There’s a lot to be excited about during the run-up to Christmas – from festive food, decorations and gifts for family and friends, to presents for teachers!
This year, why not make it extra special by creating a bulletin board that celebrates all things Christmassy?
Christmas is traditionally a Christian holiday but today, most people associate the holiday with things like presents and Christmas trees. You can use your bulletin board to teach your students all about the first Christmas and the events around the birth of Jesus.
You could start off by asking your students what they know about the origins of Christmas. Then, tell them all about the nativity and transform your bulletin board into a mural of the first Christmas.
You can create your own stable filled with Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus and all the barnyard animals that would have witnessed the birth of Jesus.
This will educate your students all about the true origin of Christmas and inform them of how the holiday is more than just a time to give and receive presents.
The True Meaning Of Christmas
Christmas is more than just fine food and lots of presents. It is a time to be thankful, kind, generous and thoughtful of others – so it is important to remind your students this so they can truly appreciate the holiday.
If you’d like to show your students the true meaning behind the season, then consider making a series of posters which explain the true meaning of Christmas.
These posters could include quotes such as “Be grateful” or “Give without expecting anything in return”.
These posters could also help your students understand the importance of giving thanks at Christmas and should be displayed as a collage on your bulletin board.
They should be bright and colorful so they will attract your students’ attention while also keeping them excited for Christmas break.
Being Kind To Others
Kindness is a huge theme associated with Christmas because it is about giving and being thankful. Giving gifts is such a sign of being kind, but you can also teach your students all the other ways they can be kind without having to give a gift.
Decorate your bulletin board with lots of examples of showing kindness that goes beyond a box of chocolates. Things include saying nice things, helping with chores, caring for those you love by making them meals or cheering them up when they are low.
This will help your students work out ways how they can be kind during Christmas without having to give gifts, but also help them learn how to be grateful and say thank you to those who are kind in turn.
This bulletin board works best with younger children as it is easy for them to forget to say thank you when all wrapped up in the excitement of presents and Christmas.
The Greatest Gift Of All
This bulletin board idea is a great way to encourage your students to be thankful for the gifts they already receive daily and teaches them that the most important gifts in their life are not the ones wrapped up under the Christmas tree.
Ask your students what they are thankful for every single day. This could be their parents’ care and affection, a friend’s humor, or a pet’s company. It could be for having food on the table every day or having clean clothes on their back.
To remind your students of this every day, make a bulletin board featuring their faces, names and what they are thankful to have this Christmas. This will remind them of all the good things they already have and help them stay down to Earth throughout this exciting holiday.
A Christmas Carol
Christmas comes with a lot of great literature and music, and one of the most iconic stories of Christmas is A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens.
You can read this story with your class and ask them what the story taught them. Then, they can draw out some of their favorite scenes, learn facts about Charles Dickens and Victorian Christmases, or discuss the messages of the books.
Use their work to cover your bulletin board in amazing drawings, interesting notes and portraits of Dickens, and perhaps even a few character pieces about important figures in the story including Scrooge, the Ghosts, and Tiny Tim.
This will teach your students important lessons about gratitude and kindness, as well as culturing them to important literature and history.
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Another wildly popular Christmas tale with a strong moral message is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This tale will already be popular with your students but it also carries a strong anti-bullying message that is important to remember during Christmas.
Design your bulletin board to reflect this and display important scenes from the story. You can even include the lyrics of the song and notes about what your students say they have learned from this story.
It will serve as a reminder of the effects of bullying throughout the season and encourage your students to be kind and thoughtful during the holidays.
How The Grinch Stole Christmas!
How The Grinch Stole Christmas is a wildly popular book by Doctor Seuss that tells the tale of the Grinch and how much he hates Christmas. It’s a very fun and exciting book to read with your students, plus it is a classic favorite Christmas story.
Celebrate this tale by decorating your bulletin board into a How The Grinch Stole Christmas themed display. Include quotes from the book, pictures of the characters, and maybe even a few Dr. Seuss inspired decorations.
The Grinch is an excellent lesson in being grateful and appreciative of others. He learns these lessons through his interactions with Cindy Lou Who, who teaches him about kindness and joy.
The Grinch also teaches children that we should always try our best to be nice to people no matter how we feel. We should never let someone else’s feelings affect us negatively because everyone has feelings too.
This makes it a great story to teach your students and remind them of it daily by creating a huge display on your bulletin board.
Frosty The Snowman
Frosty the Snowman is another huge important figure related to Christmas and can be used as a huge source of inspiration when it comes to your bulletin board.
If you want to improve your students’ creativity as well as teach them a valuable science lesson, you teach them that giving a snowman a coat helps them stay longer in the sun without melting.
Once you have explained the science behind it, you can then ask your students to each draw Frosty the Snowman wearing a coat designed by them so he can last longer after Christmas before he melts.
Attach your designs to your bulletin board along with lots of drawings and notes about the science behind your lesson. This will teach your students more about temperatures, energy and heat as well as relating it to Christmas and this iconic Christmas-related figure.
Take A Selfie With Your Elfie!
