WFMW - "D" Adventures

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Last week we gave you the "D" activity trays. Now here are the "D" adventures that worked for this 26-month-old during our two "D" weeks.
Review: Dogs.
Song.

• Bingo

Book.

• Go, Dog. Go! by P D Eastman. One of my favorites and the reason we chose "dog" as the theme today, because it is chock full of review stuff like colors and opposites.
• Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner. My ABSOLUTE favorite book of the week! It's actually about a cat, but Mommy had it earmarked as "dog" since it has chihauhuas in it. I kept arguing about which ones were cats and which were "hauhuas."
• The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy by Jane Thayer. One of my favorites - I actually own this book!
• Doggies by Sandra Boynton.
• I'll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words by Michael Frith. Another of my favorites that I own.
• Dog's ABC by Emma Dodd.
• Where's Spot? by Eric Hill. One of my favorites, but we made a lapbook based on this one, too - see the Adventures section below.
• Clifford the Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell.
• I Got Two Dogs by John Lithgow.
• Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day.

Food.

• Puppy chow - this recipe was a bit oversweet. We modified it some to begin with and only made 1/4th of it, but would strongly recommend some desweetening if you choose to try it. But it was fun making it and shaking it all up!

Computer Time.

• Bingo video clip - BINGO song on video
• The Perfect Pet - a story about the perfect pet for me...
• Pick a Pet - a game where you have to decide what different pets do.
• Clifford the Big Red Dog - lots of dog things to do on this PBS site!
• Martha - and more dog things on THIS PBS site! The Pizza game has some good mouse practice for kids like me who haven't quite figured the mouse thing out yet.

Science.

• Feather hat - since Go, Dog. Go! was the theme book of the day, we made a funny hat to go with the book. Actually, the hat was already made - we just added feathers to it. We tried to fit as many as possible on without them falling off - it was a challenge to get them to stick into the hat. But doesn't it look stunning on me?!

Physical Activity.

• Ball - fetching practice!

Adventures...
We made alphabet dominos! I helped color out all the pictures. I don't have all the sounds figured out yet, so Mommy had to help me put them together, but I had fun naming the pictures.
And remember that cat paper bag puppet we got from WalMart on clearance? It came with some dog puppets, too. So we made these. My friend Gabe was visiting, so each of us made one. I love taking them apart afterwards!
Another "and"! We made a special dog lapbook! It's just like the Where's Spot? book, only better cuz we made it ourselves and don't have to return it to the library. I LOVE tab books, so this is perfect for me...

Lapbook: Ducks.
Song.

• Five Little Ducks - one of my favorite songs! I like practicing to quack like the mamma duck.

Book.

• My "d" Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure. My favorite sound box book so far, since it had lots of dolls in it!
• The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen, adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. My ABSOLUTE favorite book! I am all about emotion in stories, and this story gets me every time! Poor ugly duckling! Mommy's note: I was surprised again at how well Esmé sat through this book - all the words - and requested it over and over. The illustrations were lovely. There was one math error in the book that I had to correct while reading.
• One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root.
• Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. We got the Scholastic DVD for this book from the library, too.
• Giggle, Giggle, Quack by Doreen Cronin. Mommy liked this book! I didn't quite get what was funny about it, but I liked the animals...
• Duck & Goose by Tad Hills. This is about a duck and goose who find a ball and think it is an egg, sitting on it and waiting for it to hatch. I had a hard time sitting still and listening to this - I kept insisting it was a "BALL" all the way through!
• Little Quack by Lauren Thompson. A definite favorite and great counting practice. I used to own this book until I tore it all up...
• Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld. This is DEFINITELY about a RABBIT! I don't know WHY we're reading this in "D" week...
• I'm a Duck! by Teri Sloat. A happy book!
• Duck on a Bike by David Shannon. Another fun book...

Food.

• Deli sandwich with dirt dessert - a bun with veggie deli slices and cheese, and a cup of chocolate pudding topped with crushed oreos. Though you couldn't pay me to eat that dirt.

Computer Time.

• http://www.starfall.com/ - the "D" activities. I love starfall!
• Five Little Ducks video - to go with our song...
• Debbie Duck and Debbie Duck Park stories on BBC's site.
• And of course Debi Derryberry's Baby Banana site - with a mama duck...

Science.

• Floating duck - I played with my rubber duck in the bath - and Mommy showed how when it was full of air it floated, but not so much when it was full of water. And I like squirting that water!
• Feed the duck - I colored a picture of a duck and then glued it onto a cereal box with LOTS of glue. Then Mommy cut a small hole near the open mouth of the duck (and oh how I tried to help cut that hole!). Then I got to feed the duck through the hole with my goldfish crackers. Though it was more like duck - 1, Esmé - 1, duck - 1, Esmé - 1...

