Buzz On In! - Back-To-School Classroom Theme

{Third grade teacher, Rachel Ashmore, over at Our Small-Town Idaho Life created these lovely back-to-school displays. Both themes are vibrant and fun, and we think either would 'bee' a great compliment to any early childhood learning environment! This post details her bee themed decorations, click the link to see her traditional apple theme!}

Bee Themed Classroom and Back To School Bulletin Board Idea
Photo Source: andrewrachelashmore.blogspot.com

There's just something fun about combining vibrant yellow with black and white patterns! Last year, Rachel carried this adorable bee theme throughout her classroom. From the welcome and classroom helper boards to the birthday wall display and writing center, we think her designs are the 'bee's knees'! {Including the 'bee-utiful' homemade three-dimensional bee hive hanging outside the classroom!} Here's a sneak peek at the entrance to her classroom - you'll have to visit Our Small-Town Idaho Life for the full classroom tour!

Buzz On In!

While background paper and a border are not required, if you don't have natural walls with lots of character to work with, you might consider covering the door and/or wall with light blue bulletin board paper as well as a complimentary trimmer to tie everything together. Otherwise, you can get right to creating/decorating! Using scraps of green bulletin board paper, fringing the top to create strips of grass to attach to the bottom of the door/wall display. Cut two long sunflower stems and several large leaves from the green background paper as well, adding them to the patch of 'grass' on the door.

Then, to create the center of the sunflowers, paint two paper plates with brown craft paint, adding detailing with yellow craft paint. When dry, use the paper plate center as a guide, cutting several layers of petals from yellow bulletin board paper. For a full sunflower, you'll probably want at least three layers, with each layer cut a littler larger than the last. Glue the layers together and mount the flowers to the stems on the door.

The rest of the display will really 'bloom' when your students get in on the fun! During open house or meet-the-teacher night, have each of your new students create a sunflower, adding a name label to the sunflower center and writing why they're excited about the new school year, what they're looking forward to learning about, etc. on the leaves! If you have time, invite each student to create a craft puff bee to glue in the center of their sunflower.

Also, the display really comes alive with the homemade three-dimensional bee hive, so be sure to visit Rachel's blog for the instructions!

Don't forget to head over to Our Small-Town Idaho Life for the rest of the bulletin boards in this theme!