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5 Back to School Bulletin Board Ideas that Showcase Student Work

Ahhh, the blank slate of a new school year…the fresh butcher paper on the walls is just ready and waiting to be filled. Come the first day of school, my classroom walls are a bit on the bare side. Not because I’m a total slacker (the word “total” is subjective, right?) but because I’ve left lots of room open to feature student work. The room starts to feel less “mine” and more “ours” once we start personalizing the walls with work that the kids have created.

Are you in need of some fresh ideas for back to school activities and bulletin boards? Here are 5 favorites of mine that showcase student work:

1. Looking Forward

A colorful bulletin board displays childrens self-portraits wearing vibrant paper sunglasses, with the words Looking Forward to 2nd Grade above the artwork.

We start school in August, so I love that this one still has a bit of a summery feel to it! We brainstorm ideas about what the kids are looking forward to in second grade. The kids write the two things they’re most looking forward to on each of the lenses of their sunglasses. For younger grades or differentiation, you could also have them draw their ideas “reflected” in the sunglasses (the templates come with lines or no lines).

A drawing of a smiling face with long brown hair. The face wears large pink sunglasses with handwritten notes on the lenses about looking forward to reading, writing, and making friends in second grade. A colorful drawing of a smiling person with long hair, wearing large yellow sunglasses. Reflections in the lenses contain handwritten text about looking forward to second grade and learning how to paint better. A drawing of a person with dark hair wearing large, bright pink shutter sunglasses. Reflections in the glasses have handwritten text. The person has a small smile and wears a blue shirt. Life Between Summers is in the corner.

You can grab the sunglasses template and the letters for the bulletin board letters here in my shop, and they’re also in the Life Between Summers store on TPT.

A graphic displays “Sunglasses writing template” with two photos of student art: one close-up of a face with colorful sunglasses and another of a bulletin board with multiple sunglass-themed student artworks.

2. Apple Acrostic Poems

A paper apple craft with a handwritten acrostic poem for Nathan on white paper, surrounded by red and green construction paper cutouts, placed on a light wooden surface.

If you’re wanting more of an autumn feel for September, I also love this acrostic apple poem activity from Think Grow Giggle.

Three worksheets about writing acrostic poems are spread out on a white surface with a pencil nearby. One worksheet displays an acrostic poem for the word SCHOOL written by a student.

I love that this resource gives students a little background info as to what an acrostic poem is. The kids’ original poems can be displayed on a bulletin board under the title heading “A Whole New Bushel” or “This Year’s Crop”

Bulletin board display with colorful letters spelling “A Whole New Bushel!” and notes stating two options are included: “A Whole New Bushel” and “This Year’s Crop.” Background is pink.

Colorful cut-out letters on a pink background spell THIS YEARS CROP. A small sign in the corner reads Bulletin Board Letters - Color.

You can find the template and bulletin board letters on TpT (click the image below):

Classroom resource cover with the title Get Your Intros On! ACROSTIC POEM. Includes apples, acrostic poem examples, and mentions direction sheet, student editing checklist, and bulletin board templates.

3. Llama Tell Ya About My New Friend

A colorful school hallway bulletin board with the message “LLAMA tell ya about my NEW FRIEND,” decorated with multicolored dots and photos of students on the wall, celebrating friendship and new classmates.

Not only is this bulletin board idea ADORABLE with a capital A, but I love the idea of students interviewing their new classmates to get to know each other.

Three colorful student worksheets titled Llama Tell Ya About My New Friend, each featuring a photo of two children together and handwritten descriptions, with the text Check out the adorable final product! written above.

Get the bulletin board letters and pieces, interview forms, graphic organizers, prewrite templates, and final draft options from Happy Ever Elementary‘s TpT store:

Classroom bulletin board display with colorful student work, a large llama illustration, and the title Llama tell ya about my new friend decorated with banners and bright paper circles.4. Don’t Bring an Alligator to School

A classroom bulletin board decorated with paper alligators and student writings. The main sign says, If you ever want to bring an alligator to school, dont! with student reasons displayed below. Green leaf garland hangs above.

Okay, and how fun is this bulletin board from my friend Amanda over at Thompson’s Teachings? It’d be perfect for a back to school activity, or any time of year really.

Read aloud the story If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don’t! Then have the kids do a stinking cute writing craftivity all about why they shouldn’t bring an alligator to school.

Everything you need to re-create this bulletin board is right here:

A colorful classroom bulletin board displays green alligator cutouts and student writing. The title reads Alligator Bulletin Board and If you ever want to bring an alligator to school, DONT! with various reasons posted.

5. Diving into the New School Year

A colorful classroom bulletin board displays student work under the theme Diving into Problem Solving, decorated with a large 3D paper palm tree and cutouts of swimmers wearing goggles.

This is a bulletin board I sometimes do at the end of the year when summer starts approaching, but it’d also be ideal for the beginning of the year with the heading “Diving Into Second Grade” (insert your own grade level). Students write about what they’re excited to “dive into” this year, or a short narrative about their first day of school on one of these writing pages. They also make a cute little snorkeler craft to go with it.

Four colorful worksheets for students, each with lines for writing and titles: Diving into Kindergarten, Its Always Sunny in Second Grade, First Grade (with a cartoon), and Diving into Third Grade.

Two paper crafts of children in swimwear and snorkel masks. One has yellow hair, a striped swimsuit, and green flippers; the other has brown hair, a pink swimsuit with hearts, and black flippers. Both are smiling with arms outstretched.

The snorkel writing paper and craft are available right here in my online store and on Teachers Pay Teachers too.

Colorful educational poster titled SNORKEL KIDS activities shows two paper crafts of snorkel kids and handwritten stories on writing stationery, promoting craft and writing activities for word problems and stories.

Hopefully these might have sparked some inspiration for your classroom walls as the new school year kicks off. Best wishes to you for a fantastic school year!