D Words for Kids

Do you need some D words for kids? If so, today I’m going to give you some delightful words that begin with D that you can dutifully share with your diligent students.

We are not just going to dabble in D words, we are going to dive in head first and give you D word lists for preschoolers, kindergartners, and elementary students. As well as, D word lists for three-letter D words, four-letter D words, and common foods, animals, and objects that all start with D.

Note: Don’t forget to get the free printable D Words for kids Activity Pack that is available at the end of this post.

The Sounds of D

The letter D makes the /d/ sound as in: dime, dollar, and dance (D pronunciation). This sound is articulated when a quick downward movement of the tip of the tongue releases a voiced puff of air. (This D sound is similar to the T sound but is voiced.)

Note: The /d/ sound can be combined with the /r/ sound to create the ‘dr’ letter blend for words like: dream, drop, and drip.

D Words for Preschool

The letter D offers us lots of wonderful D words for preschool. These words include familiar animals and objects, as well as, common easy D words preschoolers might use every day.

Note: Is your preschooler working on letter recognition, letter sounds, prewriting? If so, here are some printable resources you can use to reinforce these concepts: Printable Preschool Learning Folder, Preschool Daily Skill Builder, and Prewriting Book 1.

D words for preschool:

• Dog – My dog wags her tail when she sees me.
• Day – This has been a good day.
• Dig – I can dig a hole with a shovel.
• Drum – He kept a steady beat on the drum.
• Dark – My room is dark at night.
• Dad – I love my dad.
• Dice – I rolled the dice when it was my turn.
• Daisy – Jill picked a daisy and gave it to her mother.
• Doll – My doll’s name is Susan.

D Words for Kindergarten

Expand your kindergartener’s knowledge of the letter D by teaching them more words that begin with D. Here are some of our favorite D words for kindergarten:

Note: check out the printable Kindergarten Daily Skill Builder for more kindergarten practice with letter recognition, beginning and ending sounds, and beginning reading.

Words that begin with D for Kindergarten:

• Den – The bears live in a den.
• Dip – I dip my toes in the water to see how cold it is.
• Deep – The water was deep so I wore a lifejacket.
• Dish – The casserole dish needed to be washed.
• Deer – There are deer living in our backyard.
• Duck – The duck led her ducklings to the pond.
• Dolphin – The dolphin swam quickly through the water.
• Desk – I organized my desk.
• Drink – I need a drink of water.
• Dinner – We had pizza and salad for dinner.
• Dirt – I got dirt all over my new clothes.
• Drive – We are gong to drive to the store.
• Dinosaur – I have a toy dinosaur.
• Dime – A dime is worth ten cents.
• Dark – I feel afraid in the dark.
• Doctor – I went to the doctor when I broke my toe.
• Dance – My mom and I like to dance together.

Words that end with D for Kindergarten:

• Bad – He felt bad saying those unkind words.
• Mad – Jack was mad that Mark took his toy.
• Sad – She felt sad when her mother went away.
• Bed – My bed is so comfortable.
• Kid – The kid left his bike in the driveway.
• Lid – She twisted the lid off of the jar.
• Bud – The rose bud was pink.
• Mud – I got mud all over my new dress.
• Glad – I am glad that you were able to come over today.
• Shed – She shed a few tears when she broke her glasses.
• Need – I need sunshine.
• Good – You are such a good daughter.
• Around – He drove around the parking lot while he waited.

DR Words for Kindergarten:

• Drag – Do not drag your coat in the mud.
• Dragon – The dragon landed on the castle roof.
• Drain – Drain the bathwater and get out.
• Drama – I am part of the drama and acting team at school.
• Drank – I drank too much soda.
• Draw – I love to draw pictures of my family.
• Dream – I hope I have a good dream tonight.
• Dress – Sara wore a yellow dress to school.
• Drill – I watched my dad drill a hole in the wood.
• Drink – Tina helped her baby sister take a drink.
• Drip – There is a constant drip coming from the faucet.
• Drive – My mom said she would drive me to school today.
• Drop – Try not to drop the platter of food.
• Drum – He beat the drum with his fist.
• Dry – My raincoat kept me nice and dry.

Easy D Words for Beginning Readers

Introducing three letter D words to early readers is really the beginning of their reading journey. Not only are these easy D words beneficial for phonemic awareness but they help to boost the young reader’s confidence.

Three letter D Words for Kids

Four letter D Words for Kids

Once readers get acclimated to three letter D words they can move onto trying some four-letter D words.

