Week 2 Lesson Bb

Surprise your child by introducing Bobby Bear in the following way. Cut out bear tracks and put them on the floor leading to a basket full of things that begin with the letter "b." Introduce the letter B by printing up a card with the letter Bb and a picture of an bear. Bobby Bear is an animal whose name begins with the letter "b."

Literature: Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.
Make a stop at your library if you don't own it. After reading the book, encourage your child to identify things in their environment that begin with the letter "b." You can do this while out shopping, driving, etc. You can even do it in the sing song style of the book, "Child's Name, Child's Name, what do you see?" They may or may not stick to the letter "b" but when it's your turn, you can do "b" stuff. It'll be good practice for them on any of the letters.

Music: BINGO, The Bear Went Over the Mountain, Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Sing the songs and talk about the letter.

Language: Introducing "big"
Talk about comparisons and how some things are big and some things are little. Big begins with "b." Have your child tell you all the things they can think of that are big.

Language: Patterns
Teach your child the rhyme: "B begins Bobby, B begins Bear, B begins __________, everywhere." Let them fill in the blank and be creative. For very young ones, you may have to help them out to get this. If they can't do it, let them hear you do it.

Cooking: Blueberry-banana smoothies
Let the children participate in making blueberry- banana smoothies. Show children that blueberries and bananas begin with the letter B. Your child can wash the berries and chop the banana then pour all of the ingredients into a blender. 1.5 cups skim milk, 3/4 cup nonfat yogurt, 1/2 of a sliced banana, and 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries makes 3 servings. Blend well.

Craft project: Binoculars
Materials—2 toilet tissue tubes, 3 feet of yarn, masking tape, colorful paper or tape
Cover each tube in the colorful paper or tape. Tie a knot in the end of the yarn. Place the two tubes together with one end of the string on each side. Tape around the yarn and the tubes to hold them together. Wind the tape around them several times.

Science & PE: Study birds, butterflies, bugs, and bees
Take a nature walk and search for birds, butterflies, bugs, and bees. They can use their binoculars too for a little pretend play. Talk about the colors and sounds these critters make and see if you can hear them. Encourage them to use their senses to hear, smell, and see the letter "b" in nature. Encourage your child to look at the critters carefully and tell you what they see.

Art: Butterfly blobs
Cover your workspace carefully with tablecloth or newspaper. Get a large piece of paper and fold it in half. The larger, the better. Help your child squirt big blobs of paint in bright colors on one side only of the paper. You might want to limit your child to about 3 colors for best results. Try day glow colors if you want. After you've added the paint to one side, fold it over and let the kids squeeze and mash the colors together as they push the paint with their hands to the outer edge. When they have finished, open it up and let it dry. The page will be symmetrical and you can discuss that for a math/science lesson. After the paint dries, fold it back over again and cut in the shape of a butterfly. Add a stick or hang from the ceiling.

Art & language: Feely letters
Make the letter "b" out of beans. Start with printing out or writing a big and little b on the page. Let your child put down glue on the letter and then paste the beans onto the lines. Great for hand eye coordination.

Science & PE: Balance
Set up a simple balance beam in your yard with two bricks and a widish plank of wood. Get your toddler to walk across this. As they begin to master it you can add a second stack of bricks or a narrower plank. You can also just look for opportunities at the park and such to encourage your child to walk on places where they can practice balance.

Physical Education: Bean bag games
Throwing and catching bean bags is often much easier for this age group than balls which tend to run away. You can throw these to one another, your toddler can throw them into a wash basket, over a rope or onto a hole in a cardboard box for variety.

Math: Classify buttons, beads, or beans
Give your child a big bowl full of a variety of items in different colors, shapes, sizes, etc. I have a huge bag of rubber dinos, bugs, butterflies, etc. Give them a cupcake tin and let them sort them likes with likes. For variety and more difficulty, give them a pair of cheater chopsticks to pick the items up with. (You can get these free at somewhere like Tokyo Steakhouse.

Language: A Tisket, a tasket, a beginning sounds basket
Materials—Index cards, marker or pen, small basket
Here's an "office" activity that encourages children to practice letter sounds. Make letter cards (you may already have these at home) by writing the big and little letters on each index card. Give the child one card and have them say a word that begins with the same letter. After giving a word with the correct beginning sound, the child drops the card in the "in-basket" If the child's word does not have the correct first-letter sounds, put the card aside and continue with the other cards. To make this fun, you can leave it by the front door or bathroom and do a couple every time you go in or out that door.