The second letter in the alphabet is buzzing for attention! There are several ideas to engage your students in their quest to learn about the letter b. To start, create a "B b" sign on an easel or whiteboard and list all of the words that start with b. Make the "b" sound with your preschool class, and draw pictures of the colorful b words you all identify. After your introduction of the letter b, enjoy a snack that any preschool bee would love! Here is the recipe:
Buzzing With Honey Snack Mix
6 cups of honeycomb cereal
6 cups of mini pretzels
3 cups of sesame sticks
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted, or margarine/spread
1/2-3/4 cup of honey
1. Heat the oven to 375°F (adults can do this part) and prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Mix together honeycomb cereal, pretzels, and sesame sticks in a large bowl until evenly combined; set aside.
3. In a separate bowl combine the honey and melted butter.
4. Pour the smooth honey-butter over the pretzel mixture, stirring until it is evenly coated.
5. Place the snack mix in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Bake, stirring occasionally, until toasted and browned, for about 20 minutes. Let the mix cool to room temperature, then enjoy!
Serves 12 hungry honeybees!
Other wonderful b words to explore include ball, bat, beak, bear, box, bubble, and banana. Here are some ideas to use these vocabulary words in class activities:
Ball and Bat- Sing along to the oldie but goodie "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". Here is a link for the words-www.cricketmag.com/971.
Beak- Share books about beaks with your preschool crew. Several wonderful choices include Beaks! by Sneed B. Collard, Unbeatable Beaks by Stephen Swinburne, and Whose Nose Is This?: A Look at Beaks, Snouts, and Trunks (Whose Is It) by Peg Hall. Be sure to discuss the ways a beak is important to a bird, and how different birds use their beaks in unique ways.
Bear- Take some time to read Eric Carle's Brown Bear book, or all of his bear themed books. Snack on teddy grahams or gummy bears. Encourage children to bring in their favorite teddy bear to sharing time. If able, plan a class trip to Build A Bear Workshop.
Box- Draw a picture of a box and point out it's dimensions. If possible, bring in a super large box for the children to all decorate and create a playhouse with!
Bubble- Bring in bubbles and set up a science table with them for children to explore with. The Young Scientists Club, LLC makes a fantastic set- Adventure Science series: Awesome Bubbles.
Banana- Besides enjoying this healthy and tasty snack, have a center featuring the fun new Lego game Banana Balance. The children will love working in small groups on this entertaining game, and it will sharpen their small motor skills, too.
Here are the products mentioned above: