Whether you're an educator planning 'Letter B Week' in your classroom or a parent looking for creative ways to teacher letters to your child at home, this blog post is your guide to creating a fun Letter B Week and unlocking the potential of the letter 'B' through hands-on experiences and imaginative crafts.
I've put together a list of letter B crafts for preschoolers and school children that are for items that start with the letter B and are shaped like the letter B, so they reinforce both the physical formation and the sound of the letter. I've also got a list of letter B activities that include visual, tactile, auditory and movement based ideas. These are great activities to do in kindergarten, at home, in class at school, or during homeschooling with children aged 3-6yrs old.
LETTER OF THE WEEK CRAFTS: LETTER B
The letters of the alphabet are one of the first concepts taught in school because they're the foundation for reading and writing, communication skills and language development. It's important that students have a strong grasp of the letters of the alphabet including letter formation and phonics so they can then recognise the letters, understand the sounds they make and use them to form written words and to learn to read.
Below is an extensive list of 13 letter B crafts that include both lowercase and uppercase options for animals and sensory crafts in the shape of B {or b}. I've also added 10 additional crafts that can be done during letter B week that aren't in the shape of B, but will help to reinforce the phonetic sound of B.
B is for Bee
B is for Bee is probably the most appropriate craft for the letter B because the animal sounds exactly the same as the letter. It's also really easy to make a letter B bee by using yellow paper or card and adding black stripes, wings and antennae.
b is for bunny
This b is for bunny craft is a great process art craft and as you can see from the images below, it doesn't matter whether the bunny parts are in the correct spot at the end, as long as they end up on the letter b. This is also a great example of how a planned craft can still turn out unique for each child.
B is for Butterfly
A capital B lends itself well to being transformed into a butterfly as the shape already looks like a butterfly thorax, abdomen and wings, you just need to extend it a little to add a head and antennae. You can make a letter B butterfly suncatcher {as shown below}, or simply stick a black B outline and coloured paper onto a sheet of white paper.
b is for butterfly
A lowercase b can also be used to represent a butterfly by adding the butterfly wings to the back of the letter. If you look closely you'll see this b butterfly actually includes a capital B as well.
B is for Bird
Turn a capital letter B into a bird by adding some feet, eyes, beak and feathers like The Measured Mom. I recommend pre cutting the feet and beak shapes if doing this craft with younger children who don't have well developed scissor skills.
b is for bird
A lowercase b can also be turned into a bird by adding feathers, an eye and a beak. Although this letter b bird reminds me more of a flamingo or peaco*ck showing off their feathers. It would look great with peaco*ck craft feathers.
B is for Beaver
A capital B can also be made into a beaver using this free template. The template includes shapes for the ears, tail, nose, hair and buck teeth.
B is for Bear
You can also make a capital B bear with this free printable B is for bear craft. This one is a great way for children to get lots of fine motor practice as they cut out the template, colour it in and also trace the word Bear.
B is for Bat
This letter B bat craft also comes with a free printable template that can be printed in colour, or printed blank so children can colour it in themselves. This one would also be a great Halloween craft to do during October.
B is for Balloons
B can also be for balloons, although they aren't in the shape of a letter B, they can be added to the front of the letter B. Use the free printable letter B and balloon templates to create your own.
B is for Bubble Wrap
A fun way to represent the letter B is by creating a sensory B with bubble wrap. This craft teaches the letter formation, letter sound and adds in tactile and auditory sensory elements as the children touch and pop the bubble wrap.
B is for Bubbles
Another way to make a sensory letter B is to use bubble painting to decorate a letter B. To do this children will blow coloured bubbles onto the paper and when they dry they act as paint. This is a great active way for kids to create craft as they have to physically make the bubbles themselves.
B is for Body
This letter B body craft can be used to help teach children different parts of their body. You can take photos of each child and use pictures of their actual body parts to decorate the letter B, or use these free printable parts of the body cards to save time if you're doing this with a large group of children.
MORE B CRAFTS FOR LETTER B WEEK
If you want to do more crafts during letter B week, that aren't shaped like the actual letter, try some of these below.
LETTER B ACTIVITIES
It's important that letter of the week activities are varied and engaging in different ways to cater for all children whether they are primarily visual, auditory or kinaesthetic learners. Including a variety of activities from the list below, in addition to crafts, will ensure the letter B is reinforced continuously and in various physical, visual and interactive ways.
Letter search - use letter search pages for children to practice recognising and distinguishing the letter B/b from other letters.
Letter B tracing - children can practice forming the letter B in both uppercase and lowercase by using these free letter B worksheets,letter tracing books,wooden tracing boardsordry erase boards.
Object recognition - use physical objects or pictures of items that start with the letter B to reinforce the sound and make connections between the letter and items that start with that sound. E.g ball, bowl, book, bottle, balloon, banana.
Read books - during the week read picture books that emphasise the letter B. Some ideas include:
Letter B themed snacks - have blueberries and bananas as a snack one day during B week.
Sensory play - create sensory bins based around figurines that start with the letter B. This could include letter B magnets or blocks, balls, butterflies, bells and lots more.
You can also do ball painting which is a fun, relatively mess-free, sensory painting activity.
Letter B movement activities:
- Outdoor letter B scavenger hunt: hunt outside for objects or hidden items and flashcards that start with letter B
- Letter B bean bag toss: throw bean bags at a target and try to only hit the letter B
- Letter B basketball: throw a basketball into the hoop, every time it goes in say a word that starts with B
- Letter jumping: draw letters on the ground with chalk and get children to jump on the letter B/b's
- Move like letter B animals: flutter like a butterfly, buzz like a bee, bounce like a bunny, flap like a bird, scuttle like a beetle.
MORE LETTER OF THE WEEK CRAFTS
- Sensory Alphabet: A is for Aluminium Foil
- Sensory Alphabet: B is for Bubble Wrap
- Sensory Alphabet: C is for Cotton Balls
- Sensory Alphabet: D is for Dot
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