How To Create A Custom Bulletin Board + a Tip

Back In The Day...

When I started teaching (back in the dark ages of the 70s) we would often create our own bulletin boards by using an opaque projector and a cute graphic from something like a coloring book or a greeting card.  

Fast forward to 2014:  I needed a huge Grinch, so I Googled it and found the perfect image.   

You can see the original image on my SMART board.

I put it up on my SMART Board and started by placing colored paper over each part and tracing them. 

This piece was used to trace the green hands.
I trace with pencil because a marking pen can penetrate through the paper and ruin you SMART board.

After I outlined them all with a wide tip marker, I cut and pasted them into this creation.

I laminated the entire Grinch onto black butcher paper and now he will last longer than I will!

All done!

After I took photos of the kids dressed up in front of the Grinch (wearing an outfit representing their favorite holiday character: an elf, a gingerbread cookie, a snowman, or a reindeer) I took my Grinch home.  The plan was to have him look as if he is stealing the lights off of our house:

Image is from LOLZombie.com.

Students had to tell me why they chose their character.  This promoted oral language skills (using a complete sentence) and was the prompt for our opinion writing.  

"I want to be an elf so I can play with toys all day."

"I want to be a gingerbread cookie so I can get all decorated."

"I want to be a snowman so I can play with Olaf."

"I want to be a reindeer so I can fly!"

We graphed the results using these icons:  (on sale right now!)

Click the image.

Here Is Your Bulletin Board Tip:

Sometimes I even cover over the trim!

I layer the background paper onto my bulletin boards.  I start the year with one color, like green.  When I want to change the color, I layer the new color on top of the old one.  Then, later in the year, I just have to remove the top paper and I can go back to the original color without having to cut and apply new paper.  Saves paper, saves time!  Win, win!!!