The Letter “B”

Useful links to “B” pages:
Birds
Bugs, Bees and Butterflies
Farm(Barnyard)
Teddy Bears
Beach Fun
Easter (Bunnies)
blueberries
bananas
Balloons
Bubbles
Buttons

Kididdles:
the letter “b”
Art Activities

“B” Stamps
Let the children use “B” stamps or sponges to create an art project.

“B” Collage
Have the children cut out the letter “B” from magazines and glue them onto a piece of paper.

“B” Collage
Make that letter “B” out of construction paper. Have the children cut the letter “B” out of magazines and glue them to the letter “B”.

Decorate a Letterclick here to see an image of this project- image submitted by Julia
Cut the letter “B” out of construction paper. Have the children decorate letter “B” with glitter, paint, markers or other art materials.

Glue LettersPlace glue on a piece of paper in the shape of the letter “B”. Have the children place glitter, colored rice or koolaid on the glue.

Contact Paper Art
click here to see an image of this project
You will need a reverse picture of the letter “B”. Place the image on the table and place a piece of contact paper, sticky side up over the image. Supply the children with scraps of construction paper to tissue paper. Children use the scraps to create the image on the contact paper.

Letter ArtPlace masking tape on a piece of finger painting paper to create the letter “B”. Allow the child to paint the picture. After the paint had dried remove the tape.

Cotton LettersPlace glue on a piece of paper in shape of the letter “B”. Have the children place cotton balls on the paper.

Letter Hands
Paint the child’s hands. Have the children make the letter “B” with their hands.

Letter Rubbings
Cut “B” shapes from paper doilies or sandpaper. Tape these letters to the table. Have the children place a piece of thin white paper over the letters and rub a crayon over the letter.

Shaving Cream Letters
Add a drop of food coloring to a baseball sized pile of shaving cream. Mix this with a paint brush. Have the children be very careful, and use smocks because the food coloring will stain their clothing and hands. Have the children paint the shaving cream on a white piece of paper. The children can finish by using their finger to draw the letter “B” in the shaving cream.
Variation, add glue to this mixture to create a puffy paint look.

Fingerprint Fun
basketball
beach ball
blue balloon
blueberry
blue bug
balloon
bat
bear
bee
bird
butterfly
butterfly2

Bells:
You will need yarn, a pencil, craft bells, Styrofoam cups and decorating materials. Have the children decorate their cup. Cut a piece of yarn, no longer than the height of the cup. Tie the yarn to the bell. Then poke a small hole on the bottom of the cup. Thread the yarn through the hole so the bell is inside the cup. Tie the yarn in a knot (or a couple of knots) so it will not come loose. Now you have a bell.

Bell Rings:
You will need to make these for the children. Older children can do the threading. Simply thread craft bells onto a small piece of elastic, long enough to fit around your children’s ankle or wrist. Then sew the two ends together. These can be used for group time dancing, songs and games below.

Create your book
This one takes some work… but is really fun for your child and you. Take pictures of family members, the family pet, or things your child recognizes, cars, animals… whatever. Paste or tape pictures to 8 by 11 pieces of construction paper.. and insert into sheet protectors. You can place these in a three ring binder, and leaf through the pages with your child. For older children… have the child pick a subject they like… such as dinosaurs… collect pictures from magazines… toy ads, and have the child help you write a story for the pictures.

Paint the Boxes
Let your child paint some boxes with tempera paint. Try painting it like a house, or a car, or a mountain. Let your child be creative.

Bean Collage
Supply your child with many different kinds of beans. Have your child glue the beans on a piece of paper to form a collage.

Tube Binoculars
Connect two cardboard toilet paper rolls with tape, and let your child use them as binoculars.

Games, Math and Science

Letter Match
Write upper case letters on one set of index cards and lower case on another. Have the children find the matches.

Bean Bag Toss
Obtain a large piece of cardboard. A large, unfolded box works well. Cut the letter “B” shape out of the cardboard. Paint the cardboard. When dry let the children throw bean bags through the “B” hole.

Letter Hop
Cut out large “B” shapes from colored paper (shelf liner works REALLY well). Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor and ask the children to hop from one letter to another. These may also be used at seat markers for group time.

Lacing Cards
Cut colored posterboard into the letter “B” or something that begins with the letter “B” and punch holes around the edges. Then let your child lace yarn or a shoestring into the cards.

Lion, Lion, BEAR!!!
Played like “Duck, Duck, Goose” except the children will go around the circle, and say “Lion” instead of “duck” and “Bear” instead of “Goose.”
Substitute Bear for other Zoo animals

Bell balancing: 3+
Supply the children with bells and a balance. Show the children how to make the balance even. Count the bells on each side.

Bell ringing: 3+
Supply the children with many different bells. What different sounds do they make. How are the sounds different.

Bell ringing 2: 3+
Supply the children with pairs of bells. Mix them up. See if they can find their matches by the sound.

Bell Sort: 3+
Provide the children with many different kinds of bells to sort by size or color.

Over the blocks
Set a block on the floor. Encourage your child to jump over the block. For younger children, you may have to hold his/her hand. When your child can jump over one block… add another.. and another, or for advanced jumpers, have the child help you build a little wall.

Block stacking
Count how many blocks your child can stack, and have fun knocking them over.

