Make a Cookie Bulletin Board: An Excellent Back to School Theme

Welcome to Our Classroom!

The first day in a new classroom can be daunting for anyone - especially young children. New faces and new routines means that some of the kids in your room will be naturally curious while others might be cautiously hesitant. Welcome them all with a sweet theme they are sure to be familiar - cookies! This early childhood back to school bulletin board and first day activities will put everyone at ease to start the year of right.

A New Batch of Students

Create a cookie theme bulletin board or door decoration with just a few simple materials:

• Red and white checkered table cloth

• Sheets of tin foil

• Light brown construction paper

• Dark brown construction paper

• White construction paper

• Wooden spoon

• Black Sharpie marker

• Letter cut outs to spell out the title “A New Batch of Students”

• Velcro, tape or tacky putty

2 - a (one lowercase, one uppercase)

1 - b (uppercase)

1 - c

1 - d

2 - e

1 - f

1 - h

2 - n (one lowercase, one uppercase)

1 - o

2 - s (one lowercase, one uppercase)

3 - t

1 - u

The plaid checkered tablecloth will be the background of bulletin board or door display. Use it to cover the area completely. Across the top of the bulletin board or door, affix the cut-out letters to read “A New Batch of Students.”

Cut round circles out of the light brown construction paper. You will need to make the circles large enough to fit each student’s first and last name. Make small chocolate chips out of the dark brown construction paper, and glue them onto the light brown circles. These will become the chocolate chip cookies. Use the black Sharpie marker to write the students name - one name per cookie, (If you plan to reuse the bulletin board in the coming years, you may want to consider laminating the cookies before writing the names on them. When you are ready to take the board down, simply use a cloth and a small amount of non-acetone nail polish remover to wipe away the names.)

Draw a large mixing bowl on the white construction paper. Cut it out and attach it to the checkered background. Attach the wooden spoon to the bowl using tape or the tacky putty.

Lay the tinfoil sheets out on the background near the mixing bowl and spoon so that they resemble a large cookie baking sheet. Finally, affix the cookies to the foil with tape, Velcro or tacky putter so that it looks as if the cookies are baking on the sheet. Or, if the children in your early childhood class are on the older side, you may even want to consider letting the students find their own names when they first come into the room and helping them to attach their own cookies on the spot. Either way, the children are bound to feel welcomed into the classroom!

Getting to Know You

Here is a little ice-breaker to go along with your cookie themed early childhood back to school bulletin board. Tell the children that in the months ahead, you are all going to spend time sharing things and getting to know each other better - starting today! Begin by sharing with the children your favorite kind of cookie. You may even wish to spend some time explaining why that particular type of cookie is your favorite. Next, tell them that you would like to know what each one of them considers to be their own favorite kind of cookie. Share your favorite kind of cookie, and then ask the children to do the same by creating a cookie graph. Print and use the cookie photos below, or have the children create their own. Use the photos to create a picto-graph. When the graph is complete, count the cookies in each row together to create a tally. Then, spend some time discussing what you have all learned from the graph - for instance, which is the most popular kind of cookie?

Share a Story

Spend part of your time together sharing a stories about chocolate chip cookies. Here are a couple of popular suggestions to get you started:

• Chocolate Chippo Hippo, by Vincent Andriani

  

• When the Doorbell Rang, by Pat Hutchins

  

• Chocolate Chip Cookies, by Karen Wagner

• The Chocolate Chip Cookie Bear, by Leslie T. Potter

Have fun with your back to school cookie theme! If there is time, you may even wish to mix up your own batch of chocolate chip cookies together as a class, and then share the baked cookies and a glass of milk at snack time. If you do, however, please remember to check ahead of time for any possible allergies in the class.

Continue reading at BrightHub.com for more back to school bulletin board ideas.