Back to School Bulletin Boards & Themes

Back when I taught 3rd grade, my classroom had a bee theme. I will have to dig up some pictures so that you can get the feel for the way it looked, but it was simple and very cute. With the bee theme, I ended up making quite a bit of my items displayed in my room, but if you are looking to save money, that might be a way to go. My bulletin board outside my classroom read, "Welcome to Mrs. Smith's 3rd Grade Hive." This was written on 2 separate bee hives that I had blown up using an overhead transparency and tracing onto yellow poster boards. I then wrote each of my students' names on a small die-cut bee and stapled it around the hives. Like I said, I will get some pictures of my classroom out so if you like the bee theme, you can get ideas.
(This wasn't my door, just a picture I found and thought could help.)

As for now, I thought that maybe someone out there could benefit from getting some classroom decorating ideas. Here is what I have come across.
* AtoZ Teacher Stuff had a lot of GREAT ideas!!
* Look Who GREW in Kinder "garden". (This might be better for the end of the year, to compare how much each child grew, but still cute.)

* Here are some thoughts for decorating older classrooms.
* I found some more ideas HERE, but you have to scroll nearly all the way down the page to find the ideas. If you have a chance to look through this site, there are also management ideas listed. Anyway, to give you a sneak...here were some ideas they gave:
** Put up a palm tree and the words Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom look Who Is In My Room! I then have brown circles (coconuts) on the tree. The first day I take pictures of them and then cut them to fit on the coconuts. If you don’t want the picture idea just put their names on the coconuts. (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a popular children's book used for teaching the alphabet.)
** Hang a "fishnet" from a party store and put fish shapes with each child's name and picture with the title "What a Great Catch!"

Some other themes I have seen used for elementary classrooms, include M&M's , Snoopy, hot air balloons, safari, under the sea, bears, apples, animals, Harry Potter and cars. A theme doesn't need to be used, but I thought it made my classroom come together easier. It's also is a good idea if you can find something from the curriculum you will be teaching. (ie: If you teach about animal habitats, decorate with animals.) Do what works best for you and be creative! I am sure there are plenty more ideas out there (the ideas are truly endless), but I don't want to give an overload. Hopefully this can give someone the help they need to get the school year started.