Bulletin boards serve three main purposes. The first is to brighten the classroom, add a little pizazz to four walls that children are confined to for 6 hours of their day. The second is to introduce new ideas and information in a fun way. The last is to showcase what the children have been learning. Therefore, a family themed bulletin board has to get creative…right?
Family Theme Ideas to add Pizazz:
Remember bold colors and lots of bright shining faces. A great way to get your board up and running is to invite your students to bring in a photo of themselves. A nice close-up, face shot works best. Or the students could make self portraits to add some artwork to the board. Think family tree; place each student on their own tree. From there you can focus on parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. Pick one each week and have your students either draw pictures of their relatives or bring in photos. Attach the pictures to the students’ trees. Students can write a short introduction of each family member to hang with their pictures.
Focus on the Concepts Your Students Should Grasp:
If community is what you’re looking for, add bold words such as: togetherness, family, love, helpfulness, teamwork, etc… Students can then add artwork that represents each of these qualities. Some examples: brother and sister working together in the garden, mom and dad making dinner, grandma reading bedtime stories, or auntie decorating for a party.
Do you have a diverse class? Use words such as blended, extended, multi-cultural, and unique. Invite students to write stories that reflect their family’s cultures and uniqueness. Invite your students to bring in photos from their Cinco De Mayo celebrations, Hanukkah get togethers, family reunions, and so on. Post artwork with blended, non-traditional, small, and large families.
You could also use the family bulletin board as an introduction tool for a career day. Have students bring in or draw pictures of their parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents at work. Each student can write a short essay on the type of career. Then, as a class you can research each career and provide a list of goals to achieve success in that career.
For a focus on reading, have each child ask family members to share their favorite book. Draw pictures from each book, then post them next to the student’s picture. They could even bring in a photo of the family member who shared their favorite story.
You can also leave the ideas up to your students. Let them know you would like to start a bulletin board project on families and have a brainstorming session where the students choose the topics to use. Get the ball rolling using the ideas from above, but leave it up to the children. Or, let them know what topics you will be discussing in class, and leave the order up to them. Just remember, a bulletin board is not just for decoration, and its purpose is to educate. Get creative, and let your students get creative as well.
