Creative Fall Display Ideas for School or Home

Looking for some autumn and fall display ideas? Look no further. Below you will find fall and apple themed bulletin board displays. Decorating bulletin boards are a great way to get the kids creative juices flowing and bring in the new season.

Fall Themed Display Board Ideas

apple themed bulletin boards

Apple themed bulletin board ideas

  • Our apple orchard. Cut an apple for each child to glue a photo of themselves on and put on the bulletin board.
  • ‘A bushel of fun!’
  • Draw a large basket with apples in it, and once again, have each child’s name on an apple.
  • ‘We are a great bunch’
  • Apples on a tree with each child’s name on an apple.
  • The new crop is in.
  • Place children’s photos or names in apples and hang on tree.
  • ‘Welcome to ________.’
    May this school year bring
    You happiness galore,And may you enjoy it
    Right to the core! Post the above poem and then draw a huge apple core with everyone’s names on it!

Visit our great APPLE THEME to go with Apple Display Walls/Doors.

Sharing Your Summer Display Board Ideas

This makes a great back-to-school bulletin board and provides children with opportunities to talk about their summer.

Divide a bulletin board into “window panes,” using white strips of paper. Create one window pane for each child in the program. Assign a few children to bring in some object each day, such as a shell, picture, stone, brochure, etc., that represents what they had fun doing this past summer.

Put the items in small zip-lock plastic bags. After each presentation, mount the plastic bags on each child’s “window pane.”

Teachers Display Board Ideas

teacher display board ideas
  1. In order to have the students meet the faculty and staff on a different level have  faculty bring in a picture of themselves and a picture of their pet.
  2. Place the pictures on the bulletin board in a scrambled up manner and have the student decide who goes with which pet.
  3. Number the pictures and label the pets with a letter. Have paper available for the students to write down their answers.
    You could also tie in a reading theme by adding some book jackets of pet books.

Friendship Bulletin Board Ideas

This is an opening week activity that also takes care of a bulletin board for the first month or so. Cut several block shapes (like cement blocks) out of brightly colored paper. On each, write a declarative statement.

• I love broccoli. • I have broken a bone. • I went ice-skating this summer. • I have been in another country. • I have met someone famous. Be creative with your statements.

Sometime during the first few days, pass them around and students sign all blocks that apply to them. Sign them also yourself, then circulate them through the rest of the teaching staff, the administrators, the cafeteria workers, custodians, crossing guards, playground aides, etc. It usually takes about a week to get them all back.

Then “build” a wall with them on a bulletin board under a banner that says “Building New Friendships.”

Whenever visitors come into our classroom, ask them to sign the appropriate blocks, also. This is really a conversation starter and helps the kids find common areas of interest with people they might not have thought of otherwise. Idea of Tami Knight on ‘Classroom Displays and Bulletin Boards’.

Are you having a Frog theme? Maybe some of the following will get you ‘HOPPING’ Good for a board or door.

  • “Welcome to My Pad” (On the door or Information Board)
  • “Take a Leap Into _____!” (Example: Grade 5 or SAC)
  • “Leap into ______” (Beginning of Year Welcome)
  • “Welcome to ___________’s Pad!
  • “I’m HOPPY You’re Here!”
  • “Toad”ally Awesome ________”

“Leaping into a New School Year!”
Write child’s names on frogs and display around large lilypad with class name or grade written on it.

Fall and Autumn Display Board Ideas

autumn display board ideas

Autumn Display Board

Have children trace leaf shape templates. Use fall colored paper to do so.
Have each child finish the sentence-
Autumn is –
Place the leaves about the tree.

Example: Autumn is –

The days getting cooler and windier
Deciduous trees losing their leaves
Children jumping in piles of crunchy autumn leaves
Wearing scarfs and jackets
Farmers harvesting their crops

Fall into a good book. An Autumn Board to stimulate some good Reading.

‘Autumn sunflower art’ display board (See Sunflower Theme)

For this bulletin board/display – paintings, collage and color mixing work were based around the theme of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.

