If you’re just joining us you may want to read the “How to set up a co-op preschool” post.  Each week I’ll be sharing ideas for introducing your preschoolers to the letters of the alphabet.   Not all of these ideas will work for everyone.  As the year goes on, you’ll figure out what works for your group of kids.  To start the alphabet, check out ideas for the letters A and B or just bookmark this page for all my preschool ideas.

D is for DOG and Donuts

I choose to talk about Clifford, because he’s such a well known dog.   Ask kids to bring a stuffed dog or Clifford to Preschool.  Talk about how to take care of a dog.  The need for taking it to the vet for checkups, etc.  You could even get some collars and leashes and let the kids take their stuffed dogs for a walk.

Music:
Here We Are Together
The Alphabet Song
My Dog (and also Broken Donuts) by Rick Charette on his Where Do My Sneakers Go At Night album
Pets go to the Vet by Rick Charette on his King Kong Chair album

Books
Some of our favorite Clifford stories:

Activities

Coloring Pages:

Domino’s — show the kids how to set up Domino’s and then push the first one down and watch them all fall down.  Kids may not have the dexterity or small motor skills to make a long domino trail.  Don’t worry about that.  Help each kid take a few and set them up and then knock them down.  You can also set up a long one and have them help you count each domino as you place it.  This builds anticipation and sometimes it gets knocked down unintentionally.

Snack Idea:

Puppy Chow — I’m not a fan of peanut butter so I’ve never eaten these, but my kids have and they like it.  A few different versions of the recipe can be found here or here or from Chex.  Just make sure none of the kids have peanut allergies.

Donut holes and apple juice…don’t go for big donuts.  That’s too much sugar for these little guys.

Free Play:

Play Food/Kitchen setup — most likely kids will want to make gourmet dishes for their stuffed dogs.  So, having a little kitchen set up, or some of your regular plastic dishes and play food available can spark some fun.

Vet — do you have a doctor kit like this or this one in pink or traditional kit?  Suggest to the kids that they can use the kit to do checkups on their “pet” dog.

Field Trip Idea: One year one of our kids went to a nearby vet.  She was great about talking about pet care and what to expect when you bring a pet in to see her.  They left with a goody bag full of pet (mostly dog) related items including a copy of The Big Itch (mentioned above).

Field Trip Idea: Donut Shop — we went to our local donut shop.  “Stan” showed the kids all the equipment he uses to make donuts.   Their eyes were huge as he shows them the 20qt Hobart mixer and the big blob of dough it can make. Then he had them climb up on milk crates and help him make some donuts.  They rolled, twisted, etc.  Of course, the kids didn’t actually eat any of the donuts they “helped” make (health and safety reasons I’m sure), but they each got to pick out a donut to eat with a cup of apple juice.  I don’t remember the actual cost, but it was only a couple of bucks.  We invited a couple of non-preschool friends to have enough kids for the tour.

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