Week four of alphabet adventures is complete! Letter D was a little more challenging to think of crafts for, but we still got a couple!

If you are just now joining us on our “Alphabet Adventure”, you can read all about what it is in the post below—>

Alphabet Adventures

For this week we focused on: dinosaurs, dirt and dogs!

During Alphabet Adventures, every week needs to include these things:

1. Craft

2. Food

3. Outing

4. Books/Activites

5. Sensory activity

I also decided that every week we are going to do a handprint craft that we will eventually turn into an “ABC” book!

Here is our fourth page!

Switching it up this week with a footprint!

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Craft

For our crafts this week we made dirt dough, dinosaur coloring sheets, painted a wooden dinosaur and dog, dirt painting and dot art!

Dirt Dough

I have heard of other people doing this before when I used to teach preschool. They would say you can make normal Play-Doh and then add dirt to it, and it turns into dirt Play-Doh! it will be more moldable than just playing with dirt itself.

Like any normal toddler, Logan loves playing in the dirt. So I thought this would be a fun ( and cleaner) way to allow him to play with some dirt!

You guys, it felt SO wrong! I made a beautiful thing of Play-Doh using a recipe I have been using for years, but then came the next step…… I literally had to roll around in the dirt outside*cringe*

Now don’t get me wrong, we are big fans of getting dirty in this household. Usually by bathtime, Logan is filthy from the outside play….. and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

However, making a beautiful batch of Play-Doh and then rolling around in the dirt, felt like I was breaking some cardinal rule.

I was surprised at how much dirt this Play-Doh actually held, it just kept absorbing it! I’m sure if I wanted a darker “ dirt” color I could’ve added more.

I will say, Logan was very excited to see Play-Doh outside! I collected some rocks sticks, leaves, and flowers for him to use in his dirt dough creations. He decided to make a bunch of “apples”.

If your kiddo is a big fan of dirt, definitely give this a try! Or just take normal play-doh outside 😉

Dinosaur Coloring Sheets

If you haven’t hit up the dollar tree for your toddler needs, you’re missing out!

This book is huge, almost as tall as Logan! And you guess it- only 1$!

Every morning I have an activity out on the counter for Logan to do while I cook breakfast. These are great to just rip one page out and tape it to the counter for him to do.

Wooden Dinosaur & Dog

These were so cute, I couldn’t pass them up. I found them at Target!

Logan chose to color his dinosaur with markers. When Logan was finished with his dinosaur, we put it at his sensory table.

For the dog, he decided on paint (which worked much better). I chose brown and grey and he wanted to add some blue in there too

Dirt Painting

Ok, this kept Logan entertained for so long. Sometimes it’s the simple things! I put this in the “craft” section because originally it was going to go on cardstock and be hung up. Turned into a process art, which worked really well! You could do either

Remember- at this age it’s all about the process, not the product.

Mix dirt and water in a bowl, add some paintbrushes and a side of a house or fence and viola! Dirt painting!

My first idea was to do this on heavy paper, like card stock. I always challenge myself to think of things that get us outdoors and falls into the “process art” category.

The best part, he could rinse it off and start over!

Any time he gets to play with the hose he is a fan.

This was a keeper. Will for sure do again

Dot Art

I remember these as a kid and I used to love them! I was excited to show Logan the dot markers. It was a little bit of a learning curve but he eventually got it!

Food

This week we made deviled eggs! Didn’t get a picture of the actual deviled eggs, but snapped this picture of the farm fresh eggs our neighbor so thoughtfully keeps us stocked with!

Logan’s rating- 0/10. So, to be fair, Logan is sick right now. I don’t know about you, but when I’m sick, deviled eggs aren’t really on the top of my “feel good” foods either.

I first gave him the inside mixture in a cracker because I knew the texture of the hard boiled egg would throw him. He kind of licked it, and then handed it immediately to James for him to eat, “Dada, eat!”

I then brought out the plate of a couple eggs and tried to eat one with him, he immediately said “no”.

At least he tried it! That’s all I can ask for.

Outing

This week’s outing was FREE! Which is always a great change of pace

We took Dad downtown to feed the ducks and then played at a park where they had a sandbox for Logan to dig in!

Donuts would have been an easy one as well! But I just couldn’t justify taking him to get a donut….

Books/Activites

Toy Rotation

This looks like a lot when it’s all piled together like this, and it is! I just set his activities/toys up like this for a picture and then I put them on his open shelving, one item per shelf, so it’s not overwhelming.

From left-right

Dinosaur basket- Tjmaxx

Dr. Kit– Amazon

Dino Magnets– Melissa and Doug Amazon

Dino Puzzle– Melissa and Doug Amazon

Peg Dinosaur– Amazon

Drum- Dinosaur

Dish Soap Sensory Activity

We did a dish soap sensory activity and this was cool! I didn’t think it would work because I have been using dish soap for years (obviously) and have never had it reach this consistency. It felt like shaving cream!!

1/4 cup water & 2 tbsp dish soap. Mix on high for a min or two. Scoop it out to add to bigger container and repeat as necessary until you have desired amount!

You can also add food coloring to the water and soap before you start mixing!

A couple warnings:

It’s SOAP- so obviously watch littles so they don’t put it in eyes or mouth, if it gets on floor it’s slippery etc. etc. you know your kiddo best! Recommend doing this outside so you can just spray it off afterwards.

Pro tip- add some of their toys and a sponge! It’s a win-win because they will have fun giving their toys a “bath” and you get some help cleaning their toys 😉

Magnetic Board

Another nap time rush creation! I got these dinosaur magnets for Logan but didn’t want to just throw them up on the board. So I created a quick landscape out of construction paper! If I had more time I would have added more detail, plants, trees etc. but this worked out just fine!

Sensory Activity

sensory bins are my absolute favorite

Sensory Bin– IKEA

Sensory bin filler- kinetic sand

Dinosaurs- tjmaxx

Lava- red/orange playdough

Eyewitness Dinosaur- Library

Little Kids First Big Book of Dinos– Amazon

Dinosaurs– Amazon

I also made these “dinosaur fossils” for the sensory table! I just made some salt dough, used the dinosaurs to press their feet and heads into it, even some leaves, and baked! To my surprise, Logan loved these! They served as loose parts for Logan’s play all week and he used them in a variety of different ways.