Gorgeous Safari Themed Classroom for Upper Elementary (Current Work in Progress)

Simple classroom decoration ideas can be gorgeous! I am in the process of moving to another classroom so I am changing my theme for a fresh new look. I am going for a muted safari classroom theme for my 5th grade room. We have a partnership with the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park education team and have monthly lessons with them so this is a perfect fit for our conservation focus. It isn't finished but seeing a work in progress shows the reality. It was a.....mess when I got the room but that is another story.

I'll start with some of my favorite pictures.

I just love these wooden silhouettes of safari animals. 

• I purchased the 16" set of 5 safari animals on Etsy.  Similar on Amazon
• The bamboo roll of heavy paper is from Amazon. 
• The fringe border can be found on Amazon.
• Tropical leaves are from Amazon.
• The "Wild About Learning" letters are from Amazon and were placed on a torn piece of butcher paper.
• The animals are on a light leopard wrapping paper I purchased from Society6 or Amazon
• The paper flowers were decorations I had from a fiesta.

(FYI Amazon affiliate links are included.)

You can see the shelves under the display are still a mess. I'm doing the wall first to make it feel like my space and then I'll work on organization.

The 5th safari silhouette is under the TV between two white boards. All five animals come in the Etsy pack!

This is the library area in progress. I had the painting of the Earth that an art docent did on a drop cloth. We used Modge Podge to add the letters. Don't you love the mosquito net! It is from Amazon. I bought a pack of butterflies on Amazon and stapled them onto the net. The "Reading is like breathing in, Writing is like breathing out" art is on a canvas I bought at the thrift store and painted black. The letters are were cut with a Cricut.

My sister painted this giraffe on butcher paper. She is the brains behind all of the design. She sent the links for all of the products and I purchased them so that when she was in town, we could put the room together. I'm good at following her directions.

She traced it out, painted it, and then used an X-acto knife to cut it out.

Now for the elephant in the room. I'm so silly.

The leopard trim around the white board is from Amazon. I also got a black and white trim from Amazon that you'll see in other pictures.

Above the window, I put paintings I've had students create over the years. They are on 12"x 12" canvas. I stuck T pins through them to put them up so they won't move. I left an inch of space under the art to put up the grass skirt which is from Amazon.

Here is my artistic sister. She also painted a toucan for above the door.

My mom and sister have been my right hand people on a lot of projects. My sister was in town to help with a fiesta celebrating my son and his new wife. So we had just all three been in an out of state wedding and then pulled off a big party two days before this classroom decor session. Talk about being my people!

Thank goodness for Uber Eats because my mom, sister, and I were going to go work for two hours and ended up staying longer and we needed sustenance. I hadn't used Uber Eats and it wasn't cheap but we went for it.

Want to see more options for Safari classroom decor? Click Here to go to ideas on Amazon.

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