Letter D: Letter of the Week (age 3)

Here's what our week looked like for Letter D: 

Read, Read, Read. I love reading to my kids on a daily basis. My barely three has always loved being read to, but my one is pretty hit and miss. A lot of days, I'll read to both of them while they're eating breakfast. I checked out our Letter D Booklist at the library a week in advance. The picture above were our very favorite books, but you view more great Letter D books by clicking on the booklist link.

Read Letter D Book. We also love to read these Little Letter Books from The Measured Mom. There are only eight or so pictures in each booklet. I pointed out the uppercase and lowercase D's (since we are focusing on both this year) and we talked about the pictures. 

Letter D Songs & Rhymes. This year, I'm putting together an interactive set of songs & rhymes for each letter of the alphabet. I know this series is focused on my almost three, but my one year old had so much fun doing the Letter D Songs & Rhymes with us this week. If you're looking for something more simple without props, take a look at this printable set of songs and rhymes from The Measured Mom.

Writing Practice. Every child is different, but my barely three loves writing letters! We practiced writing the Letter D's with "D's of All Sizes" from The Measured Mom. I decided to laminate these, so we can use them over and over again. Because my barely three loves writing so much, we practiced more with our ABC Write & Wipe.  

Craft #1: Dalmatian Craft. Each week we do three crafts. I will save one of the crafts for each letter and compile them into a "craft alphabet book" to have at the end of the series. I purposefully cut a piece of white card stock the same size as a brown paper bag, so we could use this for another activity later in the week. Scroll down to see how we used it! My barely three glued the shapes on the dog and used his finger to put dots on his dalmatian.

Craft #2: Duplo Printing from The Measured Mom: We didn't do car painting this year, but this was just as good. Maybe better. My barely three used a duplo car and duplo blocks to paint. I thought he'd be more excited about stamping the blocks, but not when something with wheels is available. My almost three loved this craft.

Craft #3: Dinosaur Fossil Painting. Earlier in the week (see below), we played with salt dough and made these really neat dinosaur fossils. Once the fossils were fully cooked and dry, we painted them.

Color Review - Find the Duck: I cut out a few squares of construction paper in different colors and hid a duck behind one of the squares. My three would ask, "Is the duck behind the blue square?" He'd lift the blue square up. If the duck was there, it was his turn to hide the duck. If not, he'd ask about a different colored square. 

Math - Color & Trace the Shapes. Because my barely three loves tracing and writing letters, I printed and laminated a shape worksheet for him. He loved trying to trace the shapes and identified them as he went.

Math - Counting Dinosaurs: This was a simple counting activity. I drew numbers 1-12 on pieces of colored paper. My barely three drew a number and placed the same amount of play dinosaurs on the paper. Click here to view other ways to use play dinosaurs.

Math - Monster Dice Match from The Measured Mom. We added an extra math activity to our week, because I thought it would be fun and good practice to use a die. My barely three rolled the die, often times counted the dots, and put a power magnet on it's match. The worksheet and magnets are on a magnetic cookie sheet. 

Sensory Play - Dough & Dinosaurs. Sensory play is always a highlight of our weeks! I made a batch of salt dough (2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 cup water mixed together - add more flour if the dough feels sticky) and let my barely three and one play without any restrictions. We added play dinosaurs, cups and play rolling pins. My boys played with this for over an hour and absolutely loved it. We had fun making dinosaur footprints, hiding the dinosaurs in "eggs", filling our cups up with dough and scooping it out with a spoon and making dinosaur fossils . 

Letter Dd Activity #1 - Dd is for Dinosaur from This Reading Mama. I wrote five big D's and five little d's on office stickers. My barely three matched them to the big D's and little d's on the worksheet.

Letter Dd Activity #2 - Feed the Dalmatian. Earlier in the week, we made a darling dalmatian craft. I glued it onto a brown paper bag and cut a hole near the mouth. My barely three found printable bones all around the room, explained to the dog if it was a big D or little d, and placed them in the dog's mouth. You can find blank printable bones at Preschool Alphabet.

Beginning Sounds Cover from The Measured Mom. Out of the few beginning sound activities we've done so far, this one is our favorite! I'll point to a picture, have my three identify it and we'll figure out if it starts with the letter D. "/D/ /D/ /D/ Ladybug. Does Ladybug start with Letter D?" Every child is different, but these come easily to by three. This week, he place a toy dinosaur on the pictures that start with Letter D.

Letter D Science - Digging for Dinosaur Fossils: This was another highlight of our week! Both of my boys enjoyed excavating and digging out dinosaur fossils. View a detailed tutorial by clicking the link above.

Alphabet as a Whole. Each week, I like to review the entire alphabet, so my barely three can see the big picture. This week, we watched Letters and Sounds (Heidi Songs) as suggested from The Measured Mom. Each letter has a song that teaches about each uppercase and lowercase letter. It also teaches sound and letter formation. It's about thirty minutes long and it was perfect for my barely three. If you're interested in your children learning uppercase letters and sounds, we LOVE The Letter Factory. Last year (my oldest was 26 months), he knew every capital letter and its sound after watching this show a handful of times. If you don't want to pay for a DVD, you can check out The letter Factory from the library.

Name Review - Name Puzzle from The Measured Mom: I wrote my barely three's name on a piece of colored paper. I cut the letters into puzzle piece strips. My barely three had fun placing the letters together (with some help) to reveal his name.


And that's it!