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States, there are 50 of them in the United States and they can often get confusing for young children. That being said it is important that they learn them as much as possible and one way to teach a class about individual states is through the use of a bulletin board. If the bulletin board is made interactive and the student feels that they had a part in setting up the board, they will learn from it that much faster. One state that can be made into a bulletin board is Missouri.

With any state bulletin board you should start with the basic outline of the map of the state. There is an excellent one provided by the Enchanted Learning Website which is not only a map that is free for use and easy to access, but also asks questions or fill in the blanks. This is always useful as it challenges the students and allows you to discover what they already know.

To make the board a bit more interesting, you can put the state symbols (They are found at the website State Symbols of Missouri with detailed descriptions)around the edges and then have the students each look up one symbol and make a drawing of it, there are over 21. They are as follows : State bird (bluebidrd), State flag, state seal, state mammal (Missouri Mule), state insect (honeybee), state tree (Dogwood), state flower (White Hawthorn), state nut (Eastern black walnut), state fossil (criniod), state dinosaur (Hypsibema),state mineral (Galena), state aquatic animal (Paddlefish), state song (Missouri Waltz), state holiday (Missouri Day), state fish (Catfish), state horse (Missouri Foxtrotting), state rock (Mozarkite), state musical instrument (Fiddle), state dance (square dance), state amphibian (American bullfrog), and the state grape (Norton/Cynthiana). If you need a few more things to research, check out the famous outlaw, Jesse James and the 33rd president Harry S. Truman! Post these drawing on the board with descriptions on the back.

Unlike the state to the west, Missouri also has the Ozark Mountains and some extensive cave systems and two major cities, Kansas City and St. Louis, both of which host professional sports teams! Get the class to find out more about all of these things. This way the board becomes a class project and fun as well as educational.

Missouri is proof that a great state can make a great bulletin board. Entertaining, educational and fun, what more can one ask of any bulletin board?

Learn more about this author, James Johnson.
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