Feature a flower or plant life cycle bulletin board around springtime, when flowers begin to bloom in abundance. These boards can help children discover how fast a plant goes from seed to bloom along with learning about plant care and nutrition. Display pictures of a seed when it first starts out in the ground and then showcase more pictures of the plant as it reaches each stage. You can get images from stock photo sites or create your own drawings. Have the kids in the class make paper flowers and glue these around the border or bottom portion of the board. Write about the life cycle on different sections of the board or write these facts inside cut-out paper flower shapes.
Design a bulletin board that features the life cycles of various sea creatures. You can create a board all about whales and include pictures from infancy to adulthood, or feature pictures of a sea turtle laying her eggs along with shots of hatchlings. Many sea turtles don't make it to the water because of predators, and you can write about this on the board along with other facts about the sea turtles' life cycles. Ask the kids to draw or paint their own images of various ocean life cycles and then feature an entire board full of the children's art. Include a title at the top of the board that says "Sea Life Cycles."
Create a bulletin board that showcases a butterfly's life cycle. Decorate the border of a board with paper butterflies or crafts that the children make. Feature pictures of a butterfly when it starts out as a caterpillar and then show it as a pupa in its chrysalis. Lastly, display a vivid picture of a butterfly breaking out of its chrysalis. Cut out colorful die-cuts or butterfly shapes and use a marker to write facts about a butterfly's life cycle on each one. You can also feature the life cycle of flies, ladybugs or other types of insects. A frog's life cycle displays a frog starting as an egg, then a tadpole, a tadpole with legs, a froglet and finally an adult frog. Create a pond scene background with tiny plastic frogs attached around the border of the board. You can cut out frog-shaped pieces of paper and write facts about the frog's life cycle on these, and then put the facts on the board.
Display a tree life cycle theme. Pick a specific type of tree, such as an oak or an apple tree; consider focusing on a type of tree that grows near your classroom or school. Use your bulletin board to show the tree as a seed, growing through maturity, and sprouting leaves, flowers and fruit, as appropriate to the type of tree you've chosen. Talk about how the rings on a tree show a tree's age and showcase pictures of these rings on the bottom of the board. You can also cut out tree paper shapes and write down facts on these before adorning the board with the shapes. You can talk about the fact that apple and other fruit trees may not bear fruit for the first few years.