Letter B: Letter of the Week (Age 3)
Here's what our week looked like for Letter B:
Read, Read, Read. I love reading to my kids on a daily basis. My almost three has always loved being read to, but my one is just starting to like it. A lot of days, I'll read to both of them while they're eating breakfast. I checked out our Letter B Booklist at the library a week in advance. The picture above were our very favorite books, but you view more great Letter B books by clicking on the booklist link.
Read Letter B Book. We also love to read these Little Letter Books from The Measured Mom. There are only eight or so pictures in each booklet. I pointed out the uppercase and lowercase B's (since we are focusing on both this year) and we talked about the pictures.
Letter B Songs & Rhymes. This year, I'm putting together an interactive set of songs & rhymes for each letter of the alphabet. I know this series is focused on my almost three, but my one year old had so much fun doing the Letter B Songs & Rhymes with us this week.
Letter B Fill Activity. I brought out our bear counters to fill in the Letter B. My almost three grabbed the first bear and started to trace down the left side of the B - yes, he is ready for a marker. I'm trying to decide if we should still do fill activities or only use a marker for pre-writing skills. Anyways, after tracing the B a few times, I had my almost three fill in the bear. Click here to view other ways to use these bear counters.
Writing Practice. Every child is different, but my almost three loves writing letters! We practiced writing Letter B's on our ABC Write & Wipe. I showed him how to write the letters and he loved being able to write the letter B, erase it, and write it again. Because he loves writing so much, we practiced more with "B's of All Sizes" from The Measured Mom.
Craft #1: Bear Finger Painting. Each week we do three crafts. I will save one of the crafts for each letter and compile them into a "craft alphabet book" to have at the end of the series. Print your B is for Bear on card stock from Twisty Noodle. I love this site, because you can customize what you'd like to write at the top of the page. I chose dotted Letter B's, so we'd have a little extra writing practice this week. I helped my almost three trace Letter B's and gave him a bowl of pudding to finger paint. Don't forget to see how we used this bear to review shapes this week. My almost three and one loved this activity.
Craft #2: Butterfly Craft from The Measured Mom: I love contact paper and tissue paper crafts! I cut out a black butterfly from construction paper and place it on the sticky side of contact paper (the B is going to look backwards, so when you hang it on the window it's facing the correct way). I brought out a bunch of colored tissue paper squares, but my almost three only wanted to use the blue ones.
Craft #3: Tape Resist Art Bumble Bee. I love how our bee turned out! I put lines of tape across a Letter B and my almost three painting the B with black paint (see the picture on the right). When the paint dried, we removed the tape and glued on eyes and wings. "We can't forget a stinger!" He was so proud of his bee!
Color Review - Butterfly Match from Olives Originals. My almost three drew a bit letter B, identified the color and found its match. I like that this activity review colors as well as our Letter B.
Math - Feed the Bear Shape Review: Do you recognize the bear from our pudding finger painting craft above? Once the pudding dried, I cut out the bear and glued it onto white paper. Then, I taped the paper onto an empty Kodiak Cakes box and cut a hole in the bear's mouth. I printed a set of blank fish cards (from mom inspired life) and drew shapes on them. I had my almost three draw one shape at a time, identify the shape - because the bear needs to know what shape he's being fed!, and put the fish into the bear's mouth. My almost three and one loved this activity!
Math - Bear Numbers & Counting. I love these Bear Counting Cards from Creating & Teaching. This activity reviews colors, numbers, one-to-one counting and fine motor skills. You can even compare the cards to compare more and less than. My almost three drew a card and identified the number and color on the card. He counted "1, 2, 3" as he placed a counting bear on the green dots. Click here to view other ways to use these bear counters. Note: You need to create a free account to print the bear counting cards.
Sensory Bin - Bubbles & Block Play from The Measured Mom. This was a highlight of our week. We had about an hour before dinner time and spent it wisely. I put my almost three and one in their high chairs, brought out some blocks and a bowl full of bubbles. I made the bubbles by whisking water and dish soap together in a bowl. I scooped the bubbles off the top of the water and put them in a bowl. I loved watching my kids creativity. My almost three built a tub with his blocks and filled it with bubbles and an action figure. "Look mom! Elsa is tubbing in pickle water!"
Letter Bb Activity #1 - Balloon Roll & Pop. The point of this game is to roll the die and identify the Big B or little b. Then, use a golf tee to find and pop a balloon with the same letter. However, my almost three didn't want to pop any balloons! We just played with them instead and did the Letter B Roll & Race from This Reading Mama.
Alphabet Review - Bear & Band-aid Letter Match from Totschooling: Each week I like to review the entire alphabet, so my almost three can see the big picture. We pretended our bear was hurt and needed some assistance. The bear fell on his bike and is bleeding letters A-L (convenient the letters are written in red). My almost three put band-aids (office stickers with letters A-L) on the matching letters to stop the bleeding. Once all the band-aids were in place, we turned the bear over and finished letters M-Z. My almost three loved this activity pretending to be doctor.
And that's it!
