DINOSAURS


QUICK START IDEAS
Read Dinosaur books.
Bury plastic dinosaurs in your sand box (or table).
Make large dino feet for your child to wear, from Kleenex boxes.
Stop around room like your favorite dinosaur.
Let your child play with dinosaur puppets.
Make dino cookies using a dinosaur cookie cutter.
Encourage your child to make up their own dinosaur stories.
Visit a Natural History Museum to see fossils and dinosaur bones.
Do crayon rubbings over cardboard dinosaur shapes.
Roar like you think Dinosaur’s roared.
Walk like a dinosaur walking on four legs.
Divide toy dinosaurs into two groups, meat eaters and plant eaters.
DINOSAUR ART
MAKE-BELIEVE DINOSAUR PICTURES
Cut pictures of houses, trees, cars, etc. out of magazines.
Give your child a paper dinosaur shape to color anyway they wish.
Then set out background paper, the magazine cutouts and some glue.

Have your child glue their dinosaur onto the background paper, then glue one or two of the magazine cutouts in front of their dinosaur to make it appear gigantic.
 
DINO EGGS MADE WITH SAND
Mix together in a pan, 1 cup sand, ½ cup cornstarch, ½ cup alum and ½ cup water.
Cook on medium heat until mixture is thick.
Place on a piece of waxed paper to cool.

When cool place a dinosaur figure in the middle of the goop and shape it around the dinosaur to resemble an large dino egg.
Let the egg dry, then let your child crack the egg open.
 
DINO EGGS MADE WITH PLAY DOUGH
Make your favorite batch of play dough.
Then, mix in some washed and dried, used coffee grounds (or sawdust).

Set out a glob of the mixture and bury a dinosaur figure into the dough, then shape it like an egg.
When dry, let your child crack it open to reveal the dinosaur inside.
DINOSAUR GAMES

DINOSAUR MATCHING
Set out several pictures books about dinosaurs for your children to look at.
Using one of the books, point to one of the dinosaur pictures.
  Then ask the children to see if they can find pictures of the same dinosaur in any of the other books.
  Continue with pictures of other types of dinosaurs.

Variation:  Set out some dinosaur figures for your children to find mates for in the books.
 

DINO EGG MATCHING GAME
You will need 10 – 12 large plastic eggs for this game and two each of 5-6 different kinds of dinosaur stickers.
Place the stickers on to the outside of the eggs.

Have your child find the matching sets of dinosaur eggs.

Variation:  Purchase sets of 5-6 different kinds of small dinosaur figures.  Place the figures inside 10 -12 eggs.  Have your child open the eggs and find the matching dinosaurs.
 
DINOSAUR HUNTS
Try one or more of these games with your children.
DINOSAUR BONES - Hide paper “dinosaur bones” around your room for your children to find.
DINOSAUR EGGS - Place small toy dinosaurs in plastic eggs.  Mark each egg with a different sticker and attach a matching sticker to each child’s hand.  Hide the eggs and have the children find the one that is theirs by matching the stickers.
DINOSAUR PUZZLE -  Draw a giant dinosaur on a piece of posterboard.  Cut out the shape and then cut it into pieces; legs, feet, head, neck, torso and tail.  Hide the pieces and then invite your children to search for the pieces and then connect them all back together into a giant dinosaur.
 
DINO PUZZLE
Draw a giant dinosaur shape on a piece of poster board.
Cut out the dino shape and then cut it into pieces; head, feet, legs, torso and tail.
Mix up the pieces and invite your children to put the dinosaur back together.
 
DANGEROUS DINOSAUR
This group game was sent in by Diane Thom.
Set off a section of your room or outdoor play area as the “dinosaur lair”.
Pick one of your children to be the “dangerous dinosaur”.
  She stands inside the area and calls out the dinosaur dare.
                    “Are you brave? Do you dare?
                    Come into my dinosaur lair!”
All the children move forward into the lair, (at least half way) either sneaking or running.
The Dangerous Dinosaur tries to tag them before they can turn around and run back out of the lair.
The tagged children must stay in the lair and become “dangerous dinosaurs”.
Now all the “dangerous dinosaurs” call out the dinosaur dare.
The game continues until all the children are in the lair.
To begin the game again, the last child caught is the “dangerous dinosaur”.
 
STOMPING DINOSAURS
Make your child (or children) some fun dinosaur feet.
You will need two large shoe boxes for each child.
First, glue the tops onto the boxes and then cut holes in the top, that your child can slip his foot into.
Spray paint the boxes green or have your child color them with a green marker.
When dry, draw on large toe shapes on each box with a black marking pen.
Give the feet to your child and encourage him to use the feet for stomping around like a dinosaur.
DINOSAUR LANGUAGE
DINO STORY
Place small plastic dinosaurs in a bag.
Sit in a circle with your children.
Remove one of the dinos and start a make-believe story in a ways such as this: “It was sunrise, time for T-Rex’s breakfast. ‘Grrr, I’m hungry!’ he roared.”
Then pass the bag of dinosaurs around to the next person in your circle.
Have that person, take out a dinosaur and incorporate it into the story.
Continue until everyone has had a turn.
You could tie up the story at the end.
 
