Love them or hate them, bulletin boards are standard classroom decor. Make yours more interesting and engaging by trying some of these interactive bulletin boards. Students can contribute, learn, de-stress, and more. Plus, lots of these boards are easier to create than you might expect. Take a look and find something new to add to your walls!
1. Wordle it up
The hit game makes an awesome bulletin board! Use it as a bell ringer or to fill in a few minutes at the end of class.
Learn more: Teacher’s Pet Arcade
2. Punch out your goals
Use rubber bands to cover the tops of cups with tissue paper and attach them to your board. When students achieve a goal, they get to punch through the paper to find a treat or reward inside!
Learn more: @schoolandthecity
3. Code and learn
Give kids practice learning the basics of coding with this idea. It’s easy to create and you can set new challenges whenever you like.
Learn more: @teach_in_the_peach
4. Ask “Would You Rather …” questions
Oh, your students will love this one! Post new questions regularly to spark hilarious classroom conversation.
Learn more: @rainbowsandconfetto
5. Crack the code
Send a hidden message and make students solve equations to crack the code. This is another one that’s easy to change out regularly.
Learn more: @ms.carpentersmathclass
6. Discover inspiring figures in history
Use this idea to learn about scientists, authors, world leaders, and more. Kids research the person and write a fascinating fact on a sticky note to add details to the board. Everybody learns something new!
Learn more: @mrsjones_science
7. A-maze your students
Students will get a kick out of racing each other to the finish line with this easy idea. Laminate the mazes and provide dry-erase markers for kids to use.
Learn more: @msdavid_myteacherlife
8. Tell your story
Use this board at the beginning of the year for students to introduce themselves, or try it as the year draws to a close for students to reflect on what they’ve learned and experienced.
Learn more: @letsgetdowntoenglish
9. Keep track of reading progress
Encourage independent reading and strengthen reading fluency skills with this bulletin board that students can color after they’ve finished reading books.
Learn more: The Secondary English Coffee Shop
10. Host a morning brain boost
With this bulletin board, students get to create questions to an answer you provide. It’s like Jeopardy in bulletin board form!
Learn more: Teach Starter
11. Encourage students to brag a little
Create a simple, colorful grid that students can use to display their best work for all to see. Add their names if you like, or leave it blank, but encourage every student to display something regularly.
Learn more: @missdecarbo
12. Match up science terms
Use rubber bands to match the terms (also marked with pushpins) with the parts. This board has tactile elements incorporated, making the terms more memorable and accessible to all students.
Learn: Paths to Literacy
13. Get to know each other
This interactive board gives students the opportunity to think about their fellow classmates and to see how much they actually know about one another.
Learn more: Inside Bodine
14. Pit music against poetry
Poetry can be a hard sell for some kids. Help them relate to it by challenging them to determine if quotes are by a famous poet or a famous pop group. They’ll be surprised by the answers!
Learn more: Mrs. Orman’s Classroom
15. Create a coloring corner
Interactive bulletin boards don’t have to take a lot of time or effort. Just pin up a giant coloring poster and have students use their crayons or markers to color. Coloring is a well-known anti-stress activity, plus it can actually help focus the mind on the subject at hand.
Learn more: @PlatouWorld
16. Provide a place for burning questions
Also known as a “parking lot,” interactive bulletin boards like these give kids a low-key way to ask questions they have about material you’re covering. Look it over daily to see what you might need to review, or save questions to be answered in a future lesson. Remove the sticky notes as you respond to them.
Learn more: Kate’s Science Classroom Cafe
17. Challenge them with Sudoku
Need something for kids to do when they finish a little early? Sudoku interactive bulletin boards might be the answer! Learn how to set one up at the link below.
Learn more: Activity After Math
18. Practice compare-and-contrast concepts
Did someone say giant Venn diagram? I’m in! Post any two items you want students to compare and contrast, and have them write their answers on sticky notes to fill in the diagram.
Learn more: @artwithmrskim
19. Try a thinking tug-of-war
Prepare for opinion writing by having students show their thinking on a tug-of-war bulletin board. These are easy to prep and can be used over and over again with different questions.
Learn more: The Good Life
20. Use QR codes to spark curiosity
Bring interactive bulletin boards into the digital age with QR codes. In this example, quotes from famous women are displayed on the wall. Students can scan the free-to-generate QR code with their phones or tablets to learn more about each one. This idea can be adapted for so many different subjects!
