D is for Dogs

• DIY Dog bone manipulatives
1. I bought a box of dog bone treats at the Dollar Tree. At home I sprayed each of them with a clear coat spray paint (mainly to keep the kids from eating them, but also to keep them cleaner. I didnt want them crumbling or have our hands smell like dog treats!)
2. After they dried, on 26 of them I wrote one letters of the alphabet on each bone with a sharpie. I also kept a bunch blank for math and counting.
• OPTIONS: you could paint them different colors, not just clear.
• Write numbers, shapes, or specific letters on the bones (vowels, just D’s and d’s), etc.)

• Dog Bone Letter match
• With our alphabet of dog bones, we matched them to lettered dog bones on paper
• (you could also simply write the alphabet on a piece of paper and have them match the letters on the bones to the letters on the paper).

• Dog Bone Alphabet sort
• We also put the dog bones in order of the alphabet.
• Then sang the ABCs while pointing to each letter on the bones.

• Tally Counting Dogs
• On a piece of paper, have your preschooler write DOGS at the top. Put the paper on a clipboard (or hard cover book).
• Go on a walk around your neighborhood, and count the dogs your see.
• As you count them, use the tally system for counting. Teach your preschooler/s when they get to 5, they use one line to cross out the other 4 tallies.
• When your walk is over, count the tallies and write the total at the bottom.

• Dog Bone Math
• With a veggie tray (aka: sorting tray) and the blank dog bone treats, I wrote out numbers, tallies or simple equations and the answer in dog bones would go in the tray.

• DIY Plastic Dog Manipulatives
• At the Dollar Tree I found some packs of plastic cats and dogs (yes, they come together…save the cats for C week!). I pulled out the spray paint and painted each one a different color.
• Let them dry, then use in sensory bins, with the next activity (Go, Dog, Go!) or any pretend play!

• Read Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman
         Lots of fun to be had with this book!
• Use the spray painted dog manipulative toys from above, an updated colored tree and dog printable, and the book, particulary the page that says, “A red dog on a blue tree. A blue dog on a red tree. A green dog on a yellow tree.”
• Options:
• Copy the book and have your preschool put a red dog on the blue tree, a blue dog on the red tree, and a green dog on a yellow tree.
• Tell your preschooler which dogs go in which tree.
• Match the color of dog to the color of tree.
• Have your preschool put any dog on any tree and have them tell you what color dog is on what color tree.
• Roll two dice (with colors, not numbers). One is the dog color die, and the other is the tree color die. After they roll, put that color dog on that color tree.

• “Go, Dog, Go!” Opposites
• I scanned the book and printed out cards of the opposite things the book talks about.
• ie: Up & Down, In & Out, Dark & Light, etc
• Play memory style to match the opposites
• Hold up a card and have your preschooler tell you what it is and what the opposite it (or find the opposite card).

• Read “Dog’s Colorful Day” by Emma Dodd
• I cant remember where I found these printables (google search "Dog's Colorful Day Preschool activities" and I'm sure you will find it! Let me know if you do!!)
• You will need glue sticks, scissors, and dot stampers (or crayons/markers).

• Dog Suncatcher
• This is hit and miss at the Dollar Tree, but if you find a dog suncatcher, it is a great activity to talk about primary and secondary colors (as it only comes with primary colors).

**For more Dog activities click HERE, for more Letter D preschool ideas click HERE**

D is for Dots

• Read “Lots of Dots” by Craig Frazier
  1. This is a great book. My kids and I loved it.
  2. It shows so many fun ways to see dots all around us.

• Preschool Journal D Page
1. Practice writing Dd and “Dots”
2. Draw several dots (good circle practice)
3. Put dot stickers on the page.

• Make DOT pictures
  1. We love using our Do-a-Dot markers. We have this set and this set. You can also get them at Michaels with a 40% coupon!
  2. Make several pictures with dots.
  3. Trace your name with dots.

 

• Magic Dot Page
  • Beforehand, prepare a “magic” dot page:

  • Use a write crayon to draw Ds and dots all over the page. I drew a large D, but next time I would do lots of smaller Ds all over.

  • Use the dot markers to dot all over, revealing the secret messages!

• Dot to Dot page … there are several to choose from here.

 

• Dot Bingo
  1. Make a simple 3x3 grid
  2. Have the kids choose a different Do-a-Dot colors (9 total) for each square
  3. Call out a color and mark the square with a candy DOT.

• Play the Dice Race Game
• Original post & free printable here.
• Lots of other fun domino or dice worksheets here.

• Snack Idea: Our favorite Dot Day treat is Dots candy!

Roll & Remove Game

My kids loved this game. Half the reason is because they got to eat candy as they played! But seriously, it kept my 6-year-old, 3-year-old and 2-year-old entertained until the game was finished. I love it.

1. Print out these cute, free game boards from The Princess and the Tot.
2. Cut in half and glue onto colored paper.
3. Laminate. I need a laminator. I used two long strips of clear packing tape to “laminate” our boards. I knew with little tasty fingers eating candy corn we’d need a little something to keep the games dry.
4. Place one candy corn in each box. Or, if you’re my kids, also put an extra candy down below, so that if you’ve already rolled the number once, you still get a bonus treat
5. Roll 2 dice (or a 12-sided dice here!)
6. Eat the candy corn from the number you rolled.

