What you Need

Template for the Letter B

Cardstock

Large Craft Stick

Magazines or Letter Stickers

Glue

Tape

Adult Preparations

Trace the letter B onto cardstock. Cut around the outside of the letter B and cut out both holes in the center. If you do not want to trace your own letters you can purchase Awesome Alphabet Collage Boards.

What To Do

Provide preschoolers with magazines or alphabet stickers or stamps to decorate their letter B with. If you are using magazines, have preschoolers cut letters out of magazines to glue onto their letter. For younger preschoolers, you can cut out letters from magazines in advance. Using stickers or stamps is an exciting variation or preschoolers and can help improve their small motor skills.

After the letter B is decorated turn on its side so that the straight side is towards the top. Tape a large craft stick on the back to turn it into a mask. Preschoolers will have fun holding their letter B mask up to their face and having a hands on experience with the alphabet.

Materials for this Craft

Hi! I'm Rachel Lister, the Preschool Education writer at PreschoolRock.com. I live in Utah with my husband and two beautiful boys. When my oldest son was born, I quit my teaching job and opened a home daycare and preschool. I love to help preschoolers learn about the world around them. They make life interesting and I can't imagine doing anything different. If you have any ideas, suggestions or comments, feel free to contact me.

Helpful Tips for Parents

• Avoid academic pressure before age 5. Preschool children's brains are not developmentally ready for formal academic instruction, and premature pressure backfires.

• Use mathematical language all day: "more than," "less than," "half," "equal," "twice as much." Incidental math vocabulary builds the conceptual foundation formal math builds on.

• Expose children to multiple languages early if possible. The preschool window is the most efficient period for language acquisition the brain will ever have.

• Learning environments matter. A space with accessible books, puzzles, art supplies, and natural materials at child height encourages more learning than a child-proofed empty room.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much learning time should a preschooler have per day?

All of it — because preschoolers learn continuously through every interaction with their environment. The question of "learning time" implies that learning is separate from living, which it isn't at this age. A preschooler who plays freely, has rich conversations, is read to, helps in the kitchen, plays outdoors, and is exposed to music and art is having the richest possible educational experience. Formal, scheduled "learning time" is less productive than a generally enriched daily environment.

What learning differences might first become apparent in the preschool years?

The preschool years are when speech and language delays, developmental delays, autism spectrum characteristics, sensory processing differences, and early signs of ADHD typically become apparent. Early identification and early intervention are the most powerful factors in outcomes for children with learning differences — the preschool brain's plasticity makes early intervention far more effective than the same intervention at age 8. If you have concerns about your child's development, discuss them with your pediatrician rather than waiting to see if the child grows out of it.

Related reading: See also our alphabet activities and our read-aloud guide for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 📚 Pre-Reading Skills — Activities that involve letters, sounds, rhymes, and print directly build the phonological awareness and letter knowledge that are the two strongest predictors of successful reading development.
• 🌐 World Knowledge — Background knowledge about the world dramatically accelerates reading comprehension — children who know more understand more of what they read — making every content-area learning experience a literacy investment.
• 😊 Love of Learning — Positive early learning experiences build a child's identity as a learner — and children who see themselves as curious, capable learners approach school with the engagement and resilience that matter more than any specific skill.
• 🧠 Memory & Recall — Remembering rules, retelling a story in sequence, and practicing skills to automaticity builds working memory and long-term recall — the cognitive foundation that learning in every subject depends on.

Preschoolers are very tactile learners. This activity allows them to learn about the letter B by touching it and feeling the shape of the letter. Combine this activity with reading The Bear Came Over to My House by reading or singing the story and having preschoolers holding the letter B mask up to their face whenever they hear a word that starts with the letter B. This mask could be made into a bear mask by adding small brown ears to the top of the mask.