I need help decorating my kindergarten classroom. I have spent so much time and money the past couple years on trying to organize and decorate my classroom, but it just looks "ok" and even messy at times. I want it to look beautiful, eye-catching, kid-friendly, etc. To make matters worse, the principal is very into appearance and the way the classroom looks. There are a few teachers who are very talented in classroom decoration at my school, and I feel like my classroom is definitely inferior. I need to know what to buy, where to put it, how to set it up, etc. Specific needs: -How to make the bulletin boards "pop" -How to make the library area look great and organized, while allowing the kids to actually use it (have about 100 books) and want it to be a fun, comfortable sanctuary for the kids -What to hang up and what not to (how to make a word wall - do I put it on a bulletin board - there are so many words). -What to do about the chalkboard - it's not magnetic so I just tape stuff to it - Can I paint it to make it magnetic - any advice / tips on this? -How to make a science / classroom pet area -How to make a beautiful writing center, listening center, art center I'm really looking for a magazine worthy classroom look. If you're able to help, please reply or private message me. You won't be able to visit my classroom, but I can show pictures, talk on the phone, email, whatever it takes.
Pinterest. I get a lot of ideas from there. I teach secondary, so I don’t know if I’d be helpful with kindergarten. I do know that magnetic paint is a PITA. You have to use at least five coats, and you have to stir it constantly to keep the metal fragments from settling to the bottom. I ended up using liquid nails to hang a sheet of metal over it.
Good to know about the magnetic paint. And thanks, Pinterest has cute ideas, but I need help with what to pick and how to make stuff. I am willing to pay if anyone can walk me through what to do with various areas in the classroom and take a look at pictures of my classroom to see what would work best.
Can you get some advice from the talented teachers who are at your school? It’s really not something that is easy to help with over the internet. You can get ideas, sure, but if you are asking for more help than Pinterest can provide, you really need someone who can be there with you in person.
That’s going to be m retirement job: decorating and organizing classrooms. However, I’ve got a few more years left before I retire.
Specific needs: -How to make the bulletin boards "pop"- back student work with colorful paper, make a title for bb using a computer program (ex: Print Shop), put photos of the kids engaged in the work process -How to make the library area look great and organized, while allowing the kids to actually use it (have about 100 books) and want it to be a fun, comfortable sanctuary for the kids- 100 books isn’t a lot, I’d suggest you get more, lots more. Shop library book sales and thrift shops. Colorful baskets to organize books by genre or level. Carpet for mini lessons. Fun seating: bean bag chairs, etc -What to hang up and what not to (how to make a word wall - do I put it on a bulletin board - there are so many words). I don’t use a word wall- grade 3. Maybe put in space above bb/chalkboard -How to make a science / classroom pet area- could be as simple as a table with the pet habitat on, books about that animal. Shelves with exploration baskets: shells, rocks....change up monthly I'm really looking for a magazine worthy classroom look- you are putting too much pressure on yourself.
To make bulletin boards pop, I used to do the following: every board was the same color (meaning, I used the same fadeless paper color for a background on every single bulletin board). Then, I used layered bulletin board border (look up layered border on Pinterest). I'm a very matchy-matchy type of person, so everything has to coordinate. For example, you can use grey bulletin board paper with yellow and white border around the boards.
The best, simplest tip I have is to choose a color scheme. It will make everything look like it matches. Choose two or three colors that look good together: green & blue; yellow & pink; white, yellow & grey... Just pick something you like and keep it simple. Then try to have as much as possible in those colors. For your class library, buy some bins at Dollar Tree that match that color scheme. Use those same colors as background sheets when you are hanging things in a writing or science corner. For your bulletin board, buy precut letters and borders from Dollar Tree or a teacher supply store in, again, the same colors.
I agree with choosing color over theme. I had a yellow and blue classroom, then changed it up with primary striped fabric. Moved classrooms and went with red and black, which I’m changing this year to primary dots. Still using lots of black. I’ve gotten through 20+ years with three color schemes that change up easily.
No advice on decorating because I'm high school special needs so the less stimuli the better, but you may want to look into Pets in the Classroom through, a grant program that provides funds for classroom pets.
Two words: Schoolgirl Style. Check out her website, and you can order from her, or Lakeshore now carries some of her items.
I'd suggest focusing on color coordination (not themes as others have mentioned) and organizing stuff rather than decorations. It is possible to have an overly decorated room, and studies have shown that kids in rooms with tons of posters/decorations/charts get overly stimulated and can't concentrate as well. You want your babies to learn! Make your bbs flexible enough that you can change them as needed while still being functional. Some of that Pinterest stuff looks great, but it serves no educational purpose and takes a lot of time to create. Do what works for you.
WOW! I've only ever heard "you get no brownie points for having a Pinterest looking classroom" mine have always focused on the relationships and teaching over a "cute" room with no substance. Your principal should be giving you all a $500 decorating stipend if they want it decked down. Look on Instagram. Dollar Tree has SO much color stuff for cheap. Pinterest and Instagram. I'm sure your room is enough.
I decorate my classroom with student work. I have an area for reading, math and science. I don't have room for a SS area but I could maybe move some stuff around. I go to the Dollar Tree now and then but never spend more than $5 at a time.
Instead of using fadeless paper on BB, I use sheets. The colors stay bright, they endure multiple staples and their removal, and they tend not to fade. One sheet will last an entire school year. Buy them at thrift stores or on clearance.
