Letter D Tot School: D is for Dance

D is for Dance Toddler School Ideas - Fun theme that incorporates dance and music so it’s fun for boys and girls - Moms Have Questions Too

What is an early childhood education curriculum for toddlers that is fun for boys and girls?

The theme for this week of tot school is D is for dance. I’ll be honest, this was my attempt at a “girly” theme so that my Toddler Curriculum would be fun for boys and girls. Since I have 3 sons and no daughters, making “girly” activities is sometimes hard for me. I think this theme actually turned out well though.

D is for Dance Toddler School Ideas - Fun theme that incorporates dance and music so it’s fun for boys and girls - Moms Have Questions Too

I made it more of a dance and music theme instead of just dance. Because of all the music things, Smiley Man didn’t reject it for being too girly. He loves music so this was a fun theme for him, despite the tutus. If you do have a daughter, you can definitely adapt the theme to include a LOT more dancers and tutus and pink and purple. I really wanted this toddler homeschool curriculum to be fun for boys and girls and I think I definitely achieved that with this theme.

D is for Dance Toddler Trays - Moms Have Questions Too

(Smiley Man is 34 months old. Go here to read about appropriate ages for this curriculum)

Make the Letter

This week, we made the letter D with yarn and glue. Smiley Man glued the yarn on the D the first day of tot school and then he traced the yarn with his finger on the other days.

 Make a letter using yarn and glue - Moms Have Questions Too

Learning Notebook

The learning notebook pages are always a big hit, but I think it’s just because Smiley Man loves these dry erase crayons. I was really surprised at how good he is getting with these “Which One is Different?” pages. This printable and more are included in the Toddler Curriculum.

 D is for Dance Learning Notebook for Toddler Curriculum - Moms Have Questions Too

Tot Trays

Theme: Homemade musical instruments (toilet paper roll “sticks,” oatmeal container drum, shoebox guitar, straw flute.

 Playing with Homemade Instruments - Moms Have Questions Too

Homemade Musical Instruments Tot Tray - Moms Have Questions Too

Small Spaces: Pass small party favor flutes or slide whistles (from Dollar Tree) through the middle of masking tape without touching the sides.

 Small Space Activity for Tot Trays in the Letter D for Dance Toddler Curriculum- Moms Have Questions Too

Small Space Activity for Music Themed Tot Trays - Moms Have Questions Too

Pasta: Sweep colored pasta using a small broom onto dancer’s tutu. (printable included)

 Sweeping colored pasta tot tray - Moms Have Questions Too

Sweep pasta onto the dancer's tutu - Moms Have Questions Too

Counting: Make 3 small button snakes and write the numbers 1-3 on the buttons. Cut 6 dancers from felt to go on the button snakes. Put the right number of dancers on the snakes.

 Counting with Button Snakes - Moms Have Questions Too

Simple Counting with dancers on a button snake - Moms Have Questions Too

Puzzle: Make a popsicle stick puzzle with the dancing shoes or the violin picture. (printable included)

 Popsicle Stick Puzzle Tot Tray - Moms Have Questions Too

Popsicle Stick Puzzle Music Theme for Toddlers - Moms Have Questions Too

Supplies Used: oatmeal container, straws, masking tape, small broom, buttons, felt, popsicle sticks, popsicle stick puzzle tutorial

Tray Printables

I cut out the squares for this pattern page, but Smiley Man loved gluing the pieces on. Sometimes I will do part of a page (like cutting the squares) if I can tell Smiley Man doesn’t have the energy or desire to do it. Usually he is more willing if he only has to do part of the work.

 D is for Dance Toddler Curriculum Printables - Moms Have Questions Too

Cut and Paste Dance and Music Toddler Tray - Moms Have Questions Too

Letter Activities

One letter activity we did this week was read the D book from starfall.com. I am not a sponsor of Starfall or anything like that, but I totally would be if I could because I absolutely LOVE their website. I’m pretty sure Little Bear basically learned how to read thanks to Starfall. Smiley Man also loves their interactive letter books.

Books

I wanted to get Giraffes Can’t Dance from the library for this week, but they didn’t have it when we went. :( We just enjoyed some non-themed books this week.

Letter D Craft

I didn’t know if Smiley Man would enjoy making this twirly wand, but he surprised me and loved it. He loved how the ribbons moved around when he shook it. Instructions are in the Toddler Curriculum.

 Make a twirly baton as part of the D is for Dance Toddler Curriculum - Moms Have Questions Too

Sensory Bin

We used shredded paper as our sensory bin base this week and it was a huge hit. Smiley Man loves digging through the sensory material to find all of the hidden treasures. His favorite part of the sensory bins though is when I help him trace each letter as we say its name. Read more about our ABC sensory bins here.

 Letter D is for Dance Sensory Bin - Moms Have Questions Too

It was hard for me at first to come up with preschool curriculum ideas that were fun for both boys and girls, but I was really proud of how great this theme worked out. It was really fun for Smiley Man, but I’m pretty sure even the girliest of girls would enjoy it too.

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Learn more about the Toddler Curriculum from Moms Have Questions Too

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