Physical Activity.

• Duck Duck Goose - not quite the conventional game with only Mommy and me playing, but fun anyways! A little more like Ring Around the Rosies...

Adventures...
Before we started on the lapbook, we did a duck feet painting. The idea is to take two spatulas, dip them in orange paint, and slap them onto your paper like duck feet. Mommy says it didn't look like anything special - she was expecting something more like duck feet prints. But it was fun to slap and paint! And we did it outside on a brown shopping bag.
Now to the lapbook. The first page was a block "D" - we were supposed to paint it with dandelion prints, but can you believe the dandelions were out of season already?! So we tried to use daisies, but they were WAY flimsy. Flexibility, flexibility... Mommy pulled out the qtips and we made dots...
As always, the inside of the first page had a gallon ziploc bag stapled onto it to collect all the miscellaneous "flat" stuff we did throughout "D" time.
And here's what went on the inner page...
Our "D" sounds book - I colored this first.
My "D" sign language cards - Mommy taped in our premade flashcards which included the letter and "drink."
We made a dog comparison book - big and little dogs, dogs of all colors...
We used a Daniel Bible verse from this page (the rest of the page was used for our Daniel adventures...
And we used daisy numbers for counting practice.
The back was a dinosaur coloring page.
Excursion #1: Dogs, Denny's.
Adventures...
We visited the dogs at the animal shelter. This little daschund just kept calling my name! I wanted to take him home so bad!
(Of all the options, Mommy says... She prefers the big dogs to the little yappers. But it turns out we weren't going to take ANY of them home, so I'll just stick with me little hot dog...)

And we ate at Denny's. Here I am with the ingredients to my secret restaurant recipes. I ended up getting pizza, and I insisted on goldfish crackers for a side.
Bible Story: Daniel.
Song.

• Dare To Be a Daniel - this is an oldie hymn that's lots of fun marching or saluting to...

Book.

• Daniel and the Lions, Falvo Fowler, ed., from GraceLink. We had the printed version, but you can find it online, too. It's one of my absolute favorite stories - I can tell you the next sentence before you read it! Here's our dialogue... Mommy: Is Daniel scared? Esmé: NO! Mommy: Why not? Esmé: Angels shut lions' mouths!

Food.

• Animal crackers including lions.

Computer Time.

• Daniel and the Lions online book - from Bible for Children site.

Science.

• Wax decree - first I wrote a royal decree on note paper with a purple marker. Lots of EYES (making sure all my "I"s are dotted) on that decree! Then Mommy helped me put it in an envelope and lick the envelope shut. Then we lit a candle and dripped wax onto the envelope to seal it even more. I stamped it with my rubber ducky stamp!

Physical Activity.

• Den - In addition to marching to our song, we created a "lions" den using chairs and a blanket. I didn't have any lions, so we put all my other stuffed animals inside. Then Mommy read me a story while I sat in the den.

Adventures...
Mommy glued my lion coloring page onto cardboard and cut the lion out. She punched holes onto both sides of the mouth and put in a piece of yarn so I could practice tying the lion's mouth shut! It's still rather complicated, but I'm working on it!
Then we made doily angels. You fold a foil doily into half. Then you make a cone out of a piece of paper and glue it onto the doily. Then you glue and/or staple a pompom onto the top of the cone for a head. The ones we made don't have hands - that's why I have to help keep the lion's mouth shut.
My secret? Use LOOOTTTTS of glue! Then Mommy has to make it disappear while the glue dries.
Science: Dinosaurs.
Song.

• I'm a Mean Old Dinosaur - Mommy's note: if you roar too realistically, you'll have to follow this up with LOTS of tickling!

Book.

• Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff. An ABSOLUTE favorite book! Check out the Scholastic DVD, too. (Mommy's note: a couple references to "million years" that left me a little uncomfortable, but overall a fun book.)
• Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea. This was a favorite! It gave Mommy some ideas about toothbrushing - now there is a toothbrush monster who chases after me every night so I don't fight so much and giggle more during the toothbrushing session!
• Dinosaur ABC. I kept asking for this book, but never sat all the way through it.
• Dinorella: A Prehistoric Fairy Tale by Pamela Duncan Edwards & Henry Cole. Mommy liked this because there were LOTS of "D"s in the book.
• Good Night Dinosaurs by Judy Sierra.
• Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs! by Sandra Boynton.
• Tadpole Rex by Kurt Cyrus. A favorite book of mine.
• The Berenstain Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Another favorite of mine. I kept saying "bad dog!"
• Ten Terrible Dinosaurs by Paul Stickland.
• How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends? by Jane Tolen & Mark Teague.
• Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs by Byron Barton.