D Words for Elementary Students

Learning multiple words for each letter of the alphabet is a great way to enhance your student’s vocabulary. Here is a handful of D words for elementary students:

D Words for Elementary Students:

• Dish – Will you scrub out that dish?
• Doll – She left her doll at the park.
• Drop – Try not to drop the books on the floor.
• Dive – I am going to dive head first into the pool.
• Drip – I heart the faucet drip so I got up to turn it off.
• Drum – He played the drum with good rhythm.
• Drain – Drain the dishwater from the sink.
• Dear – We love our dear elderly neighbors.
• Drive – You can drive when you turn sixteen.
• Dream – He had a dream about eating pizza with anchovies.
• Doing – I am doing the dishes for my mom.
• Damage – He wanted to take back his words, but the damage had already been done.
• Daughter – My daughter is seven years old.
• Driver – Our mailman is a very good driver.
• Dabble – In my spare time, I like to dabble in the arts.
• Daily – Our daily newspaper is sitting on the porch.
• Dinosaur – I have never seen a dinosaur in real life.
• Dragonfly – The dragonfly landed on the fence.
• Dozen – I bought a dozen eggs at the grocery store.
• Dumpling – We had chicken and dumplings for dinner.
• Dwarf – I liked the fairies and dwarfs in the movie.
• Doctor – Our family doctor is on vacation.
• Director – She is the director of this establishment.
• Digit – There are four digits in our house number.
• Diaper – The baby needed her diaper changed.
• Diesel – The semi truck stopped to fill up on diesel.
• Decoration – The party decorations were lovely.
• Dance – We are planning to dance together at our wedding.
• Drink – Do you need a drink of water?
• Dollar – I have one dollar and five cents.
• Dock – Dock the boat and get out of the water.
• Desert – The desert is dry and hot.
• Devil – Don’t mess with the devil.
• Diary – She kept a diary of her daily thoughts.
• Dress – Her dress was long and flown.
• Daisy – Rebecca wore a white daisy in her hair.
• Daffodil – We had one lone daffodil blooming in our flower bed.
• Dinner – We invited the Jones family over for dinner.
• Diner – We ate at the late night diner.
• Dessert – We are having blackberry pie for dessert.
• Deserve – You deserve and pat on the back for your effort.
• Decent – I am looking for a decent price on gas.
• Delight – I delight in seeing you happy.
• Desire – Her desire was to help him through college.
• Destiny – Helping others was her destiny.
• Describe – Can you describe your favorite pair of shoes?

Challenging D Words for Kids

For upper elementary students up into middle school, here are s few challenging D words for your kids to try.

• Devoted – The married couple were fully devoted to each other.
• Dedicated – I dedicated the book to my mother.
• Distinguished – He was a distinguished guest at the royal ball.
• Desirable – The over-ripe fruit looked less than desirable.
• Decisive – His decisive manner kept the project moving.
• Delicious – We ate a delicious dinner at the steakhouse.
• Delightful – We had delightful evening at the restaurant.
• Descriptive – Her descriptive writing made her a great author.
• Diplomatic – His diplomatic way of handling the situation made it all better.
• Disciplined – The children were disciplined in their studies.
• Destined – His IQ made him destined for greatness.
• Determined – She was determined to finish her paper before bedtime.
• Dapper – The gentleman looked dapper in this three piece suit.
• Descendant – We are all descendants of Adam.
• Delicatessen – We stopped by the delicatessen but it was already closed for the day.
• Debacle – The villain orchestrated this evil debacle.

Nouns That Start with D

For common nouns that start with letter D, here are some word lists to get you started. Check out these foods, animals, places, and objects that start with D:

Foods that start with D:

Animals that start with D:

Places that start with D:

Objects that start with D:

Vocabulary Activities for Teaching D Words

(This list of ideas contains Amazon Affiliate Links.)

• Make a D Word Craft – Turn the letter D into a Dinosaur or create a paper plate donut. Or if you aren’t interested in either of those ideas, look up other letter D word craft ideas for kids. Crafting is a fun can creative way of learning new D word vocabulary.

• Practice Printables for D Words – Worksheets, free letter D coloring pages, and printable activities can be great for reinforcing reading and writing skills, as well as, building D word vocabulary. (btw, be sure to get the free D Word Learning Pack in this post!)

• Read Books D Word Books – Check your bookshelves at home or make a trip to the library for some letter D books (letter D books are books that feature or repeat D words throughout.) Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey and Go, Dogs, Go by Dr Suess are great examples of letter D books.

• Write a D Word Acrostic Poem – Have your child pick a word from their D words list and write an acrostic poem for it. An acrostic poem is where you write your D word vertically then write a sentence starting with each letter given. (See more acrostic poem ideas for kids.)

• Practice Spelling D Words With Letter Tiles – Get a handful of letter tiles and look over your D words list. To practice spelling, call a D word from the list, then have your student find the letters and spell it with their alphabet squares. For your early readers or preschoolers who are working on letter recognition, write down the D word for them to copy.

Free Printable Letter D Words Activity Pack 

Get our free printable D Words Activity Pack! This letter D resources contains D word learning pages for preschool through elementary, including a printable D word list. For access, Join Inspire the Mom Community and sign in with Grow for this exclusive content!

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What would you add to the D words for kids lists?

This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links.