If you're a teacher planning for "Letter D Week", or a parent looking for ways to teach your child the alphabet at home, this blog post is your one-stop destination for "Letter D" inspiration. Plan an engaging and memorable letter D week for your children or students with hands-on activities and creative crafts, by choosing the most appropriate letter d crafts and activities from our extensive list of ideas.
I've curated a selection of crafts for the letter D, tailored especially for early learners. These crafts not only represent words starting with 'D', but also mimic its shape, accentuating both its formation and the /d/ sound. There's also lots of letter D activity ideas that include visual, tactile, auditory and movement based options including letter D books and letter D animal movements.
The letters of the alphabet are the building blocks of language, forming the foundation upon which literacy is built. Teaching letters and their corresponding sounds to children from a young age is paramount to foster effective communication.
In addition to recognising the letter symbols, understanding the sounds each letter makes builds phonemic awareness, a crucial skill in early literacy development. As children learn each letter and its phonetic sound/s, they gain the ability to decode words, which helps with reading and writing. Each of the letter D crafts and activities included in this post will help build both letter recognition and phonetic understanding.
LETTER OF THE WEEK CRAFTS: LETTER D
Below is an extensive list of 13 letter D crafts that includes animals, food and objects that start with the letter D, including uppercase and lowercase letter d options.
These crafts will help children with letter recognition, letter formation, building fine motor skills and learning the /d/ sound. It's important that students have a strong grasp of the letters of the alphabet including letter formation and phonics so they can recognise the letters, understand the sounds they make, use them to form written words and then use this foundational knowledge to learn to read.
I've also added 10 additional crafts that can be done during letter D week that aren't in the shape of D, but will help to reinforce the phonetic sound of D. These crafts are great to do in kindergarten, at home, in class at school, or during homeschooling with children aged 3-6yrs old.
D is for Dog craft
The first animal everyone thinks of for the letter D is undoubtably a dog. The letter D is also really easy to turn into a side profile of a dog's face by adding a googly eye, ear, nose, mouth and tongue. You can also add a collar to your D is for dog craft as shown below.
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D is for Dalmatian craft
Ok I know a dalmatian is technically another dog, but how adorable is this D is for dalmatian craft?! You'll need some construction paper, black felt, googly eyes and a pink felt tongue to make a dalmatian.
D is for Dinosaur craft
Turn a capital D on it's side and add some legs, a head, tail and some spine spikes to turn it into a capital D dinosaur. The obvious downside with this craft is that the letter D isn't in it's normal vertical position.
d is for dinosaur craft
You can also make a lowercase letter d dinosaur by making the straight part of the d into the dinosaur spine and adding spiky triangles along the side of it. Then add some googly eyes and some dots to create a dotty d dinosaur.
d is for dinosaur craft
Another way to make a lowercase d is for dinosaur is to put the head at the top of the d so it looks like it has a long neck and add spikes to the curved part. The long neck makes this letter d look like a sauropod dinosaur like a brachiosaurus or brontosaurus.
D is for Dragon craft
Turn a capital D into a fire breathing dragon with this easy D is for dragon craft. You'll need construction paper, red tissue paper and a googly eye.
d is for dragon craft
You can also turn a lowercase letter d into a dragon by adding a head to the top of the d and some dragon wings on top of the curved section.
D is for Deer craft
Make both an uppercase and lowercase letter d deer using this printable template. The printable comes with both one page home printing and multiple page class printing options for each letter. The template is black and white so can be coloured in, or printed directly onto coloured paper.
D is for Duck craft
Turn a capital D into a duck by following these steps. You'll need some construction paper and a googly eye. You could also replace the wing with a yellow feather to add some texture.
D is for Dove craft
In this D is for dove craft, the blue letter D represents the sky and then the dove is added on top to look like it's flying in the sky. Download the free printable template here to make your own.
D is for donut craft
Use this printable letter D donut template to make your own D is for donut craft. The template comes in black and white so the kids can make their donuts any flavour they like by colouring them with crayons.
D is for Dot craft
Make a tactile letter D using dot stickers to represent D is for dots. Peeling off the stickers is a great way for children to practice their fine motor skills, and once they're done they can run their fingers over the letter D to feel how the texture and surface changes where the stickers are.
D is for dot painting craft
D can also be for dot painting which is a fun painting technique also known as pointillism. Cut out some letter d shapes and get children to use q-tips to make dot paintings on the letter D/d's.
MORE D CRAFTS FOR LETTER D WEEK
If you want to do more crafts during letter D week, that aren't shaped like the actual letter, try some of these below:
LETTER D ACTIVITIES
It's important that letter of the week activities are varied and engaging in different ways to cater for all children whether they're primarily visual, auditory or kinaesthetic learners. Including a variety of activities from the list below, in addition to some of the crafts above, will ensure the letter D is reinforced continuously and in various physical, visual and interactive ways.
Sensory activities, like tactile crafts or sensory bins, cater to those who learn best through touch, building neural connections through hands-on interaction. Movement-based activities activate kinaesthetic learners, embedding the meaning of letter D through physical action. Incorporating books enhances linguistic and auditory processing, by reading narratives that contextualise the letter.
Letter D tracing - children can practice forming the letter D in both uppercase and lowercase by using these free letter D worksheets, letter tracing books, wooden tracing boards or dry erase boards.
Object recognition - use physical objects or pictures of items that start with the letter D to reinforce the sound and make connections between the letter and items that start with that sound. E.g dog, donkey, duck, dinosaur, dragon, digger, drum, dice, drink, donut, doll.
Letter search - use letter search pages for children to practice recognising and distinguishing the letter D/d from other letters.
Letter D sensory play - create sensory bins with sensory bases or figurines that start with the letter D. This could include letter D magnets, dinosaur figurines, rubber ducks, dolphins, diggers and dump trucks and dirt.
Letter D movement activities:
- Outdoor letter D scavenger hunt: hunt outside for objects or hidden items and flashcards that start with letter D.
- Letter D bean bag toss: throw bean bags at a target and try to only hit the letter D.
- Letter D basketball: throw a basketball into the hoop, every time it goes in say a word that starts with D.
- Letter jumping: draw letters on the ground with chalk and get children to jump on the letter D/d's.
- Letter D animal sounds & movements: put your wings out and fly around like a dragonfly, bark like a dog, quack and flap like a duck, roar like a dragon, crawl like a dung beetle, gallop like a donkey, howl like a dingo, stomp and roar like a dinosaur.
Read Letter D books - during the week read picture books that emphasise the letter D. Some ideas include:
Letter D themed snacks - have some dates, dragon fruit, danishes or donuts as a special snack during letter D week.
MORE LETTER OF THE WEEK IDEAS
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