience. This design could work for students in any age group.
- Social Media Board From We Are Teachers
Here’s another great social media-themed board that gets regular “updates” via newly added posts, pictures, and suggested friends. Students can get in on the act by adding their own material to the class’s “profile.”
- Hispanic Heritage Board From School Bulletin Boards
This clever and colourful Hispanic Heritage board uses traced butcher block portraits of Hispanic figures as its centerpiece. Students can choose and write about the featured figures or help decorate with inexpensive party decorations like tissue flowers or butterflies.
- Learning Names And Numbers Board From School Bulletin Boards
This board provides multiple opportunities for learning for the youngest students. The display features pictures of classmates, along with their names, and a number for each child to reinforce counting, writing, and learning about fellow students.
- Parent Board From We Are Teachers
This parent board is a fantastic way to share information on classroom happenings. Flyers, handouts, and classroom schedules are stored in plastic folders for parents to help themselves.
- QR Code Board From Teacher Education Resource Center
Although these board ideas are presented for adult learners, they would also adapt well to middle and high school students. QR coded “talking bulletin boards” include codes that students can scan the code of the book they love with a QR code reader on their digital devices.
- “Wanted” Welcome Board From We Are Teachers
This fun welcome back board uses a unique Old West theme to showcase student names and pictures and could be easily adapted into a display board.
- Game Room Themed Twister Board By Mrs. Shininger’s Blog
A used Twister game board makes a simple and unique backdrop for welcoming students to get their new school year “off on the right foot” as part of a game-themed classroom.
- Cactus Themed Welcome Back Decor Board From Curriculum Essentials
This cactus board lets students know that you appreciate their “sharpness.” Colorful, easy to make (or purchase) tissue flowers accent a solid colored background. This idea could easily be adapted to include information about students, or even kick off a unit on deserts or plants.
- Rainbow Of Possibilities Board From School Bulletin Boards
This board may look complicated, but it’s actually made up of nothing but rainbow colored blocks of paper. The creator suggests using it to talk about sensory writing, utilizing colour vocabulary, and how various colours make people feel.
- Kindness Board From A Teacher With A Dog And A Blog
A calming blue background and a cascade of blowing dandelion seeds highlight this simple, but important, message about spreading kindness.
- Origami Board From Math Equals Love
This creative origami-themed board displays student-created origami works for a beautiful, engaging classroom display. Although this example uses origami in a math context, the project would work equally well for cultural studies or as part of a themed book unit.
- Baseball Math Fluency Board From School Bulletin Board
Students will love this baseball-themed board design which allows students to “earn a place” on the board by demonstrating content mastery.
- Love Has No Gender Rainbow Board From We Are Teachers
This pride-month board cleverly repurposes paint chips to create a rainbow-themed collage.
- Take What You Need Board From We Are Teachers
It doesn’t get much simpler, or more inspiring than this. Simply cover a solid-colored board with post-its emblazoned with positive, self-affirming messages written by teachers or students and invite students to take one whenever they need a little lift.
- Interactive Sudoku Board From We Are Teachers
Get students involved in math with this interactive sudoku board. Reusable numbers are stored in folders next to the board, and teachers can set up a new game each day by moving existing numbers around.
- Video Game Themed Study Tips Board From McCottage Blog
A large printout of a video game controller serves as the centerpiece for this study tips-themed board. Get students involved by having them affix their own study tips to the bulletin board.
- Hunger Games Interactive Bulletin Board From Tattooed Moon
Students will love to help create this decorative board based on the Hunger Games books using their own sketches, writing and timelines.
- Currently Reading Board From Kids Art And Craft
This colourful, minimalist board displays students’ thoughts on the books they are currently reading. It’s a great way to get students to write about books, with the added bonus of serving as a teacher reminder of who is reading what!
- Read Me Maybe Board From Teacher With A Ponytail
Kids of all ages will love this laugh out loud pop-culture reference. Teachers will love that it displays current book covers to get kids interested in reading.
- MLK Dream Board By Patti Wagon
Creating this board is a great project for Black History Month, or any time of year! Blocks of bright colours are used to highlight pictures of students holding up signs that answer the question “What’s Your Dream?”
- Wordle Board From Teacher’s Pet
Wordle games make a great bell ringer or activity for after work is finished. This simple interactive board can be changed up regularly, and can even integrate classroom vocabulary.
- Scientist Of The Month Board From We Are Teachers
It’s hard to resist such a simple, but effective idea. Students research scientists (or any figure of your choosing) and post facts about the person (written on a post-it) to the board to be shared with the entire class.
- Who’s Who Board From We Are Teachers
This board offers an engaging way to get to know, and interact with, new students. Each student answers the same questions about themselves and other students move the answers to the name that they think the response belongs to.
- Ready, Set, Goal! From School And The City
This vibrant and useful bulletin board is made of light cups that can be mounted fade-resistant paper, and rubber bands to cover the tops of the cups. When they reach a goal, students can punch through the paper to reveal a gift or reward hidden inside.
- Create Your Word Search Puzzle From We Are Teachers
This giant word search bulletin board helps the students to expose them to new and old vocabulary while also encouraging them to consider the various definitions of terms.
Whatever subject and grade level you teach, you can use unique bulletin board ideas to make your classroom a more welcoming and engaging place for students. Looking for inspiration from other teachers’ boards is a fantastic place to start when designing your own board, but ultimately it will be up to you to decide how to incorporate your students’ needs and interests into a compelling, and original, bulletin board.
