D is for Dog, Dance, Drum, Dot and Delightful

momstown is more than just an organized playgroup. momstown aims to meet the needs of the whole child and the complete family by offering a variety of programs based on our six pillars: Art and Music, Literacy, Nutrition, Science and Discovery, Fitness and Adventure, and Play and Social. One of the key programs that we offer is a bi-weekly Alphabet Play event at Absolute Dance. Each time we meet, we focus on one letter of the alphabet. We do a craft and read a story based on the letter, and also sing songs and engage in gross motor activities that begin with the letter. In doing so, we incorporate the Art and Play, Literacy, Fitness, and Play and Social Pillars. Sometimes we even incorporate Nutrition by having a snack that begins with our letter. 

Our most recent event focused on the letter "D". After our usual circle time welcome, we read "Dog's Colorful Day", appropriately written and illustrated by Emma Dodd. 

Described as "a messy story about colors and counting", the tale focuses on a day in the life of Dog. Each activity that dog engages in during the day results in him getting dirty with a specific spot, or dot. By the end of the day, he has 10 colourful splotches on his body, and needs a bath. The story is filled with wonderful onomatopoeia words such as "splish" and "squash" that are designed to capture the attention of toddlers and preschoolers, and has delightfully simple, vividly coloured illustrations. Once we were done with our story, we got to work on our "D is for dog, dirty, and dot" craft. 

As always, although we started with the same supplies: letter "D"'s, spots, ears, and googlie eyes, each creation turned out different:

Is there anything more delicious than a newborn baby?

After our craft, we danced, dashed diagonally across the room, marched to the beat of the drum, and practices "up and down", both standing up and crouching down, and raising our arms up and down. It was a delightful day, and we are already designing letter "E" activities, so do not hesitate to join us!