Ever since my son turned three, we have chosen a Letter of the Month. We do all sorts of activities, listen to music, eat food, pick colors, all around the letter we pick. I thought it might be fun, but it has turned out to be my best parenting idea ever. Here's why:

1. It keeps our daily focus on what we DO not what we HAVE. I am trying to raise minimalist kids by putting my energy into experiences, not things, because toys are just going to be a burden of waste for them as adults. 

2. It reinforces letters and sounds without banging them over the head. We are playing with words in a game-like way, that I hope will help with literacy when it's more developmentally appropriate.

3.  It keeps me from getting bored. Stay at home parenting can be an exercise in stamina when you do the same monotonous tasks every single day. It is way too easy to get complacent, let your boredom take over, spend hours on screen time, etc. I feel like this motivates me to stay creative.

4. It's really fun. Can I sell anything as exciting if it starts with the letter of the month? Do we make chores and errands into adventures? Oh hell yes. We have a great time!

Feeling bogged down in stay at home parent banality? Feel like you are repeating the same activities over and over? Choose a letter of the month! (You could try a letter of the week too if a month feels like a too much commitment). Not sure where to start? The letter B is a great one- so much inspiration and fun in one letter!

B Food

Beets. This whole winter, we have been obsessed with beets noodles, which is beets, pesto, goat cheese, and carbs. It is the world's best food! Lucky for me, both kids are also obsessed, and scream BEETS NOODLES while I cook them. If their pure joy at beets is my only victory as a mother, it will be enough.



No seriously, the beet obsession in our house is strong. Here is our toddler eating a raw beet like his secret dad is Dwight Shrute.

Black Bean Burgers. Loyal readers know that we are trying to cut down our meat consumption at our house. The Boy tried making his first black bean burgers from scratch, and they were pretty darn good! Fun for kids too because they can pick their toppings and help shape the patty (since no raw meat was involved).

Adventures Inspired by the Letter B

Beach Day! This was March, so not your typical beach weather, but anytime you can go play in the water and sand, you are having a great day. They played in the water, throwing rocks and getting pretty wet for a long time. So no matter the season, consider a beach day! They are always good!

Band. B makes for an awesome musical month! We had big band day, Bach Day, and a Beatles Day. Even better? Make your own band! This is the Bub jamming out with some of his best buddies (putting his own spin on the saxophone), but you could use pots and pans, make shakers, or even invent your own instruments!


The Bus! This is us, waiting at the bus stop. As parents, it is easy to think public transit is too risky, but once they are a tad older, the bus really can't be beaten. Better for the environment, AND your kids will absolutely love it.





Baptism. We planned this letter because we knew one of their buds was getting a Baby Brother in March and because we were going to celebrate their sweet baby cousin's Baptism. So the baptism trip was a really big deal, even if they didn't totally understand what was going on (honestly, I didn't either- so much difference between denominations!). Plus we got to see this sweet sculpture garden, because Catholics know how to decorate.

Making Things with the Letter B

Bark Drawings. We were doing an outside school that had lots of fun ideas for outdoor projects (even in the rainy Pacific Northwest early spring). My favorite for B month was putting large paper on tree bark and doing tracings of the different patterns and textures. Such a simple concept (though you basically need an adult to hold the paper), but it was so fun and really illustrated texture well.



Butterflies. Simple butterfly kites can be fun to decorate, and it was cute to see the kids run around with them (and get like no air at all... but whatever, keep running, guys).



Bunnies. We were building up to Easter, and my son actually suggested himself that we make bunnies. And his art teacher mother wept with joy. These are my favorite combination of crayon drawings painted in with watercolor.

My other best art teacher advice for painting with kids is to pick a secondary color, and only give them paints that add up to that color. They have to mix all the colors together. It's pure instinct. If you have all colors, you will get a lovely brown. But if you pick orange, and give your tiny artist yellow, red, and orange tints, then no matter what mixing they do, the picture will not just look like poop. We have all seen enough poop.

B Books

B was SUCH a fun one for books! It was tempting to go out and buy LOTS of books, but so many of our absolute favorites already started with B! Our absolute favorites are:
- Beautiful Oops!
- The Big Book of Bugs
- Be Boy Buzz
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear
- Where is Baby's Belly Button
- Bubble Trouble
- Baby Baluga

Go check them out at the library! Start book days at your house by borrowing books- better for the environment, and a fun outing for you all!

More B Ideas

Blocks - Birthdays - Bears - Bags - Bats - Bake - Bees - Bells - Baby (Babydoll) - Buttons - Bicycle - Bowl - Birds - Buddies -  Bugs - Bounce - Boat - Box - Blanket (blanket fort?) - Bottle - Body - Brownies - Birch - Berries - Blueberries - Barn



Can you go a whole month without buying any new toys? So many things to do instead of buy. Check out the Green Family Page for more ideas for experience-based parenting!