The holidays make good themes for decorating your classroom and with winter here you may need some unique ideas for the classroom bulletin board since the bulletin board is a focal point in every classroom! Invigorate your classroom this winter in pizazz and color with some simple and fast designs. All you need to get off to a good start with decorating your classroom bulletin board this winter are the five ideas below.

You Are Unique

Students are unique. Every child has their own ideas, personal interests, goals, and personality. This provides a great opportunity to actually emphasize the uniqueness and the differences of each student. While teaching children about how snow forms, what it is created from, and other fun facts have them cut out snowflakes from white construction paper. Once the snowflakes are cut, have the children write unique things about themselves on the cut-outs. You can even have them only write descriptive words on the cut-outs to educate them about adjectives. To liven up the white or light blue snowflakes you might want to use some tissue paper squares, sparkles, or glitter. After you are done you can have the children sit on a soft classroom carpet and share unique things about one another!

Who is Hibernating?

A "Who is Hibernating?" theme for your classroom bulletin board can be a wonderful way to turn the board into a teaching tool by incorporating some easy science concepts. Using a list of animals that hibernate in the winter, cutout or draw them in their winter nooks. If you are looking for more of an interactive bulletin board, put the animal on one side of the bulletin board labeled with numbers and the winter hibernating location (i.e. - hole in a tree, cave, nest, etc.) on the opposite side. Use see thru pockets and small number cards that correspond to each animal for the students to match the animal with the correct hideaway.

Acceptance Starts With Me

Close to the time of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, which is in mid-January, the topics of equality and diversity are typically talked about. With a bulletin board background of stark white paper put traced and cut-out hand prints of a bunch of different colors all around the board. Make sure you have the children trace both of their hands onto the construction paper. On the hands the children can write, "Acceptance Starts With Me," "Tolerance Begins Here," or another similar slogan to address the issue of accepting diversity. Not only does the bulletin board teach a good lesson about acceptance and tolerance, it also opens up the discussion about Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life and purpose.

100 Days!

It is usually sometime during the months of winter that the 100th day of school falls. This celebration of the power of 10 provides a wonderful opportunity to integrate mathematics into the classroom bulletin board. For a fast visual lesson you can use pencils, erasers, gumdrops, or Popsicle sticks in sets of one hundred on the bulletin board. Using those types of decorations can also create a very pretty and colorful display!

Have a Heart

This year why not do something a little bit different for Valentine's Day and make your bulletin board an actual heart? By making an actual heart on the bulletin board you can teach lessons about exercise, circulation, and general health. Have the students write what they love about their own hearts on heart-shaped cutouts to tie it in with the holiday.

To find tons of great bulletin board decorations that will last for years check out this great teacher supply store. Bulletin boards are a fantastic way to reach children with a quick visual impact. They provide teachers an opportunity to bring out the uniqueness of their students and teach important lessons in a non-obtrusive way. Use your creativity with bulletin boards and do not be afraid to work outside the borders.

About The Author:
Jennifer Dobson is an early childhood educator and she invites you to visit her favorite online teacher supply store, http://www.mpmschoolsupplies.com. The neatest thing about the website is that 50% of the gross profits are donated to help children in need!