Contributed by Lindsay Shugerman, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru

It’s hard to believe we have started a new school year again!

Kids and parents are busy buying school supplies, and teachers are busy setting a classroom routine and inspiring kids for a new level of learning.

If you’re looking for some new school bulletin board ideas, we’re here to help. Here are our top 10 ideas for a great first weeks of school classroom bulletin board.

10. Birthday calendar

Kids and birthday celebrations are a natural match, so post student birthdays on a colorful calendar. If you have the room, let each child decorate their day on the calendar.

9. Name tree

Put each child’s name on a leaf or flower and use them to decorate a paper tree on your classroom bulletin board. If you use Velcro or another reusable adhesive, the names can be moved to other areas of the board to indicate special assignments, honors or other events.

8. Upcoming holidays (multicultural)

Start the school year out with a bulletin board decorated with upcoming celebrations. Make sure you include a variety of cultures and ethnicities. Odds are Halloween and Thanksgiving won’t be the only holidays your students celebrate – acknowledging that will make everyone feel welcome.

7. Big things to learn this year

Giving kids an overview of the skills or knowledge groups they’ll master in the coming school year is a great way to jumpstart the school year. Bulletin board ideas could include pictures of topics they’ll cover, lists of things they’ll learn to do, or samples of projects they will be working on.

6. Supplies needed (or available)

Most children won’t have all their school supplies on day one, so posting the supply list (with pictures for younger student) is a practical bulletin board idea. If economics mean that some children won’t be bringing their supplies from home, posting the location of in-class supplies allows children to feel self-sufficient when they need a pencil, some paper or any other classroom supplies.

5. Classroom goals/culture

Posting classroom expectations like “We will speak to each other kindly” allows children to see expectations from the start. These are not rules – in face a list of rules would probably not be a good bulletin board idea. But goals can inspire better choices, and your display can serve as a reminder as the school year moves along.

4. Questions to ask each other

A simple ice-breaker bulletin board idea is to list 3 or 4 questions children could ask one another on the first day of school. Keep it culturally neutral, and avoid questions that might make a child from a single parent family feel out of place.

3. Teacher bio

You’ll be learning a lot about your students, so why not return the favor by letting your students know some things about you? Create a collage of images of things you love, use cut-out words to describe yourself, or post some photos of your life outside of the classroom. Pets, favorite vacation spots and hobbies are all good choices.

2. Word of the day

Word of the day calendars are very popular, so why not add them to your bulletin board ideas? Make a space where you can stick a new word and definition each day. Adding pictures is a great idea too.

1. Best thing about today was …

This is a bulletin board idea for the end of each day. And starting the tradition on the first day of school is an excellent way to get students in the habit of looking for good things in their school day. Make it a whole board, with new ideas added each day to build an inspiring collage by year’s end.