Science classroom decor for middle school can be tricky. Creating a warm and inviting learning space is always on my mind each summer. What can I do to make my room better? How can my decor be functional?
Here are some ideas for decorating your middle school science classroom!
Focal Point Bulletin Board
Classroom Decor Advice: Pick a few areas to emphasize and add on more later. Don’t try to decorate every space in your room at once because you will burn out! This display board is right at the front of my room and students face it daily, so I spent extra time making it special. I wanted to create a fun display that I could leave up LONG TERM and that set the mood for some fun science learning.
Here is what you need to create a similar board. (Some affiliate links included.)
- Grab a Science Tapestry for the background.
- Use a science-themed boarder trim paper.
- Add some Curtain Sparkle lights– These are a perfect length for a bulletin board and they have 2 options for power. One is a battery pack that I used for a while the other is a usb port that connected right to my computer which I have on my desk next to this display. Both worked great.
- The letters for the word science are printed on this Astrobright paper using this KG Eyes Wide Open font. If you already own the font you can make your own using PowerPoint but if you are looking to save time with formatting I recommend you check out this bulletin board file from KG’s store.
- I printed the beakers on Astrobright paper for each of my class periods and laminated them. When we did competitions between classes (Jolly Rancher wars) I used a wet erase marker to tally points for each class. This could also be a place to write reminders that are for one period but not another! Here is the pdf file of the beakers for you to use in your classroom decor.
Seems distracting right? Well, yes and no. The lights have a setting so you can set them to just glow, twinkle, slowly transition or flash. It was really easy to set them based on what our class was doing. If we were playing a high energy game the flashing lights were fun!
Wall Mount Organizer
Our shared supplies area is high traffic so I used it as another focal point. I find that investing in some quality colored pencils and having them readily available makes a world of difference when we are working on Doodle Notes.
My crafty husband built this wall mount pencil organizer using inspiration from this one I found online. I wanted more than 4 cups for the different colors so I enlisted his help. We used drinking glasses from a garage sale and some left over wood from another project. He made it look easy! If I did not have his help I probably would have just bought 2 of these online.
Live and Learn- After using it for a while, I realize that 8 cups would work even better for having more color sorting options! Here are the colored pencils I buy each year and keep stocked for doing doodle notes. And YES…the kids actually put the right colors back in each cup. It’s amazing.
Classroom Wall Decor
My room has large wall surfaces with lots of old scuffs, nail holes and staple holes. I was told painting the walls was NOT allowed, so I needed a way to spruce up the walls and cover all the random marks. Here are a few ideas for large wall decor:
Giant Science Skill Word Mural-
I get compliments on this wall nearly every time a new teacher, sub or parent walks into my room. It just pops and catches your attention! Here’s what you need to make this.
- Card Weight Paper
- This blog post walks you through how to use PPT to reverse the direction of the letters! (template available too)
Scientist Posters in Frames–
This set of pdf posters is a free download from I am a scientist. I printed the color posters and then bought frames from Amazon and hung them with these Command strips. These covered all the really large holes in my walls and students enjoy reading them when working at the lab tables. I’m planning to keep them up for a few YEARS!
Molecule Wall Sticker DIY–
We have a molecules in motion unit in 6th grade, so I thought adding molecules to the decor would be fun. I searched online first for some decals and they were very expensive for the large space I wanted to cover. I wasn’t sure how this would come out but the result was much better than I had anticipated. Here’s what you need to make these large wall molecules:
- Vinyl Circle Stickers from Amazon
- Vinyl Tape from Amazon. (I bought the multi-color pack because I also use it to make a giant bracket in the hallway for March Mammal Madness. You can just buy black though if you want.)
The large molecules I made right on the wall, but the smaller ones I made in advance on wax paper. There was a bit of trial and error, but there is more than enough tape on the roll to make a few mistakes.
Printable Classroom Decor
After completing the word wall, science bulletin board and molecule wall I used some print and go decor items to pull the room together. This print and decorate set has a geology theme and to be honest we only do a short study of the rock cycle in 6th grade. I just like the bright colors!
Middle School Science Classroom Decor Set Includes:
(Zipped Folder with a PPT and PDF file)
– Large Science Banner (one letter per 8.5 x 11 page)
– Geology Joke Signs (8.5 x 11) EX: “Of Quartz I love Geology!” (7) (gem and geode backgrounds to choose from)
– Binder Cover and Spine Labels
– Motivational Signs (6)
– Voice Level Signs (4)
– Hand Signal Signs (8)
– Circle Banner Decor with and without letters
– Variety of Labels (gem and geode backgrounds)
– Geode Numbers
– Geode Watercolor art prints (6)
– Student Notebook Covers
– Hall Passes and Sign Out Sheet
Worth the effort…
Michaels last year.
We spend a lot of time in our classrooms so why not make them beautiful spaces for our students and ourselves? Remember, picking one or two areas of your room to spruce up makes the process fun and not overwhelming. It is fine to add a little each year and when you are faced with a room change – give yourself GRACE! Focal points draw attention to a few key areas so be sure to focus your creative energy on those.
Wishing you a beautiful classroom and successful start to the school year. Thanks for stopping by!