Learn more: Study All Knight
21. Bring on the Boggle math
Game-based learning has so many benefits. This Boggle math board is based on the classic letter game, with a numbers twist. Learn how to play at the link below.
Learn more: The Routty Math Teacher
22. Craft a color-sorting bulletin board
Little ones love interactive bulletin boards. Paint empty paper towel tubes with bright colors and set them up with coordinating buckets and pom-poms. Kids get hand-eye-coordination practice by dropping the right pom-poms through the tubes.
Learn more: Play to Learn Preschool
23. Get to know literary genres
Lift-the-flap cards can be used for so many different interactive bulletin boards. This board helps kids identify literary genres with examples and descriptions.
Learn more: Buck & Chuck’s
24. Build a giant word search
Word searches are an engaging way to practice spelling and vocabulary. You can change up this board to match new subjects throughout the year.
Learn more: The Corner on Character
25. Draw their eyes to an “I Spy” board
Grab your hot-glue gun and get to work! This board provides the perfect opportunity to play a quick game of I Spy when you have a few spare minutes at the end of class.
Source: @2art.chambers
26. Find out what they’re thankful for
This is an easy idea for a fall bulletin board. On the back of each card, have each student write what they’re thankful for. Each day, turn one over and share. (Find more fall bulletin board ideas here.)
Learn more: Teacher Blog Spot
27. Take what you need, give what you can
You’ll find examples of interactive bulletin boards like this one all over Pinterest. The concept is basic: Post notes with encouraging and kind words on a board for students to grab when they need to be lifted up. Provide paper for them to add their own kind words for others too.
Learn more: Deanna Devine on Pinterest
28. Turn a paper roll into an interactive Q&A station
The terrific thing about interactive bulletin boards made with rolls of paper is that they’re easy to switch up. Learn how to make this board (this teacher used a door, but it would work for a bulletin board too) at the link below.
Learn more: Oh Boy, It’s Farley
29. Post a read-aloud board
Experience a read-aloud book together by posting the characters, problem, setting, and solution as you read. When you’re done with the book, have the kids write their favorite part on sticky notes to share. (See more creative ways to use sticky notes in the classroom here.)
Learn more: Kidd + Kids
30. Make a mitten-match board
Help little ones learn letters, numbers, sight words, and more with a cute and fun interactive matching board.
Learn more: @playtolearnps/Mitten Match
31. Put a pin in the map while you read
Show students how books open up the world. Post a country or world map and have them put a pin in any location mentioned in the books they read.
Learn more: Scholastic on Pinterest
32. Win the day with word games
Words With Friends has made Scrabble games popular again. Set up a board with letter cards and let students battle it out for the highest score. Bonus points for using a vocabulary word!
Source: Pinterest/Words With Friends
33. Get reading recommendations from fellow students
The teacher who created this board says, “Students use sticky notes to write the title, author, and genre of the book they’re reading. They use dry-erase markers each day to update the page they’re on and their rating (out of 5 stars). This will let me see how much kids are reading and give students a place to refer to when looking for new book recommendations.”
Learn more: @_thirdgradeswag
34. Set up a bucket filler board
When you “catch” students being kind, give them a “warm fuzzy” pom-pom to put in their bucket. Periodically empty the individual buckets into a class bucket to work toward a reward. (Learn more about the bucket filler concept here.)
Learn more: Little Mrs. Preschool
35. Spark joy in your students
Such a simple concept: Spell out a word in large letters and have students fill it with their thoughts on that word. You can easily change this out to fit various seasons or subjects.
Learn more: Macy Dawn on Pinterest
36. Measure angles on a paper pool table
Have students place paper pool balls on the table, then calculate the angles they’d need to shoot in order to pocket the ball using a protractor and string.
Learn more: Ryan O’Donnell at Kutztown University
37. Put together a pushpin poetry board
It’s like magnetic poetry, just using a bulletin board instead! Cut out words and provide a container of pins. Students do the rest.
Source: Residence Life Crafts
38. Encourage random acts of kindness
Post a series of envelopes with “random acts of kindness” ideas inside. Students draw a card and complete the act, then post a pic if they like.
Source: The Green Pride
39. Recognize new classmates by playing peekaboo
Post a pic of the student under a flap with their name on it to help students learn their classmates’ names and faces. This is geared toward younger kids but could be tweaked for older students too.
Source: @playtolearnps/Peekaboo
40. Plot points on a big Cartesian plane
Give students practice plotting points and finding the area of shapes on a Cartesian plane. Use fun pushpins to jazz it up!
Learn more: Melody Bienfang at Kutztown University
