You don't need luck to create a St. Patrick's Day bulletin board worth its weight in gold. From leprechauns and rainbows to shamrocks and gold, the holiday comes with many recognizable symbols that work well as the inspiration for bulletin board decorations. Get the preschoolers involved for an interactive and personalized display.
Leprechaun Faces
This bulletin board idea puts the preschoolers in the spotlight by featuring a photograph of each student's face. Help the kids cut out leprechaun hats from green construction paper, or provide hat templates that the preschoolers can finger paint in green. Cut strips of orange paper and show the kids how to twist the strips around a pencil to make them curl. Cut around each child's face to remove the background in the photograph. Have the kids glue the hats to the tops of their photographed heads, then have them glue the curled strips of orange paper at the bottom to create leprechaun beards. Hang all of the leprechaun pictures on the bulletin board.
Rainbow Displays
Rainbows fit the St. Patrick's Day theme and also give preschoolers a chance to practice their colors. You can create rainbow images for the bulletin board in many different ways. One option is to make a large rainbow that covers the entire bulletin board with a pot of gold at the end. Have the kids trace their hands onto paper in each color of the rainbow. Staple the hand cutouts in a rainbow shape sorted by color. Another option is to let each child make a small rainbow so you have a whole collection of rainbows displayed on the bulletin board. Use a blank rainbow template. Have the kids use finger paints in each color to fill the blank sections.
Lucky Shamrocks
You can't talk about St. Patrick's Day without mention of shamrocks. This activity that doubles as a bulletin board decoration gets the preschoolers to think about the positive things in their lives. Each child gets a shamrock shape printed on green construction paper. Have the preschoolers think of things they are lucky to have in their lives, such as their families or a warm home. Have the kids draw images or glue on pictures cut from magazines that show those things. Attach all of the shamrocks to the bulletin board.
Pot o' Gold
The kids won't find a real pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, but they can see one every day on the preschool bulletin board. Cut out a large pot from black paper. Cut out pieces of gold from yellow construction paper or gold foil wrapping paper -- you'll need one piece of gold for each student. Write the preschoolers' names on the pieces of gold and attach them to the bulletin board at the top of the pot cutout. You also can write a reason why each child is like a treasured piece of gold in the classroom.
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Writer Bio
Based in the Midwest, Shelley Frost has been writing parenting and education articles since 2007. Her experience comes from teaching, tutoring and managing educational after school programs. Frost worked in insurance and software testing before becoming a writer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education with a reading endorsement.