As winter break draws near and you look at the list of things you need to get done before the holidays, a simple, mostly student-created bulletin board display is sure to be at the top of your Christmas decorating list! Not only does this design idea feature student crafts, we also think the sentiment is especially true - students/children are gifts to be cherished and nurtured!

Student Gift Crafts

Provide students with a 9x12 sheet of heavy weight tagboard, pre-cut pieces of scrap wrapping paper (cut to the size of the tagboard), pre-cut lengths of ribbon, holiday bows, a close-up photo of themselves, scissors, and glue. Then, invite students to;

1. Glue a piece of the wrapping paper to their sheet of tagboard and then, when dry, cut a 2-inch strip off the top of the paper. [This creates the 'gift box' and 'lid'.]
2. Add a strip of ribbon to their gift box, as well as a small piece of ribbon and gift bow to the lid.
3. Cut out only their face from the close-up photo and use it to connect the lid to the gift box.

The result? It should look like your students are peeking out from inside wrapped gift boxes!

Children Are Gifts To Cherish!

• Background: White bulletin board paper.
• Title: "Children Are Gifts To Cherish!"
• Border: Winter themed trimmer or complimentary patterned bulletin board border.
• Decoration: Purchase a Christmas tree cutout or create your own using green butcher paper. Decorate the tree - again either with purchased accents or diy ornaments, garlands, and strings of lights created from colored construction paper. Arrange your students' crafts around the tree and bulletin board.

[Please note that the digital design mock-up above was created with a winter background (used as wrapping paper) created by Laura Strickland of My Cute Graphics and the photo of a child ©2011 Tanya Little, Flickr