D Week in Review

It's obvious that some letters are easier than others. D week was a great week for books, not so great with cooking ideas (though we really enjoyed our pineapple "drink," and will have to make more special drinks to get my picky eater to try new fruits). Emma sees letters all over. I'm impressed that she can look for letters in the middle of a word, and not just at the beginning. She also frequently asks me what letter something starts with. (Just today she asked me about diaper--it starts with D! Perfect timing). I know I'm a bit of a slacker with the timing of my posts, but my little pupil is learning a lot about letters.

Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton

I've mentioned before how we're big fans of Sandra Boynton. *Barnyard Dance!* is probably our favorite book. The pictures are great and the text makes you want to get up and dance yourself. While it contains only a smattering of D words (dance, dog, donkey), there are some Ds embedded in other words, and Emma is getting quite good at looking for them. This book is a fun wrap-up to D week and a great complement to a dance party.

(Pineapple Crush) Drink

In my cookbooks, there is a dearth of good D recipes, especially ones that I could make with the help of a two-year-old. So we settled upon making a special drink.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 cup frozen pineapple chunks
1/2 frozen very ripe medium banana

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high until slushy. Serves 2.

We made this on a balmy weekend, and doubled the recipe to share with Dad. Emma, who's a very picky eater and refuses most fruits and vegetables, thought it was "quite tasty." It was a bit thick, though, so she enjoyed hers with a spoon.

Dump Trucks by Linda D. Willaims

Another good D book. This book focused (obviously) on dump trucks, naming their different parts and the different jobs they do. The text was simple--1 or 2 sentences in an easy-to-read font, good for looking for Ds. Emma's not all that much into trucks, but I imagine this would be a perfect book for some little boys I know.

Dalmation Puppet

Admittedly, I was feeling lazy when it came to our craft project this week. So I was thrilled to find this at Wal-mart:

A Dalmation puppet kit, with pieces pre-cut and lined with adhesive, all for less than 4 bucks. Here's what the kit came with:

The kit said it was for ages 4 and up, but I thought it was perfect for toddlers. All Emma had to do was stick the pieces on the little bag. I'll admit I was a little OCD and corrected some of her placements for the vital pieces (ears, paws, etc), but the spots were all her.

We're already having fun with the finished product: woof, woof!

Fun Dog, Sun Dog by Deborah Heiligman

This book, from the library, was another perfect D book. The subject matter (dogs) is a favorite, and the illustrations are bright and fun. The text on each page is short and sweet, consisting of 3 lines with 10-15 words total. The word "dog" is on each page at least 3 times, along with a smattering of other D words, so there are plenty of Ds to find.

Dance Party USA

Emma loves music, and when she hears a good beat, she often commands me to "Dance, Mama." So what better activity for D than a dance party? In fact, we've had several this week, with music ranging from children's CDs to the Jeopardy theme song to 90s rap ("Jump Around" is practically Emma's theme song for life). Our best dance party was on Thursday night when my husband came home after 3 long days of taking the TX bar exam. He found Emma and I dancing around the kitchen as we prepared dinner and joined us for a massive celebration--I think we burned off more calories than we ate for dinner! Emma was a dancing queen, and now she also knows that dance starts with D.

Sorry, no pictures this time--we have to protect the guilty. :)

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen

This book has been a favorite in our house for quite a while. Long before Emma could talk, she could point out the doggie or ball or teddy bear on each page. In addition to being a favorite bedtime book, it may just be the perfect book for the letter D. The story is engaging with fun pictures. The large (30-ish point?) serif font is easy for little eyes to read and look for letters. The text is simple, with an average of 10-15 words per page. We love it, and Emma has read it at least 10 times by herself this week (in addition to the several times we read it together). This one is definitely a must-have for a home library, alphabet project or not.

Dimity Duck by Jane Yolen and Sebastien Braun

Who doesn't love Jane Yolen? We're big fans of her Dinosaur books, and were happy to be introduced to this one. The text is fun and the pictures are whimsical, telling the story of a little duck who spends the day playing with a frog. (What toddlers don't love ducks and frogs?) The text is printed in a large type and sprinkled with Ds, perfect for new little semi-readers to search for the letter of the week.