I love it because my kids were taking turns, counting the dots, finding the matching number on their board and having fun. You could use this any time of the year. I made up a generic, year-round version too …

Just click it to download and print!

Dot Day

We started off our D week with a Dot Day!

• Find letter D on your alphabet strip.
  1. Sing the ABC song.
  2. Practice writing letter D with your finger in the air.

• Read “Press Here” by Herve Tullet … what a fun, ingenious book. The simple dots and text are interactive. My kids loved seeing what would happen on the next page!

• Dot your D page!
  1. Draw a large D on your paper.
  2. Use Do-a-Dot markers to dot along the lines

   

• Go on a D hunt
  1. Practice writing letter D on dot stickers. We used crayons.
  2. Hunt around the house for the letter D or items that start with the D sound.
  3. Stick a D sticker on it!
     • we found a dog, Dr. Suess books, Doc (the car), a picture of Dad, doors, drawers, a doll and lots of letter Ds.
  4. My almost-4-year-old only wanted to write a few Ds on the stickers. But once we started finding Ds around the house, he raced back to the table and finished writing Ds on all of the stickers. He loved it!

 

• Play dice dot game … he loved this too. See original post here.
  1. Print out the dice dot game board (Click on the image above. I have it uploaded as a PDF now, so it should print full-size on an 8.5x11 paper.)
  2. Roll a dice.
  3. Count the dots and match them to the dots at the bottom of the game.
  4. Trace the number that matches.
  5. Continue until you reach the top!

• Dot Color Match
  • Print out this great Color Match sheet from here (or click the image above)
  • Use Do-a-Dot markers to fill in the matching circles!

• Have DOTS for a treat after lunch

Nursery Rhyme ABCs

I absolutely LOVE this!

 

Education.com has free nursery rhyme worksheets to download. What I think it so great is that they have matched up a nursery rhyme with each letter of the alphabet. As you read through, you and your preschooler can identify the letter you’re working on. I love that the font is clear and simple, they show both the upper and lower-case letter examples on the page and they’re cute!

   

1. Click here to download and print each worksheet.
2. Slip each one into a clear plastic page protector (keep them altogether in a binder or 3-prong folder)
3. Use a dry erase marker to circle, underline or trace the letters.
4. Count the letters and write the number at the bottom.
5. Erase and repeat later.
6. Love it! Learning letters and nursery rhymes at the same time!

Dinosaurs

All of these images & great Dino ideas come from Preschool Playhouse’s Dinosaur Camp

• Dinosaur Paleontologists … discover how hard and how carefully paleontologists have to work to remove dinosaur bones from rock. Hammers would be quicker, but might break the bones!
  1. Freeze plastic dinosaurs in paper cups filled with water (makes a large ice cube).
  2. Give the kids squeeze bottles filled with warm water and have them work to get the dinosaurs out.

• Puffy Stegosaurus
  1. Cut out a simple stegosaurus shape (minus the spikes)
  2. Mix up a batch of homemade puffy paint
     • Mix 3 parts shaving cream + 1 part white glue (then add paint)
     • Let the kids use their hands to paint their stegosaurus and several clothespins (for the spikes)
     • Let dry completely, then feel how smooth and spongy it is.
  3. After it dries, add a googly eye and clip on the clothespin spikes.

• Foam Dinosaur Capsules … you can get these dissolving capsules from Michaels, Amazon, or sometimes the dollar store. Put them in a sink or tub of warm water and the capsules dissolve and a foam dinosaur emerges!

 

• Dinosaur Hats
  1. Fold a large piece of paper in half and cut out a long dinosaur shape, keeping the tail end uncut on the fold (make sense?). Or use two sheets of regular 8.5x11 paper and staple together at the tail.
  2. Let the kids decorate their dinosaur with markers, stickers, googly eyes…
  3. Staple together (near the head/neck) to form a fun dinosaur hat!

• Hatching Paper Mache Dinosaur Eggs … this is quite the project that will take a few days to complete, but looks like so much fun!!
  1. Day 1: Insert a plastic dinosaur (I also thought some small wrapped candies would be fun too) into a small water-balloon-sized balloon.
  2. Blow up and tie.
  3. Make a simple paper mache paste … 1 cup flour + 1 cup water. Then stir in 4 cups boiling water. Mix well, keep in an airtight container.
  4. Cut newspaper strips about 6 inches long.
  5. Dip the strips in the glue, then smooth over the balloon. Cover the entire balloon.
  6. Hang by the balloon knot and let dry overnight.
  7. Day 2 (optional): to make the egg stronger, put a second layer after the first has dried. Let dry one more night.
  8. Day 3: Paint the eggs and let dry overnight.
  9. In the morning, use scissors to cut the knot off of the balloon. The balloon and dinosaur will still be inside the egg!
  10. Have the kids help make a dinosaur nest to put their dry, painted eggs into. Use leaves, grass, sticks…
  11. Hatching Time! Let the kids carefully try to remove their dinosaur (and candy!) from the egg keeping the egg intact.