We’re working through All About Reading, and our letter of the day was B! I wanted to make the lesson a little more hands-on, so we connected our story to art, letter-building pieces, and playdough. Nothing too complicated, and most of the supplies were already at home.

1. Start with the letter and a story

We started by finding B on our alphabet chart. Then we read a story about bears and bees eating blueberries. Hearing several B words together gave us a natural chance to listen for the beginning /b/ sound. You can pause and say the words slowly, then invite your child to tell you what they notice. There’s no need to turn the story into a quiz.

2. Make a blueberry letter B craft

After the story, we drew blueberries on the letter B and added construction paper for grass. This helped bring the story to life and gave us another reason to look at the letter. Drawing, tearing or cutting paper with supervision, and gluing also give little hands practice with controlled movements.

3. Build the uppercase B with wooden pieces

Next, we took out one big line and two little curves to build an uppercase B. Breaking the letter into parts makes its shape easier to explore. Before children can reliably write a letter, it helps to see how its parts fit together. You can model the shape once and let your child try it.

4. Form the same letter with playdough

We used the wooden B as a guide and rolled playdough to make our own letter. Rolling, pressing, and shaping dough gives children practice using their hands and fingers. It also lets them experience the letter shape in a different way from pencil and paper. If their B looks a little wonky, that’s okay! The goal is to explore and practice.

Why combine these activities?

Each part of the lesson reinforces something different. The story connects the letter to spoken words. The blueberry craft links the story to a visual reminder. The wooden pieces help children see how B is formed, and the playdough lets them recreate that shape through touch and movement. Together, they make one letter lesson feel varied without needing a stack of worksheets.

Supplies we used

We used our All About Reading materials, construction paper, drawing supplies, wooden letter-building pieces, and playdough. Here are the two product links I shared: playdough and wooden letter pieces. Please check that these links open the intended products before purchasing.

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

If you’re teaching more than one age, you can keep the same story and activity while changing the expectations. Younger children can point, listen, and explore the dough. Older preschoolers can name the sound, build the letter, and try forming it independently. That’s one of my favorite things about simple homeschool activities: everyone can participate at their own level.