by Carol Smock

Created on: September 05, 2010   Last Updated: September 06, 2010

Interactive bulletin boards invite student participation, both in creating the board and in using it for classroom activities. Many fascinating ideas for these are available free on the internet, or in inexpensive books that can be purchased as a resource for the entire year.

Keeping the board attractive will be easier if you use a durable background that won’t tear, fade or show pin holes. Wallpaper is a good choice, and many attractive colors and designs are available from discontinued merchandise. A plain paper that allows for different themes will be more useful than one with a pattern that may overshadow the other components. Make a border from smaller pieces of wallpaper with a more distinctive color and pattern.

Another great choice is fabric, which will not fade, tear or show pin holes. This takes a bit of an investment, but is well worth the trouble and money because it can be used year after year and is easy to display and to store. Borders can be made from almost anything; newspaper cartoons, paint samples from a home improvement shop, wide ribbon or crepe paper banners.

Lettering for bulletin boards can be created by the teacher or by the students, if they are old enough for this activity. Students who participated in the creation of the bulletin board will be more inclined to use it, and will take pride of ownership. They will usually want to keep it attractive. Ideas for creating lettering are available at http://www.creativityprompt.com/.

Ideas for themed boards are nearly inexhaustible. Coordinate the bulletin board with the unit of study, invite students to help with creating and maintaining it, and you’ll have a winner.

Icebreakers, brain teasers and personal space

“My Space” is a bulletin board that will be easy to maintain because each student will “own” a section. Simply put up a fabric or wallpaper background that won’t fade or tear, and won’t show pin holes. Divide it into sections and assign each section to a student. They can use their space to put up pictures, news, their own work, or anything else that interests them and is appropriate for public display. A border can be made free and easily by going to the local home improvement store and picking up colorful paint sample squares, stapling them in strips around the board.

For older students, purchase artificial grass to cover the bulletin board. Then back pieces of your display with flannel, and they will adhere to the artificial grass.

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