Food.

• Fossil cookies - we put dinosaur tracks into sugar cookie dough with my plastic dinosaurs, then baked the cookies! Yummy! Mommy's note: I buy lots of sugar cookie dough when it's on sale and freeze it; then I can just grab some out for a quick project like this. It may not be as healthy as homemade, but supposedly it's safer for those sneak bites of raw cookie dough that inevitably happen. In fact, Esmé loves the cookie dough but hardly touches the baked cookie.

Computer Time.

• Land Before Time site.

Science.

• Official dinosaur names - we played with these dinosaur cards from 1+1+1=1's blog...

Physical Activity.

• Flight of the Dragonfly - we ran around and acted like dragonflies (using our dragonfly puppets) to the tune of Flight of the Bumblebee.

Adventures...
We made a dinosaur diorama! First you take a box and you paint the inside. Then you paint your feet and hands...
Then you paint some egg cartons to make mountains...
Then you wait for the paint to dry (or not). Then you move in your dinosaurs and make them do crazy things!
If you'd rather have it look professional, here are some dinosaur diorama templates.

You can use your dinosaur finger puppets in the diorama...
And here's a host of more dinosaur crafts that we didn't have time to do...

Social Studies: Doctors/Dentists.
Song.

• I Am a Doctor.

Book.

• Doctor Ted by Andrea Beaty & Pascal Lemaitre.
• The Crocodile and the Dentist by Taro Gomi.
• Dancing by Denys Cazet.

Food.

• An apple (a day...)

Computer Time.

• Sid the Science Kid Dental Hygeine videos
• Crocodile's Toothache by Shel Silverstein (only if you have a warped sense of humor...)

Science.

• Thermometer - Mommy showed me how to use the thermometer.
• And a diaper/pad test - this was a little impromptu. I opened up some pad samples of different brands - I called them diapers - so Mommy decided we might as well test them before we threw them away. Here I am pouring water on each one by the 1/8th cup to see which one absorbs the most. It was a lesson on what goes on inside my diapers, too...

Physical Activity.

• Dance - check out this great post on dancing to music from Munchkins and Music... Here I am dancing with my cousins' dancing doll in Portland.

Adventures...
We played paper doll doctors...
And I played doctor with my dolly! I took the temperature of her eye...
...and checked her throat...
...and bandaged her leg.
Excursion #2: Ducks.
Adventures...
We went to a duck pond and fed bread to the ducks.
They were nice and friendly.

So was this old little nutria...
Kitchen: Donuts.
Song.

• Donut Song.

Book.

• We didn't have any books for this theme, but we had SO MANY for the ducks and dinosaurs and dogs that I didn't miss it at all...

Food.

• Donuts! We made them using premade biscuit dough. I separated the dough and punched holes in it using a bud vase.
• Then I was on sugar duty! In addition to stuffing sugar in my mouth, I helped powder the donuts after they were fried.
• And of course, I helped eat them (though the sugar was the best part).

Computer Time.

• The Door game - you have to guess who's at the door in this Fisher-Price game.

Science.

• Salt/sugar taste test - Mommy gave me a plate of sugar and a plate of salt. I had fun tasting them over and over...

Physical Activity.

• Marching with my drum (see Adventures section below).

Adventures...
As well as making donuts, I also made a drum using a hot chocolate container. I put stickers on it and Mommy showed me how to put a shoelace through it so I could hold it around my neck.
We tried to make a balloon drum, too, by putting a balloon over an open container, but it didn't work. The balloons kept breaking instead of going around the containers.
Miscellaneous.
Book.

• Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret Chodos-Irvine. Mommy says this story could well be about me - I would love to dress up like Ella Sarah. Or just wear nothing all day.
• What Daddies Do Best by Laura Numeroff.
• The Story of Jesus and His Disciples by Alice Joyce Davidson.
• Dreams by Ezra Jack Keats.
• Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! by Dr. Seuss. A little long for me, but I did sit through it a couple of times.
• One Two Three Jump! by Penelope Lively. About a dragonfly and a frog...

Adventures.
We made daisy chains in the yard.
And told stories in the dark.
And had tea parties with our dolls using our bunny dishes.
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