DINOSAURS
DINOSAURS
From
Stormie:
Although I'm posting
ideas below as often as I can, my very favorite dinosaur activities have been
reserved for my "ANIMALS" booklet (see the "Stormie's
Stuff for Teachers" section of my website).
Dino Dig: Bury bones (chicken, steak, etc, that you or parent volunteers have collected and bleached) in the sand box or special area of the playground. Provide digging tools and have the children dig for pretend dinosaur bones. Brushes can add to the drama. Pretend role play by talking about how we must be careful when we find a bone, and show them how to brush the sand from it before removing it. Later, discuss real dinosaur bones and introduce the word "paleontologists," explaining what they do. (Of course, pictures are always helpful).
Pretend Fossils: Give each child a styrofoam meat tray. Allow them to help you make a batch of Plaster of Paris and pour it into their trays. While the mixture is still wet, have children press tiny stones, leaves, bones, seashells, sticks, and other natural objects into it to make imprints, then remove the objects. Let the plaster dry at least one whole day before children take their "fossil chunks" home.
Fun Playdoh Dinosaurs: Make green and gray playdoh. Allow children to create their own version of dinosaurs, but if help is requested, you might suggest these options: long snake-like strips of playdoh can be a tail or a neck, while short pieces can be legs, and tiny balls of playdoh can be eyes. Also provide items like tiny beads (for eyes), short yarn pieces (for hair or manes), cupcake liners (for the bony neck shield that grew out of the skull of some dinosaurs), whole cloves (for that rough alligator skin texture), and toothpicks (for tail spikes and claws).
"Brontosaurus In the Dell": It has been my experience that 4 yr olds love saying the names of dinosaurs. Still, I wasn't sure they'd like this song that a co-worker passed on to me. Well, they loved it. Sing the tune "Farmer In the Dell" substituting the word "Brontosaurus" for "farmer." Then sing the second verse as, "The Brontosaurus takes a Triceratops, the Brontosaurus takes a Triceratops,.........." Yes, the words are long but it's still fun. If your group knows what the various popular dinosaurs look like, you could hold up a picture of one at the beginning of each verse allowing the children to then sing its name. Some of the more common ones are (besides the two just mentioned): Trachodon, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus, Diplodocus, and Brachiosaurus. The song can be downright funny as children (and this teacher, at least) struggle to get out the words. By the way, this is probably too difficult for younger children.
Dinosaur
Teeth: Show the class pictures of dinosaurs with teeth, then allow them to
make "dinosaur teeth" from "Goop." Place the teeth on a rack to dry for
two days.
Variation: Before placing the
teeth on the drying rack, help children punch holes in the top of them using a
bobby pin or dull shish kebob stick. Once the teeth are dry, children can
string them onto pieces of yarn and wear them as necklaces.
My Favorite Goop Recipe: Mix 2 cups of salt with 2/3 cups of water.
Heat this mixture for about 4 minutes. Remove it from the heat and add 1
cup of cornstarch which has been dissolved in 1/2 cup of cold water, then
stir quickly. Store it in a plastic bag. Note: Sometimes it
doesn't want to thicken properly so I just stir it for about another minute on
low heat till it does.
"Dinosaur, Dinosaur, Somebody Stole Your Egg": One child (the dinosaur) sits on a chair facing away from the others, and with his eyes closed. Place an "egg" under his/her chair (marble or something very small that will fit into preschooler's hands). Everyone is very quiet as the teacher points to someone in the group who will go "steal" the egg. Then everyone in the group holds their hands in their laps as if they all have the egg. They then chant, "Dinosaur, Dinosaur, somebody stole your egg." The child in the chair then turns around and gets three guesses as to who stole the egg. Then the "egg stealing" child gets to be the dinosaur and the game is played again.
Purple
Dinosaur Punch (also known as Barney Punch):
At the last minute, and right
before serving, stir together 4 cups (1 Qt) of Grape Juice with 1-6oz can of Lemonade
concentrate in a punch bowl. Add chilled Ginger Ale. Garnish with
lemonade ice cubes.
Suggested Children's Computer Software: Dinosaur Adventure 3-D, from Knowledge Adventure
Stormie's
Games: By the way, would you like a related learning
game for your classroom? As you know by now, I create learning games and
sell them to support the maintenance of my website. I offer a "Dinosaur"
sorting game in the "Teaching Aids" section of "Stormie's
Stuff for Teachers.
