• Decorate classrooms with eye-catching bulletin boards.school room image by Alfonso d'Agostino from Fotolia.com
  
  Decorate the classroom with break- or vacation-themed bulletin boards, based upon the correct time of year. Break bulletin boards are appropriate for both welcoming students back to school after summer break, and wishing them farewell at the end of the school year. Before designing and posting the board, take into consideration the amount of effort you put into the board, since it may not remain posted for a long time.
  
  

Welcome Back from Summer Break

• Welcome students back-to-school and back from summer break with a themed bulletin board about vacations. Decorate the board with a specific vacation theme in mind, such as camping or visiting the beach. Allow room on the board for short paragraph testimonials from the students about their favorite part of summer vacation. Consider attaching the student testimonials onto cut-outs of shapes that match the board's theme. A beach-themed bulletin board might have sandcastle- or bucket-shaped cut-outs whereas a camping themed board might have tent- or tree-shaped cut-outs.
  
  

How We Celebrate Winter Break

• Classrooms in larger metropolitan areas may have students with a variety of winter traditions; some students may celebrate Christmas, while others may celebrate Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Ask students to decorate a picture showing what their family celebrates during the winter, and include a paragraph of brief description of the celebration. Attach the papers to a larger piece of colored construction paper, and then post the papers to the board in a decorative manner.
  
  

Spring Break

• Before sending students away for spring break, give them an assignment to take a few photos about their favorite part of this time of year. Encourage them to take photos of their vacation, Easter-egg hunt or their favorite spring flower. rnrnDecorate the board with a brightly colored background, and write the word "spring" in large letters on the board. As the students turn in their photos, arrange the photos on the board in the shape of the word "spring" place extra photos around the edges as a sort of border. Students are sure to enjoy seeing photos of themselves and their friends in the classroom.
  
  

Welcome To Summer Break

• Help limit summer boredom by creating a bulletin board that lists some creative things to do during the summer break. Consider posting a suggested reading list, with photos of the books and a brief synopsis, or a community-posted listing of free local events. Remind older students about the importance of helping others by providing ways that students can volunteer in their community; include ideas such as volunteering to deliver magazines at a hospital or walking dogs at an animal shelter.