ADDITIONAL DINOSAUR STORIES
Look for dinosaur stories at the Story Station on Preschool Express.
“Dotty the Dinosaur” can be found under anytime stories.
“Daisy the Dinosaur” can be found under spring stories.
DINOSAUR SCIENCE
MAKING FOSSILS – WITH CLAY
Use a favorite recipe to make clay that will harden when dry.
Give your children balls of the clay to flatten into rounds and how to press small shells or leaves into the clay to create a clear impression.
Finally, have the children gently remove the objects and allow the clay to air dry.
When the clay hardens, display their “fossils” on your science table.
 
MAKING FOSSILS – WITH PLASTER OF PARIS
Bring clean chicken or turkey bones to class.
Have the children place the bones in packed, wet sand to make an impression.
Then, carefully remove the bone and pour Plaster of Paris into the indentation.
Remove the plaster cast when dry and display it on your science table.
 
DINOSAUR DISPLAY
You will need a box lid, some brown and blue play dough, some rocks, twigs and small plastic plants.
Give your child a box lid and have them cover the bottom with the brown play dough.
Next, have them cover a water area with blue play dough.
Then have them add some rocks, twigs (for logs) and some vegetation – plastic plants.
Finally, give them some small dinosaur figures to add to their Dinosaur Display.
 
Extension: You may want to be really authentic and help your child add a Volcano to their display environment.
Set out a small juice can.
Have your child cover the sides of the can with brown play dough.
Pour some baking soda into the bottom of the can.
When you want the volcano to explode, add some vinegar mixed with red food coloring and voila! There she blows.
 
Variation:  Make a full Diorama by using a large showbox and painting the insdie blue.  Then add bown play dough for the ground, leaving a blue area for a pond. 
 
SAND TABLE FUN
Hide clean turkey or chicken bones in your sand table or sandbox.
Let your children become archaeologists by uncovering bones.
Give them different kinds of small paint brushes to sweep away sand to find the treasured bones.
 
WATER TABLE FUN
Here is another idea from Diane Thom You can turn your water table into a dinosaur environment.
First, while the water table is empty, pour in an inch or two of clean sand.
Then add two inches of water.
Next, add some artificial aquarium plants, some small twigs, and perhaps some shells, or small plastic pieces for floating islands.
Finally, add some rubber or plastic dinosaur toys for your children to play with in the prehistoric environment.
Variation: Add additional sand to create a sand mountain in one area of the table.
 
DINOSAUR SNACKS
DINO SANDWICH SHAPES
Cut dino shapes from bread slices using cookie cutters.
Spread on peanut butter or soft cream cheese for a spread.
Let your children decorate their dino shapes with raisins and dry cereal pieces.
 
JELLO DINOS
Make blue or green finger gelatin.
Use cookie cutters to cut out dino shapes for snacking.
 
DINOSAUR EGGS
Shape dinosaur eggs out of peanut butter play dough.
To make, mix one cup peanut butter with one cup of dry milk.
  To sweeten the mixture, add 2 Tbsp. of honey.
Variation: Instead of honey, add 2 Tbsp. of crushed, honey graham crackers.
DINOSAUR SONGS
DINOSAURS ARE IN THEIR EGGS

Tune: “Mary Had a Little Lamb”

Dinosaurs are in their eggs,
In their eggs, in their eggs.
Dinosaurs are in their eggs,
Waiting to break out.

Dinosaurs are hatching now,
Hatching now, hatching now.
Dinosaurs are hatching now,
See them move about.
                                  Liz Ryerson

 

(Curl up on floor inside your shells)

 

(Break out of pretend shells and stretch)


(Crawl and hop around)

 
THE DINOSAURS ARE MARCHING ‘ROUND
Tune:  “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again”

The dinosaurs are marching ‘round, hooray, hooray!
The dinosaurs are marching ‘round, today, today!
They clomp and clomp across the floor,
They open their mouths and give a roar,
Then they all go marching ‘round and ‘round once more.
                        Elizabeth Scofield

(Have children act out the song.)
 

BABY DINOSAUR SONG
Tune:  “Pop! Goes the Weasel”

All around the swamp one day,
The mother dinosaur sat.
She was sitting on her egg
Wanting it to hatch.

She had sat for many days,
Keeping it safe and warm.
Crack! Crack!  Out it popped.
Her baby now was born!
                        Jean Warren

 
FIVE LITTLE DINOSAURS

Five little dinosaurs sitting in a swamp.
The first one said, “Let’s stomp, stomp, stomp.”

The second one said, “Time for lunch!”
The third one said, “Let’s munch, munch, munch.”

The fourth one said, “Let’s stomp some more.”
The fifth one said, “Let’s all roar!”    GRRRR!
                                                Jean Warren
 

ADDITIONAL DINOSAUR SONGS – Can be found at the Music Station under Dinosaur Songs.
 

 

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