A lot of your students will have their own Elf on the Shelf and absolutely adore them. Because elves are now so popular, they are also a great way to decorate your bulletin board.
To begin this idea, print out line drawings of the traditional Elf on the Shelf and ask your students to design color in each elf to match their own personality, likes and dislikes.
One student can make a Spider-Man themed elf, another can completely color their Elf in black – as long as they feel that the elf represents them and they have fun designing their elf.
Once that’s done, cut out the elves and stick a portrait photograph of each student’s face on their respective elf. Then, stick each elf onto your Selfie bulletin board.
This idea is sure to make your students laugh to see themselves as elves, plus it gives them the opportunity to express themselves freely to the rest of the class. You yourself may also feel a lot of pride seeing all of your students work hard together on your bulletin board!
When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney
Santa Claus is one of the most famous figures in history and therefore a perfect addition to any classroom.
If you want to use Santa for inspiration on your bulletin board, you can create a display where you explain what happened to Santa on Christmas Eve and how he got stuck up the chimney.
You can do this by creating a large display with pictures of Santa and include a huge drawing of him stuck in the chimney. You can also ask your students for ideas on how to help Santa and how to get him out.
This can be a fun exercise as your students can offer up silly solutions, although you can always take this opportunity to teach them what to do in a crisis.
Example answers can include calling 911, using a plunger, tickling his nose with a feather so he can sneeze his way out, using butter or oil to make him slip out, or taking the whole chimney apart!
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Is It A Christmas Movie?
A popular Christmas debate is if the film Die Hard counts as a Christmas movie or not, but the kid-friendly version of this debate is if The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie.
Because the film exhibits traits most commonly associated with both, it doubles as both a Christmas and a Halloween film, but this could be a fun exercise to do with your class to teach them how to debate and come to conclusions.
You and your students can discuss the evidence of both sides, vote on an answer and display your arguments up on your bulletin board. You can have one half of the board arguing The Nightmare Before Christmas to be a Christmas movie and the other half arguing that it is a Halloween movie instead.
In the middle, you can display the results of the votes and have your class decide if The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Christmas or Halloween movie.
The Classroom Christmas Tree
Although you may not be allowed to decorate your classroom with a real Christmas tree, why not turn your bulletin board into a giant paper one with lots of decorations made by your students?
This could be a giant crafts project where you make paper chains, paper baubles and ornaments using lots of different art mediums. Let your students get creative with glitter, sequins and feathers to make lots of different Christmas tree ornaments.
Then, bring it all together on your bulletin board to transform it into the classroom Christmas tree! This will definitely get your students excited for Christmas and bring some holiday spirit to your classroom!
All We Want For Christmas
Of course, your students are going to have something particular in mind when it comes to Christmas presents so why not take this opportunity to ask them and display their hopes up on your bulletin board!
Fold a piece of red paper in half and inside, stick down a drawing or image of your student’s ideal Christmas present. Close the card and decorate the front to resemble a Christmas present from above with a bow and label with the student’s name on.
So, when you stick the card onto your bulletin board, it is possible for your student to walk up to the present with their name on it, fold it open and see their dream present.
Letters To Santa
Another tradition of Christmas is writing a letter to Santa.
This is a great way to teach your students how to properly write a letter as well as improve their handwriting. So, let your students use a pencil and pen to draw pictures of what they want for Christmas and then write their letters to Santa.
This can be their ‘first draft’ letter to Santa to prepare them for their real one.
When you put these letters up on your bulletin board, you can also add a little note telling Santa about how well each child has been in school. You can also mention a good grade they have achieved, or a milestone they have passed, or just how kind they are to other students.
Then, you can use the letters to decorate your bulletin board.
The Advent Bulletin Board
Advent Calendars are a huge part of Christmas and are a great way to build up excitement in the run-up to Christmas. Use your bulletin board to make your own classroom advent calendar with an envelope for each date stuck to the board.
Within each envelope, you can contain something like a joke, riddle, inspirational quote or even an instruction to help your students warm up for the rest of the day. You can even sing Christmas carols together or do some jumping jacks to wake them up.
This will allow your class to enjoy a short ten minutes of fun before lessons start while also helping them grow more and more excited about the upcoming Winter Break!
Conclusion
Christmas is an important time to give thanks and be grateful for all the good things in our lives, but it is also a very exciting time for your students.
If you want to boost the holiday atmosphere in your classroom, then pick one of the many ideas above to help turn your classroom into a Christmas wonderland with fun decorations and Christmas-themed activities to help them get excited about the holidays!
Hi, my name is Helena Waters and I was a teacher for 40 years before retiring last year.
During my time as a teacher I dedicated the majority of it to making classrooms as fun as possible, with educational parties, fun activities, and low cost entertainment that made the children excited about learning.
I taught children of all ages, from preschoolers to high school students. Now, with the pandemic having uprooted everything that children once knew about school and learning, I think that the need for my ideas is bigger than ever.
That is why I created School Sparks, a place in which I can write down and share all of my ideas on how to get students excited about going to school again. I hope that you’ll find some useful within a school setting, even at home too!
