Letter D and the /d/ sound

Following C, the alphabet letter D is another "short sound" consonant where it's made by a quick puff of air coming from your mouth. Below is a short video showing a 3 year old boy demonstrating the letter /d/ sound:

You may see some spelling of the /d/ sound as "DUH", but you should not voice the ending "-UH" part of it. Otherwise, words might sound like:

BAD - "BADUH"

or,

BED - "BEDUH"

Obviously, these are not the proper ways to say those words. Isolate the /d/ sound from these words to get an idea of how it should be sounded:

DAD - /d/ /a/ /d/

DIP - /d/ /i/ /p/

DOG - /d/ /o/ /g/

Below are various activities, worksheets, and rhymes you can use to teach your child.

Learning Activity for /d/

• Prepare a printout for the letter D and spend several minutes working on it. Repeat a few times during the day the /d/ sound.

1. Show the letter D to the child and explain that it makes the /d/ sound. Say it a few times, and ask your child to repeat after you.
2. "Let's say /d/, /d/, ding dong!" - See the rhyme at end of this page.
3. Practice the /d/ sound with different words including: DAD, DOG, DAY, BAD, DID. You can include any other words you like.
4. Do some random "pop quiz" by pointing to the letter D and asking your child "what sound does this make?"
5. Lower case spellings of "b" and "d" are often confused by younger children. You may wish to spend a little time working on helping your child distinguish between the two letters and their sounds.
6. Printout and let you child work on the worksheet provided below.

Letter D Worksheets

Below are worksheets and activities for letter D and its /d/ sound.