I inherited a classroom with large “well-loved” wall. I’m guessing this was last painted over 20 years ago! Huge nail holes and countless staples (some of which were not possible to remove) are what I had to work with. Painting it? NOT AN OPTION. So, I decided to use huge letters and some free scientist photos to cover as many blemishes as possible and give it some new life!
Making large letters for your walls and bulletin boards is SO easy!
Here are the steps in Power Point!
- Open a new document and set the page size to 8.5 x 11 (Design, slide size, letter paper)
- Insert a text box on the page and enlarge the font to fill the entire page. (I changed font size to 900 but it depends on what font you are using.)
- You will want to change the fill and outline by going to text options. Highlight the text box and then select no fill and solid outline and width of 2 pt.
- It’s nice to have the black outline on the back side of the letter when cutting. To do that, highlight the letter and go to text options, 3d rotation and change the X rotation to 180.
Here’s a quick video of that process:
The video and checklist above should help you make YOUR OWN Powerpoint but if you are looking to save time I have a pre-made template for you start from.
As you can see I made the words on different colors. I tried printing on both regular and card stock and while they both work, the thicker paper is a LOT easier to hang on the walls! Here is the brand of paper that I prefer, but I’m sure any card weight paper would work fine! There are tons of color options. (I picked colors to match my other classroom decor.)
Now on to the scientist photos! These are so awesome and totally free. I downloaded the free files from iamascientist.info and printed them at 8.5 x 11 size. A little trimming and they fit perfectly into these black frames. They are plastic with a glass front and super lightweight and since I didn’t want to make any more nail holes in the walls I used these command strips (one pair per frame was enough even though it recommends two) to hang them.
How did I spread out the words and pictures? I thought about measuring and planning but there were some huge nail holes that absolutely had to be covered. So I put the largest letters (DISCOVER) over the ugliest spots and worked from there. Then, I staggered the rest to fit the wall space that I was working with.
TIP: Use sharpies that match the color of the letters to color over the staples. This makes the words look more like vinyl wall decor (from a distance of course)!
Here are a few other room set-up pictures to inspire your classroom decor! This is my OPEN YOUR MIND to SCIENCE bulletin board.
These are supply reminder icons that you can use to help students come to class prepared. They work great with magnets if you have a metal door frame. My students like the visual reminder as they enter the classroom. You can also use them to display on your front board.
This set of root word 1/2 page posters will brighten any science room and are a great reference tool that you can use throughout the whole year.
Here is my latest creation- a set of calm watercolor science decor prints. These are editable too!
I hope you find these classroom decor ideas helpful and that they save you time for other things like planning, grading and most importantly your friends and family!
Kate