Bowling Game
You need:
At least 3, 2 liter bottles
Funnel
clean sand
a ball
What to do:
Soak the bottles in warm water, so the labels come of easily. Allow the bottles to dry, then use the funnel to fill the bottles 1/3 full with sand. Screw on the tops to the bottles tightly. You may choose to decorate with stickers, or glue on ribbons, or whatever you choose. Set the bottles up, and bowl away!!!

Basketball game
Easy game to play. Take a laundry basket, and a ball, and tell your child to throw the ball into the basket. You may use masking tape on the floor to mark a free throw line. Ask your child to be their favorite basketball star!!!

Beanbag Fun
listen to your favorite beanbag CD or toss beanbags into a laundry basket. for additional fun you can put your beanbags onto the parachute. Have the children try to keep the bean bags on the parachute, then have them try to knock them all off.

Box Hop Game
My son and I did this one today. He loves it. Set out a few box tops for your child to hop in and out of. Or line up three or four box tops, and have your child hop from box top to box top.

Box Blocks
Let your child stack big boxes for a big tower, let them knock it down.

Bead Hunt”Hide” Bead around a room, give your child a paper bag, and have them find the beads

Bead Sort
Have your child sort beads by color size and/or type.

Bead Patterns
String beads with your child. Show your child how to make patterns with the beads. See if your child can copy your pattern.

Bead Counting
Have your child count the beads. How many red? How many blue?

Bead Measuring
Place a good amount of different colored beads into a dish pan. Provide different containers and cups for your child to place the beads in. Small and large. Let them experiment on their own, and with you. Let them pour the beads from one container to the other. Which container holds the most beads, or the least?

Box Train
Attach a string to a box long enough for your child to hold while the box is on the floor. Then attach another box to the first box, and add another box. You may let your child paint or color the boxes like a train. When the train dries, let your child give his/her stuffed animals a ride in the train.

Bean Counting
Supply your child with many different kinds of beans. Have your child count the beans.

Bean Sorting
Supply your child with many different kinds of beans. Have your child sort the beans by type.

Bean Measuring
Place a good amount of different kinds of beans into a dish pan. Provide different containers and cups for your child to place the beans in. Small and large. Let them experiment on their own, and with you. Let them pour the beans from one container to the other. Which container holds the most beans, or the least?

Stages of Growth
Explain the stages of growth of a bean. If you can draw, or find pictures of the stages, laminate them, and ask your child to arrange the picture from first to last.

Box crawl
Obtain a large box. Open both the top and the bottom and show your child how to crawl through the box.

Box Maze
Obtain a number of boxes which are large enough for your child to crawl through. Connect the boxes together to form a maze. Tape the boxes together.

Bike Day
Have a designated day of the week where your children can bring in a bike. Safely block off a section of your parking lot or use a paved section of your play area for the children to ride their bikes.

Bike Parade
Have the children decorate their bikes and ride them outside for a parade.

Balance play.
Part of science is weighing items. Provide your children with a scale or balance for them to experiment with, and plenty of various items. This can usually be tied in with your theme. If you are doing winter, let them weigh snow vs water. Which weighs more? If you are doing valentines day have them weigh heart shaped beads.

Bell Ring Game:
Instructions on how to make bell rings in art section. Played like Doggie Doggie Where’s your Bone? With a twist. Older children will have a hard time keeping the bells quiet, and it will give younger children the advantage of hearing the bells. This is how the game is played. The teacher picks one child to sit in the middle and be the Doggie. Then the other children sit in a circle around the Doggie. The teacher picks one child to hold the bells (bone) behind their back, and all the children sit with their hands behind their back. Say the Chant:
Doggie, Doggie,
Where’s your bone?
Somebody took it from it’s home,
Upstairs, downstairs, by the telephone,
Wake up doggie, Find your bone.
The Doggie picks up to three people that he/she believes has the bells. One at a time, as picked, the children show their hands. If they pick the right child they “win”. Regardless the child with the “bone” become the next Doggie, and the old Doggie pick who will get the bells next.

Another Bell Game:
Bell relay race. Have a relay race where the first player had a bell ring on each wrist and ankle (four total). They run to the next person, and they have to take off all the bells and put them on the next person. (variation: only one person of the two may touch the bells).

Songs

Bell Ring Song:
Supply each child with a bell ring. (Instructions on how to make bell rings in art section.) Sing this song and follow the directions: Sung to Frere Jacques
Ring your bells,
Ring your bells,
Shake them left and right,
Shake them hard and light,
Ring them loud,
Ring them soft.

Ring your bells,
Ring your bells,
Shake them up and down,
Shake them all around,
Ring them loud,
Ring them soft.

Bells on Shoes:
Younger children will enjoy this activity. You can thread craft bell onto the shoelaces of your children. Then have your children walk around, dance, or stomp.

Little Bo Peep
Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And can’t tell where to find them
Leave them alone,
And they’ll come home
Wagging their tails behind them

Snacks

“B” Pretzels
Make your own pretzels and shape them like letters of the “B”.

“B” rolls
Shape roll or biscuits into letter shapes before baking.

“B” Cookies
Use your favorite sugar cookie recipe to make the dough. Use letter shaped cookie cutter, bake. When cool decorate as desired.

Bologna

Blueberries, Bananas, blackberries

Breakfast

Bake cookies. The easiest way to do this is to buy the already made cookie mix and have the children help place the dough onto the sheet. But for older children, have them start from scratch with a simple recipe.

Bake cupcakes. Buy a cake mix and have the children help mix the ingredients as instructed and have older children pour the cupcake mix into the containers.