Valentine’s Day is a weird holiday. Do you remember you first Valentine’s Day? You probably didn’t understand what was going on. People giving gifts to the people they love-but particularly to the ones that they have some sort of romantic attachment with. When you were young you probably could not figure out what was going on. You didn’t know what a romantic relationship was or meant. Your teacher probably had to show you what the holiday was all about. If they taught you well then you knew what it was all about. If not then you were probably confused and didn’t care. Most teachers teach their students using various types of aides. One is the bulletin board. Bulletin boards are great teaching devices that teach and entertain. Most teachers know that they are part teacher and part entertainer. A well made bulletin board manages to do both. It makes learning fun and it excites the children. So how will you come up with some great ideas for elementary school kids to teach them about Valentine’s Day with a bulletin board? Here are a few ideas that I came up with that should help get you on the right track:
1. Try a candy board. Kids love candy, and for much of their younger lives they will just want candy at Valentine’s Day. They won’t expect to have a special admirer find them a treat, but they will like it if you can give them some candy that you like. So ask all the children the day before Valentine’s what their favorite candy is. Then make some sort of special card with their names on it. Then buy the candy and attach it to each card. When the children come in in the morning they will look up at the bulletin board and see their name and their favorite candy attached to it. This will not only excite them, but also let them know that you care about them. They will know that Valentine’s Day is about giving things to people that you care about.
2. Creative boards. Elementary age kids love to create things and to make things with their hands. And what better way to give yourself a break than to allow the kids to do the work and to entertain themselves. Assign each child in the class another child to write about. Make sure that it is clear that they can only say something nice about the other person. Then allow each child to write a message on the bulletin board.
3. Heart shaped envelopes. On a large bulletin board you paste envelopes. Each envelope has a child’s name written on it. The heart shaped envelopes are places for the other children to put valentines for each other. This allows the children to express kindness for each other.
4. Valentine’s Day games. The bulletin board can also be transformed into game center, complete with several different games. There could be a memory game with different cards. You could also do a pin the tail on the heart game. There are all sorts of possibilities that will help to keep the children entertained and excited about valentine’s day.
These are just a few different ideas for Valentine’s Day bulletin boards. There are all sorts of great ideas for bulletin boards out there. Be creative and you are sure to hit a home run with your Valentine’s Day bulletin board. Remember that the kids are sure to know if you put some time and thought into your board. Good luck in that classroom!