Idea #2 sunflower children

  1. Have each child make a sunflower. Cut out a circle out of brown construction paper. Cut long petal strips out of yellow paper.
  2. Glue one end of each strip to the back of the brown circle.
    Wait until the glue dries a bit and then pull the other edge of the paper strip and glue it down on the circle.
  3. Cut leaves and stem out of green paper and glue on.
  4. In the middle of the sunflower write the child’s name out; around it glue down a few sunflower seeds.
    Display the sunflowers on the bulletin board and in the middle place the the following poem.

The sunflower children
Nod to the sun.
Summer is over,
Fall has begun!

Fall Bulletin Board Ideas

fall display board ideas
  • Make the tree trunk by cutting up brown paper bags. Crinkle the paper and shape it into a tree trunk by stapling it to the bulletin board. Branches may be cut as part of the trunk – or added separately. Allow some branches to buckle out. You can twist some branches before putting down.

For fall, cut out paper apples and staple them on tree branches. Write the children’s names on the apples. And/Or, add tons and tons of leaves with names written on some of them. Add bushels of apples, and pumpkins. If up all year as you change the tree also change what is around the tree to go with the season. 

Go from bushels filled with apples, pumpkins, a scarecrow to snowflakes and snowmen to a spring scene with kites, butterflies and flowers! If this is a mural on a wall attach it with lots of tape doubled over. If you want a plain painted tree-the idea still is good.

Fall Window Painting Ideas

Paint a fall/harvest scene on your window. Use the following recipe and the paint is easily removed. Give each child (Or group of children) a window to decorate. (For another paint method and image visit the Paint/Coloring Page.)

Recipe for Window Paint

2 Tbsp powdered tempera paint, 1 Tbsp warm water, 1 tsp Joy dish washing liquid Measure powdered paint into a container. Mix in water thoroughly to achieve a smooth paste. Add JOY, mixing completely, but gently, to avoid making paint too sudsy. Dries on windows in 5 – 10 minutes. Washes off easily with a solution of water and vinegar.

‘Recipe for a great school year’ (or, ‘ost year’, ‘sac year’, etc.) Just copy the sample image!

Bullying awareness prevention week is in October or November each year. See display board ideas with images in the Anti-Bully Category near the bottom of the page.

Kindness day and week is in November. Visit the ‘Kindness Category (page bottom) for Display Board Ideas with images.

Classroom Wall Decoration Ideas

#1 Kindness brick wall 

When a child receives RAK recognition, take their photograph and put it on a construction paper brick shape. If unable to take a photo, write their name and deed on the brick and put it on the wall of kindness. Each week the kids will see the brick wall grow. A large area will be covered by the end of the school year!

#2 Idea. kindness connects us all!

  • Design a pre-cut person, hand, or heart shape. When children are caught being kind, take the design with their name and deed on the shape.
  • The shapes are taped together in a chain or patchwork style connecting the kids of the program or classroom.

This is a good project for the entire school connecting one end of the school to the other! Check it out with the school to see if they’d like to join you!

#3 Kindness bulletin board

  1. Youth brainstorm ideas for unexpected, kind things to do for people – people who would not expect children to do a favor/kindness for them.
  2. Each idea is put on a shape and put on the board.
  3. When a student completes a RAK, they sign their name on the act that is posted on the board.
  4. By the end of the year, hopefully all of the brainstormed acts will have at least one signature on them to signify that someone acted in that manner for someone.

Other ideas
1. “Blasting Off Into a New School Year”
Write student’s  names on rocket ships.
2. “Grade ________ is Tee-rific!”
Each child writes their name on a tee-shirt pattern and decorates it. Hang  tee-shirts on a clothesline attached to the display area.

3. Cute idea for Pre-K and K
CHICKA, CHICKA, BOOM, BOOM! “Look Who’s in Our Room!”
Decorate board with a palm tree and put each child’s name in a coconut on tree. Use letters of the alphabet as a border. (Of course read the book and plan a couple themed activities.)

