You only get one first impression so make it a good one with this back to school bulletin board from Barb Huttle, design contributor at Classroom Displays and Bulletin Boards! With a clever play on the word 'school', your students are sure to love the exciting underwater theme welcoming them to their new classroom.

Sea Life Welcome Bulletin Board

• Background: Blue bulletin board paper to create ocean water and brown bulletin board paper cut in uneven 'waves' to create sand on the ocean floor.
• Title: "Welcome To Our School!"
• Border: Sea-themed trimmer.
• Decorations: 1) The Fish. Either use pre-made fish cut outs or make your own fish from colorful card stock. You'll have more flexibility and  room to be creative with shapes, colors, etc. if you make your own. Additionally, make a larger fish, sea horse, octopus, or other sea creature to use as the 'teacher' or 'head of the class'. Arrange the fish in a school, using a black Sharpie marker to write the students' names on individual fish, and place the larger sea creature in front. 2) The Undersea Plants. Use appropriately colored paper to create seaweed, sea anemones, coral, and other undersea plant life to decorate the ocean floor. You could also purchase ocean cut outs. 3) The Undersea Creatures. Use construction paper, brightly colored card stock, or bulletin board paper to create star fish, oysters, jelly fish, and other undersea creatures and place them throughout the bulletin board ocean. You could also purchase ocean cut outs.

Students are sure to feel at home in their new school and classroom with this fun, colorful welcome board!

How do you decorate for back to school? Be sure to leave us a comment!