Interaction and involvement are necessary for a successful preschool Sunday School. One of the best ways to accomplish this is to have bulletin boards on display in your classroom. There are so many things you can do with a bulletin board, and the sky is the limit when it comes to decorating them.
Here are some great bulletin board ideas to use in your Sunday School Program:
Interactive bulletin boards are ones in which students get to do some type of hands-on activity that relates to the bulletin board and its current theme. For instance, many Sunday school teachers like to use pocket charts with each pocket assigned to a child in the class. The child can easily identify his own name on the pocket chart, and knows this is where he can find information that pertains directly to him.
Teachers also use bulletin boards to help children associate to holidays and seasons. There is absolutely no limit to the number of ways you can decorate a board for holidays and seasons. Leaves are popular in the fall, and nativity scenes are great for Christmas. To get students involved in building a bulletin board, consider allowing them to attach features to a snowman or place plastic flowers in your construction paper pots.
You can make your own bulletin boards from scratch or use the hundreds of themes that are available for purchase at local Christian bookstores and on the Internet. While pre-printed patterns and shapes are easy to assemble, there is just something fun about being able to design your own bulletin boards with a little imagination. Just remember to use heavy card stock paper for borders, as these can rip easy. You can get ideas from other teachers, or you can purchase a software package that has lots of border styles and colors for you to print at home. Whatever you decide to do in making your bulletin boards, it is safe to say that if they are colorful and eye-catching, your preschoolers will love them.
Using them as a learning tool is a big plus as well. For instance, if you are teaching about Noah's Ark, you might consider allowing students to glue the animals on the ark. After you say an animal name, pick a student to find the animal out of a pile that you have, and glue it to the ark. If the child picks the right animal, you can give him a small prize. If he does not choose the correct animal, have a different child try. Keep going until all of the animals are on the ark, and every child in your class has gotten a sticker or piece of candy.
Enjoy the many benefits of using bulletin boards in your Sunday school classroom. You will be simply amazed out how effective they are in helping bring Bible stories to life, and encourage preschoolers to learn more about the Bible.