Letter B Activities
Below you will find projects and activities that will help you and your child explore this letter. Keep in mind that this theme page is really aimed at younger children, up to about age 5. Don't be fooled into thinking that these projects and activities are too simple for this age group. Young children thrive on simplicity - it gives them the opportunity to work independently, to understand the task at hand, and to "own" their work. Immersing them in projects and activities that center around a particular theme (in this case the letter "B") allows them to gain a greater understanding of the theme and internalize it.
There are many projects and activites listed here. Don't think that you have to do them all. You can pick just a few things to do if you want, then move on to another theme. On the other hand, you can choose to spend several days on this theme and do all the projects. In addition, you can incorporate some of your own ideas into this theme to truly make it your own. This is just a guide to get you started.
Words Beginning With "B"
Talk with your child about the letter "B", the sound it makes, and words that start with this letter.
boat
bear
bubble
book |
balloon
baby
boy
bat |
banana
ball
bus
boot |
bird
button
box
blocks |
"B" Projects
Introducing the Letter "B"
I'm sure there are dozens of ways that you can introduce the letter "B" to your child during crafting. If you are using a phonics program with your child, this would be the time to work on "B" within the program. Frontline Phonics
does an excellent job of introducing letters one at a time and blends nicely with the theme approach. This is one way you can introduce the letter "B" through crafting. Remember, simple crafts work well with young children.
Directions: Draw out both a capital and lower case letter "B" on construction paper several times in several colors. (You can use this template and print them out to save yourself some time.) When I did this with my children, I cut out the letters and let them decorate them with markers and stamps. Then we taped them up randomly on the "art wall" so that they could look at them all week while they played (leaving plenty of room for hanging up the rest of the week's projects.). Here are some variations you may want to try: let your child cut out the letters, don't cut them out at all, decorate with things you glue on like tissue paper scraps, buttons, foam shapes, etc., decorate with glitter glue. In addition, if you don't have a wall dedicated to your child's art, you can put the b's up on the fridge, tape them up on a door, or tape them to a wall in your child's room.
"B" Collage
Supplies: 1 sheet of construction paper per child; assorted magazines, fliers, and newspapers; glue stick;
Directions: Assemble all your magazines, fliers and newspapers in a pile. Have your child search through them for pictures of things that start with "B" or for the letter "B" itself, and carefully tear out the picture. (If you want to get in some cutting practice, they can use scissors and cut out the pictures instead of tearing them.)
Once they have torn out 10-20 pictures (depending on the size), they should use the gluestick to clue the pictures down onto the construction paper. (I recommend a gluestick instead of bottle glue because it is less messy and dries much faster.) Once they have created their collage, encourage them to show you all their pictures and to make the "B" sound at the beginning of each word. Don't forget to tell them what a good job they did finding all the "B" words.
NOTE: Very young children will need help finding the pictures, but will really enjoy tearing out the pictures. Don't forget to talk with your young child about the sound "B" makes. Even my two year old got the idea on this project.
Fingerprint Bumble Bees
Supplies: 1 sheet paper (we used copy paper), yellow and black washable stamp pads.
Directions: Stamp the child's thumb in yellow. Using the black stamp pad and your child's pinky, lightly dot on a head and make an even smaller dot for the stinger. Use small black pinky dots to create the bee's black stripes (only one or two stripes will fit). Using black paint and your child's index finger, stamp many times onto a piece of scrap paper or paper towel until almost all the paint is gone (to create a very light gray color). Then stamp a wing above the body at a slight angle and a second wing above the body at an opposite angle.
We used the stamp pads to create bees on paper, but if you want to decorate with "bees" on other things like terra cotta pots, or heavy construction paper, you might want to use another type of paint.
Paper Plate Bumble Bee
Supplies: 1 paper plate, yellow paint, black marker, black construction paper, wax paper, large wiggle eyes (optional), transparent tape, scissors.
Directions: Paint your paper plate yellow and let dry. While that's drying, cut a triangle out of the black construction paper for the stinger. Cut the wings out of wax paper. (Cut one large, long oval, then cut it in half across the short edge to make two "u" shaped wings.). Once the plate is dry, draw black stripes and the bee's face. If you are using wiggle eyes, glue them on the face. Glue (or tape or staple) the stinger on and tape the wings on.
Bumble Bee on a Flower
Supplies: Blue, yellow, black, and green construction paper, wax paper, scissors, glue stick.
Directions: I did this project totally free hand, so I don't have a template for you to use. I just cut out the shapes below and let the kids create their own picture by gluing the parts down on the blue construction paper (background sheet). It sounds too simple, but they had a ball and their pictures turned out pretty good.
Cut out a tulip shape out of red, cut out leaf shapes and stem out of green, cut an oval out of yellow, cut strips of black for the bee's stripes, cut bee wings out of wax paper.
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