December is one of the busiest months in the classroom, and one of the most fun. These 11 Christmas bulletin board ideas can help you get your room ready for it. Some use big pieces that go up fast, some your students help make, and a few are just plain silly.
These Christmas bulletin board ideas include fun classroom mascots, cozy reading displays and crafts your students will love creating. You will find 7 festive ideas first, then 4 Christian Christmas bulletin board ideas for celebrating Jesus’ birth and preparing for Christmas during Advent.
There is a Christmas bulletin board for every classroom!
Festive Christmas Bulletin Board Ideas
1. Welcome Your Flock with a Christmas Goose
Your classroom goose has officially entered its Christmas era. This big, silly guy goes on your bulletin board or classroom door with the message “Welcome to the Flock.”
The large goose does most of the decorating work, so you won’t have to arrange tons of tiny pieces to make your board feel complete. Use the speech bubbles to have your silly goose share a Christmas joke, a Christmas greeting or a class announcement!
Grab the Christmas Goose Bulletin Board & Door Decorations.
2. Give Your Composition Notebook a Christmas Makeover
Already have a composition notebook board up? Good news. Your notebook can dress up for December, too!
Add a cute Santa hat and some seasonal paper “stickers,” and your notebook is ready for the holidays. When the seasons change, swap the notebook stickers and a few coordinating pieces. Same board all year, without a full redo every month. Use it on a bulletin board or classroom door, and add a speech bubble whenever your notebook has something important to say!
New to the notebook board? Here’s how the composition notebook classroom theme works all year.
Grab the Christmas Composition Notebook Display.
3. Create a Cozy Christmas Reading Corner
A fireplace in the classroom? Always yes! This paper version brings all the cozy vibes but is a little more… you know… safe. There are stockings, snowy windows, stacks of books, and mugs of hot cocoa. Dreamy!
The large hand-drawn fireplace goes right behind your classroom library or meeting space. Add “Cozy Christmas” or “All Is Calm, All Is Bright,” and set out a basket of seasonal books nearby.
That’s it. Slow down and settle in with a good book.
Grab the Christmas Fireplace Bulletin Board.
4. Decorate Christmas Trees Together
There will always be something nostalgic about a class Christmas tree decorated by your students. Use the giant paper trees and ornament templates, and it’ll look amazing.
There are 3 tree designs to choose from, plus ornaments, candy canes and tree toppers! Students can even create their own ornaments using the 12 templates and the included writing prompts, which help you sneak some writing into the fun!
Finish with “Merry and Bright” or “Oh Christmas Tree,” and you’ve got a display you made together with your students.
Grab the Christmas Tree Bulletin Board & Ornament Templates.
5. Count Down to Winter Break with Stockings
This stocking Christmas bulletin board looks adorable AND counts down to winter break.
There are 2 ways to count down. Take the number tags off the stockings one day at a time until you hit 1. Or remove the numbered stocking, revealing a fun Christmas themed activity for the class to do together. There are 20 decorative stockings included, 20 activity ideas for the countdown reveal and 5 different options for bulletin board letters.
Grab the Christmas Stocking Countdown Bulletin Board.
6. Brighten Your Board with Christmas Lights
Brighten your space with this adorable Christmas lights bulletin board. Make it together with your students! Give each student a Christmas lights template and a writing prompt, and their writing becomes the board.
There are multiple ways to do this Christmas lights bulletin board. You’ll find pre-coloured light bulb templates, light templates that you can print onto coloured paper or white templates that students can colour on their own.
Grab the Christmas Lights Bulletin Board & Craft.
7. Build a Gingerbread Bulletin Board
This Christmas bulletin board idea includes gingerbread houses, gingerbread people and board letters. You can even use the editable template to type your students’ names on the little gingerbread man templates.
Your students fill out a winter wishes template, and their gingerbread people finish the board. There are multiple options for bulletin board letters, including: The Perfect Batch, Baking Seasons Bright and Warm Winter Wishes.
Want a closer look at this display? Read more about the gingerbread bulletin board.
Grab the Gingerbread Bulletin Board Kit.
Christian Christmas Bulletin Board Ideas
For Catholic and Christian classrooms, your display can support the conversations you want to have with your students, like the reflection that comes with this season. These Christian Christmas bulletin board ideas range from a large nativity scene to an Advent wreath that you can update together each week.
8. Make the Nativity Your Classroom’s Focal Point
Keep the story of Jesus’ birth at the centre of your Christmas display with a large, hand-drawn nativity scene with a calming colour palette. Choose the message that best fits your space: “O Holy Night,” “O Come Let Us Adore Him,” or “The Greatest Gift of All.”
Grab the Nativity Bulletin Board.
9. Reflect on Jesus as the Light of the World
This display pairs colourful Christmas lights with the message “Jesus Is the Light of the World,” bringing student creativity into your Christmas or Advent season.
Students can complete an optional Christmas light craft and respond to one of the included writing prompts, and their work goes right up on the board.
You could introduce the activity with a class conversation about what light helps us do, then connect that discussion to Jesus. It’s a meaningful option when you want your students to help create a Christian Christmas display through both art and reflection.
Grab the Jesus Is the Light Christmas & Advent Bulletin Board.
10. Share the Reason for the Season
A large Christmas tree and cross bring the message of this board into focus: “Jesus Is the Reason for the Season.”
The big Christmas tree and cross graphic gives you a great starting point for talking about why Christians celebrate Christmas. Surround the tree and cross with your choice of hand-drawn details, gingham banners, crosses, Christmas lights and bows.
There are 3 lettering options, including “’Tis the Season, ’Tis the Reason,” so you can choose the wording that suits your classroom. This display works well in a classroom, school hallway, or shared space where its message can invite a moment of reflection throughout the season.
Grab the Jesus Is the Reason for the Season Bulletin Board.
11. Watch Your Advent Wreath Change Each Week
This Advent wreath bulletin board grows with your classroom’s weekly observance. Update the week banner and “light” the paper candles as you move through Advent together.
Hand-drawn greenery, a wreath bow, and candles create the display, with 3 purple candles, 1 pink candle, and 1 white candle included. The themes of hope, peace, love, and joy give you something new to talk about each week.
Choose a heading such as “The Joy of Anticipation” or “Prepare the Way of the Lord.” Then make updating the wreath part of your weekly classroom routine. It’s a small, visible way to mark the anticipation of Christmas.
Grab the Advent Wreath Bulletin Board.
Bring a Little Christmas Joy to Your Classroom
The best Christmas bulletin board ideas are the ones that fit your classroom and the time you have available. That might mean a silly goose greeting students at the door, a gingerbread village or an Advent wreath that becomes part of your weekly reflection.
Choose the display that makes sense for your December, add your favourite details, and invite your students to join in where they can. All you need is a little paper and a designated spot on the wall (or your classroom door!).
Getting ready for January too? Here are 8 winter bulletin board ideas that last until spring.