Or, copy this sample  by Kindergarten teacher Stephanie Gubbini, of the former blogsite, Aloha Kindergarten: ‘Chicka, Chicka, Boom Boom~ Welcome to Your New Room!’

4. Putting our best foot forward:

Have children trace their shoe or foot on colored construction paper and cut it out. Have each child write a school or program goal. If kids can’t write have them dictate a goal to an adult or older child to write on their footprint. Place ‘feet’ under the title.

5. “__________ is the Place to Bee!”- Put children’s’ names on bees buzzing around a hive.

6. Circle of friends

Each child decorates a paper doll to look like himself/herself

Adapt this to the seasons. This triptych art inspired example for a room with no windows (or a wonderful mural) is the creation of Michael Cardimen, SAC Associate (trainer) for Rochester, Michigan Community Schools.

It’s a very special piece of art for the Kindergarten K-Club children who spend time in this room! Michael searches the internet for pictures that he likes-copies and/or enlarges them. He then pieces it all together (fills in where necessary) on large sheets of roll paper.

What makes this mural special is the capacity for it to be interactive. As shown, fall leaves are beginning to appear at the top of the windows. Michael shares that the children modify the mural with each season and theme. At times there may be pets and animals at the base or a snowman and children playing out in the landscape area!

Display board tips

1. Not much space in your program to hang art work? Staple it to ribbon!

1. Take a long roll of wide ribbon and at the top of the wall near the ceiling, securely tape the ribbon to the wall.
2. Next tape the ribbon at the bottom of the wall.
3. Staple children’s art work and pictures vertically down the ribbon.
4. Do as many ribbon lines as you have room.
5. Regularly update art work.

2. Cover boards with fabric

Cover  boards with fabric at the beginning of the year. Unlike paper, it doesn’t fade and staple holes don’t show when you move things around or take it down. Be on the look out for sales-and check the clearance tables at fabric stores. It will look good for years!

3. Another nice bulletin board tip

Layer your bulletin board paper at the beginning of the year.
Example:
Start with pink for spring. Top it with a layer blue for winter, and green on top for back to school. Each time you’re ready for your next board, carefully take down the first layer and the next layer is already up.

What Should We Display in our Classrooms and Child Care Programs?

  • Children’s work
  • Unit or theme pictures/seasonal materials
  • Photographs of children/pictures from home
  • Upcoming events/activities
  • Program-Classroom planning/daily schedules
  • Photographs of activities and children in action (First get parental consent)

Suggested Display Areas

  • Bulletin boards
  • Windows
  • Hallways
  • Posters
  • Draped materials
  • Sheets
  • Oil cloths
  • In/on Parents Center/Table
  • From ceiling
  • Directly on Walls (attractive when colored roll paper taped to wall like a board, surround by border; items then adhered to paper)
  • Doorway Entrance/Door
  • Large Chalk board/white board
  • Tri-Fold Boards

More fall ideas

Let’s harvest good character. This idea works well with a Fall Harvest Theme but also addresses Anti-Bully Week and World Kindness Week each Autumn. (Nice idea for the first three months of school.)
Each time a deed of ‘Good Character’ (Kindness) is noted-it is recorded on a small card and placed on a pumpkin and through-out the garden! Great for September through November.

This board was created by Barbara Huttle for University Christian School. Thank you Barbara for letting KIdActivities display your wonderful idea!

‘Thankful’ board samples. (From Thanksgiving Category)

Two versions of an ‘I am thankful handprint tree’
Gather colored paper (red, orange, brown, green, yellow) Trace the children’s hands onto several sheets of several colors. Cut out.

Cut out a brown tree trunk branches in proportion to the amount of leaves. Have the children glue the hand shapes to the tree trunk to form the leaves of the tree.

Have child think of things to be thankful for and label the hand/leaves. Thankful Tree Display is a sample from Mann School Art Appreciation.

We hope you have enjoyed these autumn and fall display bulletin board ideas.

Leave a Comment