I'm wanting to make my classroom someplace really special as I spend so much time there. I don't have the Pinterest skills others have and have spent way too many evenings look at magazine perfect classrooms. If I have a theme, I guess it is nature. I like the fadeless cloud and water bulletin board paper you can by and it really livens up the drab portable classroom with its brown walls. I've added Ikea leaves that hang like awnings and I have a paper tree on the walls that is getting rattier by the year that we change the leaves on to match the seasons. I'm making frames to slide student artwork in. It's easy to find stuff on the cheap. My hope- and not yet my reality- is to build a reading corner around a tree. Color schemes help a ton. I'm doing green with blue and some brown. I teach special education and my goal is to create a very peaceful and welcoming environment.
Oh I can relate - have spent a ton of time looking at Pinterest and other websites at classrooms but I don't have the artistic skills or handiman skills either. The tree idea sounds cool. I need something eye-catching like that for my library area and science area. It needs to be something easy though. I used the cloud bulletin board paper a couple years ago and thought it was pretty, but I switched to a solid blue color last year and kept it up for this upcoming year. I want to buy frames to slide student artwork in for this year because I want one or two of the bulletin boards to have student work displayed, and I don't want to keep taking staples out of the bulletin board paper. I want it to be easy - have a wow border and saying and then slide the work in and out. Maybe the work and border and saying can change each season - summer, spring, winter, fall but hopefully no more than that.
What grade do you teach? I want to do that using clear pockets so I don't have to keep taking staples out. Can you show pictures?
The problem is the school gave me red, yellow, light green, and light blue chairs. The edges of the tables are these colors as well. Shelves are painted dark green and furniture is light brown wood. To make matters worse, last year I bought blue, pink, and white baskets to store materials in. I now have navy blue bulletin board paper I don't want to take down because it was a bear getting it up there. Any thoughts on this?
- I like the idea of students engaged in the work process. Maybe one bulletin board with rules listed and pictures of students following each of those rules? Raise hand, sitting criss-cross, etc. The color of the bulletin boards are navy blue. What color lettering looks good with that? -I meant 100 as in a lot of books. I have sight word books in four baskets (probably a couple hundred of those) I put out on tables. In the library, I have picture books and some longer ones both fiction and nonfiction - probably 300+. It's a crazy amount of books. I'm trying to organize by genre or author. I have a different color dot for each topic that will go on each book. I'll have a list of topics with their dots hung up and books will be piled up on the shelves that way. For example: Dr. Seuss books - red dot, Berenstein Bears books - blue dot, princess books - pink dot, Christmas books - green dot, etc. I want a really cute comfortable library. Right now, there is a Dr. Seuss themed bulletin board behind it that I did last year. I have two white chairs but need fun pillows or something to make it more inviting and comfortable. Or I need to change the theme completely like turn it into a beach. - I like the idea of changing the exploration baskets monthly. What else besides shells and rocks?
Ok, I am trying to make my bulletin boards pop, look fun, and be useful to the kids. This year, I had Math and Reading Unit information up there I got from teacherspayteachers like the chapter / unit name, vocabulary, skills we were working on, etc. It was a pain because I had to change it frequently - like every couple weeks and it looked too serious because it was mostly just typed words. It was sort of helpful to me as far as keeping on track but the kids got little out of it I'm sure. This year, I'd like to do student work in sleeves I can put in and take out, have a catchy saying, some cute large craft, and maybe an unusual border that isn't paper. I'm just not very artistic or handy is the problem. So I have to be able to do it without it falling down or apart.
This link has some good ideas: https://www.rachelatalldrinkofwater.com/2015/08/lets-talk-bulletin-boards.html?m=1
Why don't you ask a friend who is art/decoration inclined? I'd put the pink baskets out of sight. Keep repeating the colors of your furniture in the baskets. You can use a lime green and white polka dot border or a white and also a green border with your navy background. Then use white or lime green lettering on the board. Use rectangles of either white or lime green as place holders for future student work. Try buying a few ready made pictures/bulletin board sets to help you along. You can repeat the same motif throughout the room to help give it continuity. I hope this helps you.
I usually look for all the ideas on Pinterest. We do all of our events at the library, and the decorations are minimal because there's no one to do them. Sometimes the students help, but it's not popular here.
Add some greenery to brighten up your room and boost your mood Greenery will brighten up your classroom, but studies have shown that plants can even improve your mood in a variety of ways. Plants can make you happy by lowering your stress, boosting your well-being, improving your productivity, and more. If you’re anything like me and can’t keep living plants alive, then you can opt for some inexpensive fake greenery! While artificial plants don’t have the exact same host of benefits, they can still improve your mood. Even looking at landscapes and scenes of nature can give you a boost in positivity and concentration! My classroom or workspace would not be complete without fake flowers. Create or buy a set of affordable posters for a bulletin board or bare wall You can buy posters at a store like United Art & Education or Lakeshore Learning, but those purchases can quickly add up. Plus, you can’t personalize them to fit your classroom and its theme (if you have one). After buying too many stock posters my first year, I decided to look into teacher-created poster sets on Teachers Pay Teachers. Eventually, I designed my own to fit my classroom theme! To create your own posters, I recommend PowerPoint. Just set your slide size to 8.5×11, find some cute clipart and fonts, and create! Use $1 frames to give your posters some class If you create or purchase a set of posters, you can elevate their look with inexpensive frames from a dollar store. I actually did this with the front pages of The New York Times to create a fun display for my journalism and newspaper students! I often referenced elements of these pages during my lessons so it was functional AND decorative. You can find front pages through Newseum or a Google search. Find cute decor & organizational supplies at the dollar store Speaking of the Dollar Tree, it’s a gold mine for decorations and organizational supplies like bins, caddies, and trays! The framed art can be hit or miss, so you have to check often and dig through the piles of frames, but you can find some great stuff! I created my coffee corner with adorable coffee signs and even designed different spaces like the “bistro” and the “cafe” in my flexible seating classroom.
