The month of March is filled with events that you can use as inspiration for your March bulletin board. Taking these events and being creative in how you use them to create tangible activities may take some work, but hopefully this article will provide you with the initial thoughts and inspiration you need to get your own creative juices flowing.
* In like a lion, out like a lamb – This phrase is an old saying about the weather change that usually takes place in March. You can teach your students about how lions and lambs have different temperaments. Have each child choose which animal they think that they are most like and make lion or lamb masks as a class. Use materials like pipe cleaners for whiskers and cotton balls for soft lamb fur. Using a paper plate as your mask base works well.
* Saint Patrick’s Day – Saint Patrick’s Day falls on March 17th. You can use either the fictional fun ideas of the holiday or stick to the historical facts of the holiday. There are countless crafts that are based on leprechauns, rainbows, and four-leaf clovers. For older kids, it can be fun to explain why it is that we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
* Spring – The first day of spring falls on March 20th or 21st. You can celebrate by creating paper flowers and plants that you can use to adorn your bulletin board. You can encourage your students to write poems about spring and display everyone’s poetry in a classroom book or again on the bulletin board. You can also celebrate the weather itself by making pinwheels, windsocks, etc. Teach the children about how weather affects us and our world every day. Create clouds, rain drops, and sunshine decorations for your bulletin board.
The above mentioned bulletin board ideas are the most commonly used and celebrated themes, but I bet that you didn’t know that there are many more important days in March that are less obvious. Why not use some of these other March 2010 days in your bulletin board creations:
* The month of March 2010 = National Craft Month, National Nutrition Month, and Music in our Schools Month
* March 1 = Saint David’s Day, Share a Smile Day, National Pig Day
* March 2 = Read Across America, Dr. Seuss’s Birthday
* March 3 = Paper Doll Day (Japanese Doll Festival)
* March 9 = Barbie’s birthday (1959)
* March 13 = Planet Uranus was discovered
* March 15-19 = National Wildlife Week
* March 17 = Saint Patrick’s Day
* March 18 = First Walk in Space (1965), Johnny Appleseed Day
* March 20 = First Day of Spring, Big Bird’s Birthday
* March 21 = Children’s Poetry Day, Flower Day
* March 24 = Harry Houdini’s Birthday (1874)
* March 26 = Robert Frost’s Birthday (the poet, 1874)
* March 28 = Palm Sunday
* March 29 – April 6 = Passover (sundown March 29th to nightfall April 6th, 2010)
Although it will not be the case in 2010, there are years when Easter also falls in the month of March. When this is the case you can either have a religious take on the holiday and what you do on your bulletin board, or choose to celebrate the festive aspects of the holiday by decorating with rabbits, eggs, chicks, and pastel colors. There are many more activities and crafts that are Easter themed so when this holiday does fall in the month of March, be sure that you remember to include some of these popular Easter related themes into your bulletin board decorating plans.