Cut a strip of white paper to make a small banner that stretches across the upper part of the door. With a black marker, write in freehand or stencil in the words "Stopping by Our Community" across the banner.
Cut letters from stoplight green construction paper to spell out, "Let's Go!" Tape or sticky tack these letters just beneath the banner so that students can see them from inside the classroom.
Cut letters from stoplight red construction paper to spell out, "Don't Stop!" Tape or sticky tack these letters to the lower face of the door.
Cut school bus shapes from yellow construction paper or card stock to use as background placards for information that you want to share with students.
Add pictures of a library, police station, train station, bus terminal, hospital, restaurant and other destinations within a community and label with each building's name to teach about neighborhood places.
Have students bring in photos or write descriptions of their houses to represent where they live. Add these student designs to individual school bus shapes. Place these on the door with the community school buses.
Point to specific buildings during class discussions to teach students about the importance of that place within their community. For example, ask a student to point to the place he would go to if he wanted to check out a book about fossils or where her mother would take her to take a train trip to a distant city.
Let students suggest other elements that they might add to the door decoration. Add stop signs, railroad tracks, winding roads, a farm animal or two, a policeman directing traffic and other related items as the school year progresses.