Inventor’s Day is just around the corner, and it’s the perfect opportunity to celebrate creativity and innovation in your classroom! Transform your bulletin boards with these bulletin board ideas that showcase brilliant minds and groundbreaking inventions. These activities will inspire your students and earn you top marks on your teacher evaluation by meeting key criteria: displaying student work, listing the teaching standard, and keeping your boards fresh and updated.
Below are three inventive bulletin board ideas perfect for this special day. Each idea is fun, educational, and easy to implement, making it a great way to honor Inventor’s Day on February 11th.
Bulletin Board Idea #1: Fascinating Inventions Trivia
Get your students excited about Inventor’s Day by diving into the world of fascinating inventions! Select common everyday objects that were once groundbreaking innovations, and let your students uncover interesting facts about them. This activity turns ordinary objects into extraordinary stories, making learning fun and informative.
Examples include:
Pencils:
- Did you know that on March 30, 1858, Hyman L. Lipman patented the first pencil with an attached eraser? Before that, people used bread crumbs as erasers!
- Pencils can write in zero gravity and underwater.
Buttons:
- Buttons have been used for thousands of years. The oldest known button, made from a curved shell, dates back over 5,000 years to the Indus Valley Civilization.
- Buttons weren’t always used for fastening. In the 13th century, they were primarily decorative and didn’t become standard fasteners until later, when buttonholes were invented.
Paper Clips:
- The paper clip we know today was patented in 1899. Norwegian inventor Johan Vaaler designed it, which has since become a staple in offices worldwide.
- During World War II, the paper clip became a symbol of resistance. In Norway, people wore paper clips on their lapels as a sign of unity and resistance against Nazi occupation.
Post-It Notes:
- Post-it notes were invented by accident. In 1968, Dr. Spencer Silver at 3M attempted to create a strong adhesive but made a low-tack, reusable adhesive that eventually led to Post-It Notes.
- They almost didn’t make it to market. The initial launch in 1977 failed because consumers didn’t understand the product. A re-launch in 1980 with samples given away for free was a huge success, and Post-It Notes became an office essential.
Have each student research and write a sentence or two about their chosen object’s unique characteristics or history. Then, they display their work on a bulletin board that celebrates the ingenuity of inventors who made these everyday items possible.
Bulletin Board Idea #2: The Evolution of Technology
Showcase the incredible progress of technology with a timeline bulletin board! This idea involves students researching the evolution of a specific technological device, from its early invention to its modern-day version. It’s a fantastic way to combine history with technology and writing standards.
For this activity, students can focus on one of the following:
Music Players
- Students explore how music players have transformed from Thomas Edison’s 1877 Phonograph to the 2001 iPod.
Camera
- This timeline covers eight camera versions, beginning with the first camera in the 1820s and ending with the Camera Phone in 1999.
Telephone
- Starting with Bell’s Early Model Phone in the 1870s, students can trace the telephone’s history through eleven versions, concluding with the 1999 Camera Phone.
Get the Handouts
The handouts for these activities are available in black-and-white and full-color options, perfect for digital use or printing. These Google Slides handouts include images with lines for students to write descriptions, making creating a visual and educational timeline display easy.
After students complete their research, print the slides and display them on a bulletin board, creating a vivid timeline that shows how these devices have evolved thanks to inventive minds.
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Bulletin Board Idea #3: Simple Inventions Worth a Million Dollars
Spark your students’ entrepreneurial spirit by exploring simple inventions that made millions! This activity allows students to research and write about how seemingly simple ideas became massive financial successes.
Examples include:
Post-It Notes and Scotch Tape
- Learn how these everyday items generated billions of dollars in revenue.
Pet Rocks
- Discover how selling rocks for $4 each became a $15 million idea in 1975.
Fidget Spinners
- Discuss how this simple toy became a $500 million business.
After researching, students can write about how these inventors turned simple concepts into big money. To extend the activity, encourage students to brainstorm their million-dollar ideas!
Creating Your Inventor’s Day Bulletin Boards
Putting it all together is a breeze! Have students research interesting facts or inventors for each idea, then write and illustrate their findings. Their work can be displayed on full sheets of paper or cut-out shapes related to the invention.
Tips for Display:
- Scatter the papers or shapes creatively across the bulletin board.
- Add a catchy caption and include the teaching standard.
In just a few steps, you’ll have a bulletin board that’s both educational and visually appealing, ready to celebrate Inventor’s Day and inspire your students.
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2 comments
I love this idea. It gives practice in researching and in writing. The amount of work is smaller than a regular research so it works well for the students who are not as advanced.
It is fun for the students to share what they learned. I can’t wait to try it for a bulletin board in the school hallway.
Author
Thank you so much for your kind words! I can’t wait to see how your bulletin board turns out—it sounds like it’s going to be fantastic! 😊