Young children learn much about their world through observing and interacting with what surrounds them. In the childcare setting, this often includes bulletin boards, pictures, and other displays. Teachers and caregivers also can use doors, walls, and even ceilings to create displays.

Colorful and appropriate displays can play an important role in teaching children, parents, and guardians about important topics such as health and safety. Effective bulletin board displays can send influential messages and support the health and safety education of children in a wide range of ways.

Health and Safety Topics

Topic ideas to introduce to young children and their families through bulletin boards are nearly unlimited. Health topics displayed may include handwashing, dental health, nutrition, physical activity, health helpers, etc.

Safety topics often selected include buckling a seatbelt, recognizing traffic signs, fire safety and emergency drills, calling 911, water safety, sun safety, and using safety gear such as helmets, pads, or goggles.

You also can integrate health and safety issues through bulletin boards about other topics. For example, a bulletin board about cleaning up spilled milk can lead to discussion about slipping and falling and the importance of clean up.

Likewise, a bulletin board about tying shoes, a self-help skill, can prompt conversations about tripping and getting hurt from the fall. In addition, health and safety terms can be incorporated into a language development bulletin board. You can introduce symbols, signs, and words like poison, exit, caution, or danger.

Involving Children

Children may be actively involved in the creation of bulletin boards in the childcare setting by giving ideas, providing art work, painting the background cover, or collecting items from nature to include as decorative material (e.g., leaves). Your display also may include pictures of the children engaged in activities related to the display topic.

The appeal of bulletin boards can be broadened by making them interactive. For example, a display related to community helpers may have a container with cardboard or cloth hats that children select and place on the correct helper using “hook and loop” fasteners (e.g., Velcro). A display for routine hand washing or tooth brushing may have symbols for children to move when they complete the activity.

Bulletin boards, door designs, wall hangings, mobiles, and other displays can be utilized to visually introduce a topic to children. In the classroom or childcare setting, preschool children may initiate curious questions, share personal stories related to the display, or engage in dramatic play activities. Toddlers may spend time observing and pointing at new visuals of interest.

Safety Issues

When using bulletin boards to teach health and safety, it is critical that the displays themselves are safe. Flammable materials, small items that can cause choking, and sharp materials used to attach objects (e.g., thumbtacks) are a few examples of safety concerns.

• Most bulletin boards have a background cover of paper, cloth, plastic, or other material. Make sure the material is nontoxic, flame retardant, and will not release harmful gas or toxins if burned. Some state regulations limit the amount of space that can be covered with paper, so follow regulations that govern your program.
• Using three-dimensional objects adds interest to bulletin boards; but the size of the items should be influenced by the ages of children. Choking is a major cause of death for young children and ensuring appropriately sized materials is an important prevention step. Objects small enough to fit into a child’s mouth, such as small balls or bottle caps, should not be used on bulletin boards.
• Avoid items such as balloons, cellophane, or plastic wrap. While these items are festive, they present a choking hazard.
• Affix items to your bulletin board with double-sided tape, felt on felt, and hook-and-loop fasteners. Avoid staples, thumbtacks, push-pins, or other sharp items which may work loose or be removed by children who may swallow, squeeze, or step on them.

Bulletin Boards are Not Just for Children

Effective bulletin boards offer an opportunity to introduce children to new ideas and to engage them in activities and discussions focused on the content. Bulletin boards also can provide information for parents and guardians, guidance for volunteers and new caregivers, and serve as a resource for experienced caregivers and administrators.

Bulletin boards can provide important health and safety information to parents and guardians. Interaction with parents and guardians may be limited to the brief time they spend to drop off or pick up children, so effective displays may tell a story or provide information with pictures and very few words.

For example, large pictures of children’s clothing with drawstrings, ribbons, necklaces, and window blind cords could be posted with the words “Your child can be strangled by these!” Also, a visual reminder to “buckle-up” near the exit or parking lot may influence hurried parents.

Parent bulletin boards can also include a folder or packet for parents and guardians to pick up health information such as HIP on Health, as well as authorization forms, field trip notifications, and other documents.

Staff, volunteers, and substitutes may benefit from bulletin boards that provide reference information such as the daily schedule, location of first aid supplies, emergency procedures, and evacuation routes. Reminders for staff about their own health and safety also can be included.

Staff bulletin boards may be used in break rooms, offices, or near the staff entrance. Remember, confidential information about individual children, families, or staff should never be posted on a public display.

Appealing displays can be powerful and are well worth the investment of time to investigate topics and create works of art and education. Ideas are plentiful, and your own imagination may be your best resource of all.

Remember to consider safety issues when deciding where to locate the display, what the background will be, what objects to use, and how to attach them. Proper storage when the bulletin board is dismantled may allow you to use the same display again and again.

Connie Jo Smith, EdD
Assistant Professor, Consumer and Family Sciences Department, Western Kentucky University
and
Charlotte Hendricks, HSD
Editor, Healthy Childcare

Internet Resources

Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators: Teacher Helpers, Bulletin Board
Ideas, school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/bulletin/index.html

Kim’s Korner for Teacher Talk: Ideas for Bulletin Boards, www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/classmanagement/bulletinboards.html

Classroom Displays and Bulletin Boards, my.att.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=16&groupid=20303&ck=

Fire Safety Using a Bulletin Board, www.preschooleducation.com/bbfire.shtml