Kindergarten Activities on the Letter D
Teaching the Alphabet to Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Kindergarteners
Aug 26, 2009
Enforce alphabet recognition with fun activities on the letter D in the pre-K or kindergarten classroom. Even toddlers will enjoy these games at day care or at home as they learn their letters.
Learning Letters with a Dinosaur Fossil Dig
Dinosaur is a great word starting with D. Chances are that many of the children in the class know a lot about dinosaurs already, so start by composing a class list of facts about dinosaurs.
Ask children if they know the name of a person who digs up dinosaur bones for a living. Introduce the topic by reading Dinosaur Bones by Aliki [Crowell,1988.] Give each child a pie pan filled with sand and let him or her "dig" for bones made in a store-bought dinosaur bone mold. If children are old enough, encourage them to try putting the skeleton together.
Diggers and Dump Truck Letter D Activities
Emphasize that dump trucks and diggers (properly called excavators) are two pieces of construction equipment that start with the letter D. Fill the sensory table with gravel and let kids experiment with filling up and emptying the bed of a toy dump truck. As a class, read picture books about construction equipment like Byron Barton's Machines at Work [Harper Collins,1987.]
Kids Learning Letters by Making Smoothies
Drink is another good word that starts with D. Ask kids to list all the drinks they can think of, including milk, water, juice, soda, and lemonade. Another drink they may not have tried before is a smoothie. Make and try smoothies together (make sure to warn kids that the blender will be loud!) A great recipe to try is:
Yogurt Smoothies
- 1 cup vanilla yogurt
- 1 cup fruit (banana, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, etc.)
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup ice cubes
Mix all ingredients together and blend. This recipe is easy and can be used to make several different varieties just by using different kinds of fruit.
Lesson Plan Letter D Activities: Little Drummer Boys and Girls
Hand out a coloring page of a drum with the capital and lowercase letter D printed on top. When children finish their pictures, show pictures of different drums from cultures around the world. If possible, have some examples of drums in the classroom and let children hear the difference between types of drums.
Older kids will enjoy making their own "box drum" to bring home. Ahead of time, the teacher needs to prepare a square wooden frame for each child. Help kids wrap the frame with Saran wrap until the entire surface is covered with at least a few layers (make sure it is tight!) They can hold the drum under one arm and use a drumstick or their palm to play it with the other.
Imaginative Play for Alphabet Learning
In the pretend play station of the classroom, provide white coats and stethoscopes for doctor dress up. Baby dolls can be the patients, and make sure to provide plenty of supplies such as thermometers, Band-Aids, wraps, hot water bottles, and so on.
Tried-and-true methods like handwriting practice worksheets still have a place, but kids crave variety in a learning environment. Give them what they want with letter D games and activities that make learning letters fun.
Make sure to check out the rest of the Kindergarten Letter Activities series for more educational fun and games.
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