ivey league preschool: busting out the B's!

This week we focused on the letter B.  I printed out the do-a-dot and playdoh mats for Caleb again since he had enjoyed doing those for A the week before, and also found some free printable layouts for some pattern blocks he has.

We also did a "letter scavenger hunt" with some of my old magazines.  Caleb would help me find both B's and objects that start with B.  I'd cut them out and then he helped me glue them into a collage.

He had a blast working on a "Rio"-themed pre-K pack as well.  He first saw part of this movie at church, then we were able to see the whole thing when it was free on demand a couple weeks ago, so he was thrilled when I found this.  I figured that it would work since "bird" starts with B!  We worked on pre-writing skills, cutting skills, patterns, "what's different?", counting objects, cut-and-paste puzzles, and letter sounds. 

We also had a fun hands-on activity using a balloon leftover from a birthday party we attended last weekend.  I saw this idea on pinterest....balloon tennis using a couple of heavy-duty paper plates with big craft sticks glued to them as rackets.  Caleb loves playing this in the living room!

For our Bible story, we learned about Balaam and his talking donkey from the book of Numbers.   Since it's a lengthy passage and it's not found in his storybook Bible, I found a brief animated video of it on YouTube and we watched it together.  Then we made a donkey puppet using a free printable I found online.  We talked about how important it is to listen to and obey God because He can use any means necessary (including a talking donkey) to make sure we do His will!

I made a B-themed treat as well...frozen chocolate-peanut butter Banana Bites!  I found a mixture of chocolate and peanut butter chips at the store, so I melted some of those down with a little coconut oil, dipped slices of banana in it and then put them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  And added sprinkles.  Because sprinkles make everything better.  Caleb liked them but also thought they were a little too cold for him...next time I'll only let them sit in the freezer for an hour or so to set.

Our background music this week was Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 ("Pastoral").  Caleb liked it, and even remarked that in some places the instruments sounded like birds.  Listening to it reminded me of that old Disney movie "Fantasia" so all I could picture in my mind were centaurs and lightning gods!

Finally, our collection of B books:

Busy Busy Town by Richard Scarry
The Berenstain Bears Go Out for the Team by Stan & Jan Berenstain
Little Bear and Father Bear Comes Home by Elsa Holmelund Minarik
47 Beavers on the Big, Blue Sea by Phil Vischer
Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson
The Bunnies Are Not in Their Beds by Marisabina Russo
Barkley by Syd Hoff

Links:
Do-A-Dot Alphabet Pages (Home School Creations)
Play-Doh Letter Mats (Home School Creations)
Pattern Block Printable Templates (Jessica's Corner of Cyberspace)
Rio Pre-K Pack (Over The Big Moon)
Balloon Tennis (Ever Never Again)
Balaam's Donkey Video (YouTube)
Donkey Puppet/Mask Printable (Crafting The Word of God)
Banana Bites Recipe (Six Sisters' Stuff)