Keep students interested in reading during the summer months with a contest bulletin board. Decorate the board with an aquatic or nautical theme for a summer touch, and write "Dive into Reading" across the top. Use a blue paper background to represent the water, and decorate the bulletin board with cutouts of fish, coral, seaweed, scuba divers or sunken ships. Entice students further by placing a cutout of an open treasure chest in a prominent spot on the bulletin board. Write out the available prizes for most books read. Offer a list of theme-appropriate reading suggestions, like "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne or "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson, to inspire students to start reading.
Science fiction and fantasy books are popular among students, so use a magical or supernatural theme to promote your reading contest. Such a theme would be especially appropriate around Halloween. Use a black paper cutout of a cauldron as your bulletin board's centerpiece, and surround it with cutouts of smoke, bubbles, cobwebs, magic wands and mystical creatures. Write "Spellbinding Stories" or "Books that Put a Spell on You" at the top of the bulletin board and include contest details. Write out the different prizes inside the bubbling cauldron, and include a list of reading suggestions including works by C.S. Lewis or J.K. Rowling.
Decorate your bulletin board to look like a smorgasbord of candies and other sweet treats. Write "Sweet Reads" or "Unwrap a Good Book" at the top of the bulletin board, and cover it with pastel colors. Decorate the bulletin board with cutouts or drawings of cupcakes, hard candy, ice cream sundaes, cookies and fruits. Use a cutout of a large, tiered cake as your centerpiece and add prizes as part of the cake decorations. Include other important details on the bulletin board like the contest rules, start and end dates and a list of suggested books like "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl or "The Chocolate Touch" by Patrick Skene Catling.