During a dinosaur unit, i filled five green plastic Easter eggs with five
different items ranging in weight. Ask the children visiting the science center
to order the eggs from lightest to heaviest. (I chose items like a penny, a
small magnet, a marble, etc, but made sure each item had a substantial weight
difference for the kids to notice). After they order the eggs, i allowed them to
open the eggs to discuss the objects found inside.
Contact_FullName: Julie Ann
Contact_Email: julesosu97@aol.com
date:: 03/06/02
Area: Dinosaurs-Science-Math
Idea:
After discussing how dinosaurs hatch out of eggs, we placed colored plastic
eggs out with small rubber colored dinosaurs (the ones for counting and sorting
exercises). The children loved matching the dinosaurs with the eggs, hiding them
inside the eggs, then pretending that they hatched.
Contact_FullName:
Dia
Contact_Email:
rileydi@peoplepc.com
date:
06/04/01
where:
Dinosaurs
idea
We also did the "dig up the chicken bones" idea, but we took it a little
further. I found three different drawings of chicken skeletons on the internet.
I printed these, and once the children dug up their bones, they tried to figure
out which part of the "chickasaurus" they had excavated. They felt like real
scientists!
Name:
Tracy
mikepalpez@aol.com
3-12-01
Meat or plant eater? After discussing characteristics of each,
children can trace & cut out a dino head with moveable jaw. Then
affix either flat or sharp teeth to show if they ate meat or plants.
Contact_FullName:
Tari
Contact_Email:
Tari_U@ Hot Mail
10-7-00
Use a clean small trash can, two or three boxes of plaster of Paris,
some sand (three cups) and water. Mix and add small plastic dinosaurs,
shells and rocks. Let dry for two days, remove from can and
it put on a large messy tray. Provide goggles, tools (screwdriver and
hammer) and fat paint brushes to remove the items.
Contact_FullName:
Amy
Contact_Email:
readabout123@cs.com
7-15-00
How big were dinosaurs? Make a people graph to find out. Have children
measure out a dinosaur's length using yard sticks (Brachiosaurus-25
yards;Tyrannosaurus-15 yards;Stegosaurus-7 yards;Compsognathus-1/2 yard)
Mark length with a string. Children can lie head-to-toe along the
measured area. Record results and discuss.
Contact_FullName:
Peg
Contact_Email:
psteach45@aol.com
6-11-00
Dinosaurs and Sensory Table: bleach chicken bones, bury in the sand. Provide
your young paleontologists with magnifying glasses and paint brushes to
"clean" their dinosaur bone discoveries.
Contact_FullName:
Kym
Contact_Email:
jwpenner@telusplanet.net
6-8-00
My children really enjoy it when I freeze a plastic dinosaur in a bowl of
water and they can chiseled away with a butter knife or any other appropriate
kitchen utensil. It keeps them busy for a while and provides a fun way to talk
about where the dinosaurs went.
Contact_FullName:
Kristi
Contact_Email:
JEWELJAN12@aol.com
5-25-00
Divide Crayola Model Magic into small handful portions for all the
kids. Then tell them to make it as flat as a pancake. Ask if anyone knows
what fossils are. Talk about that. Next put out various shapes of pasta
and sequence and the the children can make their own fossils by pressing
the items into their model magic. Let this dry 24 hours and the kids can
take it home.
Contact_FullName:
cat
Contact_Email:
funteach@netzero.net
4-12-00
Treasure Stones: You'll need the following materials: 1 cup flour 1 cup
used coffee grounds 1/2 cup salt 1/2 cup sand 3/4 cup water Mix the dry
ingredients together, Slowly add water and knead until the mixture is like
bread dough. Break off a piece and roll it to a size of a baseball. Make a
hole in the center of the ball and fill with goodies, small dinosaurs,
gold coins (whatever you'll like depending on what your theme is!). Fill
the hole with some more of the mixture. Let it air dry or put it in the
oven at about 125 for aprox. ten to fifteen minutes. You can "hide" the
stones and the kids could find them and break them open to find a
treasure!!
