The first day back after winter break is its own kind of day. Everyone’s tired. Half the class is still on holiday time. (Same.)
A fresh board helps. It gives that first week a little “new start” energy, and it’s the excuse you need to finally take down the Christmas board. So here are my favourite New Year bulletin board ideas, plus the writing activity teachers tell me they pull out every single January.
Quick note: these are New Year bulletin board ideas for that first week or two back. If you want a board that stays up until spring, the winter ones are in my January bulletin board ideas post.
New Year Bulletin Board Ideas I Love
1. A New Year’s Goose Door or Board
Okay, I’m a little biased on this one. Pick your goose: one is holding a disco ball, the other is wearing a party hat and blowing a noise maker. Add the speech bubble, the banner and the “Welcome to the Flock” letters and you’re done.
Laminate the speech bubble and you can write a new message on it whenever you want. Goals for the week, a welcome back, a countdown to the weekend. One big character means not a lot of pieces, which is exactly what you want on the first day back.
Grab the New Years Goose Board and Door here
2. A New Year’s Composition Notebook Board
Composition notebook classroom? This one keeps January matchy-matchy. You get a big notebook (it prints across 9 pages), seasonal notebook “stickers,” speech bubbles and “A Class to Note” letters.
The board messages are editable in Canva or PowerPoint, so you can type whatever New Year message you want. When the New Year vibe wears off, swap in the winter notebook board and keep the same look.
Grab the New Years Notebook Board and Door here
3. A Happy New Year Board You Can Use Every Year
This is the one you buy once and pull out every January. It’s all hand-drawn: big balloon bunches, a giant clock in 3 colour options, star glasses, party hats, streamers and noise makers.
The letters come in a few options, like “Happy New Year” and “New Year New Goals,” so nothing is stuck on one year. It doesn’t need a classroom theme either, so it works in any room.
Grab the Happy New Year Bulletin Board here
4. A One Word Vision Board Display
This is the one where your class makes the board for you. Students look back on last year, pick ONE word for the new year, then build a vision board around it. Hang them under “We Have Vision” or “New Year, Big Goals” and that’s your bulletin board.
One teacher said it best: “A fun, chill way to come back from winter break and we get a delightful bulletin board out of it as well!”
Grab the New Year Vision Board project here
A Well-Loved New Year Activity: The Resolution Letter
Okay, this one isn’t a bulletin board. But teachers have been using it every January for years (4.8 stars from 19 ratings), so it had to be here.
Students write a letter to themselves. They look back on last year, write about what they’re proud of, set goals for the new year, and finish with a little pep talk to themselves. Yes, a pep talk. Reading those is the best.
It comes with planning pages with prompting questions, a rough draft template and a final copy template, in print and Google. So it’s an easy first-day-back plan when everyone is still waking up.
Here’s my favourite way to use it, from a teacher who tried it: “I can’t wait to give this activity back to the students at the end of the year so they can see if they accomplished the goals they set for themselves in their letters at the beginning of the year.”
Hold onto the letters and hand them back in June. Trust me.
And here’s a bonus: the finished letters could make a really cute bulletin board. Hang the final copies with some bulletin board letters, like “New Year, New Goals” from the Happy New Year board, and you’ve got a writing activity AND a board your class made themselves. Add the balloons or a few party hats around the edges and it’s literally so cute.
Grab the New Years Resolution Letter here
What Goes Up After the New Year Board?
Most New Year boards are a first week thing. Once January settles in, switch to a winter board that can stay up until spring. The goose and notebook boards both have winter versions, so your door and board keep the same look the whole time.
All my winter picks are in my January bulletin board ideas post.
So, which of these New Year bulletin board ideas is going up first? The goose, the notebook, the balloons, or your class’s vision boards?