Here's
a couple of great ideas from Heather:
*Footprints:
Get brown bulletin board paper and find or invent a footprint of T-REX.
Trace T-Rex's footprint onto the paper making enough so that each child has one.
Cut out the footrprints. Write on the backside of the print: "Who's footprint
is bigger -- yours or T-Rex's?" Then paint each child's foot white and have
them make their footprint on top of T-Rex's. This way they get to actually
visualize the size difference between their feet and T-Rex's.
*Hallway Dinosaur: Keep in mind....you really need
to use your school hallway to make this effective. If you don't have an
easy going principal or headmaster, don't do it. You will need lots of grocery
bags (beg and plead for them from parents or go to your local grocery store and
gather a TON of them). Then you can really be as inventive as you want.
We made the head of the dinosaur by crumbling up a few sacks and taping them together.
The children color eyes etc... then take the remaining bags (open them up flat)
and just start building a dinosaur body. Cut spikes from construction paper
and glue them onto the body. The project can be as complex or as simple
as you want. The children love helping put it together and coloring on it.
They will want to name it as well.
I
love this idea from Debbie Reynolds:
I do a Dinosaur activity that the children really love. After reading our
many dinosaur books and comparing their sizes on a wall chart, we talk about how
they lived and how they were hatched from eggs. (We also compare Dora's
size -- our classroom pet cat to the littlest dinosaurs!) We also talk about
how much we don't know about them. To finish our week's activities, we all
make our own baby dino: The children cut out egg shapes (hatching, with a jagged
crack in the center) and decorate it with colored tissue squares to blend the
colors for a "camouflage." I have many line drawings of dinosaurs available
from which the children pick their favorite, then color and cut it out, and glue
it to the egg. We give them all a "name" because we "discovered" them.
So, we might have a "DannyAllosaurus," a "Trevorsaurus Rex," or an "EmmyEranadon."
We write the names on the eggs and decorate our bulletin board with them.
At the top, we place the words "WE ARE HATCHING DINO EXPERTS!!!" I'm amazed
at how many of the really difficult dinosaur names are learned this way!!
What
a fun idea from Amber in Arkansas:
Dinosaur
Egg Hunt: I read the children the book "Dazzle
The Dinosaur" by Marcus Pfister.
It tells the story of a young dinosaur who started out as
a tiny dazzling egg (the illustrations are much like the ones in
"The Rainbow Fish"). "Dazzle" hatched with another egg and they share
this adventure together. The dinosaur youngsters are in search of the reason
why their family had to move to another region. They find out that years
ago a dragonsaurus took over their cave. He's mean but suprisingly scared
of the sunlight. The two quickly begin a journey to remove the dragon from
the cave. Dazzle finally uses the shiny spikes on his back to reflect the
sun into the dragonsaurus's eyes. The dragonsaurus runs off never to return.
The book is long but it held the attention of at least 15 four-year olds.
Follow-Up Activity: We then went around to different
classrooms in search of our "dazzling" dinosaur eggs. (Make sure you check
with the other rooms to see if this is ok. The teachers and children in
each room tell your children they saw the eggs in a different room.) This
really builds up the excitement. The final classroom told us they saw the
eggs in our classroom. When we reached our classroom, the children
were ecstatic to see their dazzling dino eggs (hardboiled eggs wrapped
in aluminum foil) waiting for them. (I got this
idea from some co-workers at preschool.)
From
Laurie Firpo, Childhaven Preschool,California
During April, we somehow
got steered from the egg subject to talking about how dinosaurs came from eggs.......
During Playdough time (after reading Dazzle the Dino), we made "dinosaur eggs"
by hiding our 2-3" plastic dinosaurs inside the playdough and then we put them
all together in a dino nest and "cracked" the eggs open, naming the Baby Dinos
as we went......the children really enjoyed it.......and learned the dino names
too!!!!
From
Natascha, in Sydney, Australia
Fine Motor Fun: Provide children
with a stegosaurus posterboard cutout but do not give it back plates. The
children attach colored clothespins to it for the back plates.
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Reminder
from Stormie: If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom
ideas (each on a 4 x 6" index card), as well as new ones that I create, you
can do so by ordering my "Activity Cards." Click here
to check them out.