Contact_FullName:
Maureen
Contact_Email:
poledra@ecewebguide.com
Date: 3-22-00
Materials: small natural object petroleum jelly plaster of Paris water
margarine tub
Procedure: Allow each child to choose an item to "fossilize", such as a
shell, bone, leaf etc. Coat it with the jelly, and pour some plaster of Paris and water in a small dish. Mix well. Let the mixture sit for a few
minutes then press the object into the mix. let sit for at least one day.
When plaster has completely dried, remove the object. The imprint left
behind will resemble a fossil.
This is a great activity when discussing the never ending topic
DINOSAURS!
Contact_FullName:
Wendy
Contact_Email:
wendyahlman@hotmail.com
Date: 3-18-00
When we were studying dinosaurs, I printed out a bunch of plain black
and white stegosaurus' that the children can color. then I had them use
white beans, like great northern beans and glue them onto the steg. where
the bones are on their backs. The children loved them and we put them up
on the wall walls.
Contact_FullName:
Wendy
Contact_Email:
wendyahlman@hotmail.com
Date: 3-18-00
When we were studying dinosaurs, I had the children pick from a few
different types that I had printed out to color in. Then I had them trace
the outline of the dinosaur with glue, then we covered the whole paper
with sand and then dumped the sand off. What was left was a cool dinosaur
traced in sand, so it felt like they had done a little dinosaur dig. They
loved it and thought it was really cool.
Contact_FullName:
Nikki
Contact_Email:
nikki1@uplink.net
Date: 3-5-00
Our preschool classroom children made paper mache dinosaur eggs. We
made a simple glue from flour and water. Mix one cup of flour and one cup
of water until the mixture is thin and runny. Then we stirred in 4 cups of
boiling water. Then we allowed time for it to cool. The children tore
pieces of newspaper and then dipped into the mixture. They then placed it
onto a balloon that was already blown up with a miniature plastic dinosaur
inside. When it was all covered with newspaper, we allowed two days to
dry. We then painted the dinosaur egg. Be aware that the balloon becomes
soft again; Allow another day to dry. We then hatched the dinosaur eggs
and the children told what kind of dinosaur hatched from the egg. The
children loved this activity.
Contact_FullName:
Carol
Contact_Email:
caroll66@aol.com
Date: 3-30-00
Put gummy dinosaurs into an ice cube tray and fill with water. This will
reinforce the unit on dinosaurs and how they died during the ice age. The
children get a chance to "save" the dinosaurs from the ice cubes. They love
it!
Contact_FullName:
Cindy
Contact_Email:
creardon@gisco.net
Date: 1-24-00
During our theme unit of Dinosaurs, I wanted to let the students
participate in a dinosaur dig. We filled a large plastic container with
sand and hid some dinosaur eggs in it. Each student had a turn digging
with a craft stick to see if they could find some dinosaur eggs. When they
found an egg, the teacher helped them open it and find a small baby
dinosaur inside. Each student got to take their dinosaur home with
them.
Contact_FullName:
Ms. Yvonne
Contact_Email:
rah@pcweb.net
Date: 1-9-00
I used clean Styrofoam meat tray and cut them into dino shapes then I had
the kids cut 1/2 inch slots down the backs of the dino shapes. They also cut
2 slots for the feet on the bottom side. Next the kids inserted precut ribs
into each slot. ( U-shapes made from old file folders) We made the feet the
same way. They turned out well and I did the same project later with after-school
kids who were able to cut out their own vertebrae.
Contact_FullName:
Wendy
Contact_Email:
wendyahlman
idea
In my kindergarten class we went on a dinosaur dig during dinosaur week.
First I found a plastic model of a dinosaur. I got it at Toys R Us, it was
only $3.99! Then on a weekend I made sand rocks and put the pieces in each of
them for the children to dig out. Here's the recipe. 2 cups clean sand, 1 cup
corn starch, 1 tsp. alum and 1 cup water. Mix everything in a big old pot on
the stove on medium heat. Keep stirring, it will liquefy, then after a minute
or so it will get like cookie dough. When it gets like this, put on a cutting
board. When it cools down put the plastic pieces in the sand mixture. I made a
few different "rocks" so groups of children could have a chance to
"dig." The molds need to dry for about 2 days. We used small
screwdrivers and hammers to get the pieces out. They were so excited when they
found a piece, it was so fun. Then we put the dinosaur together. It was a
great activity for learning about what paleontologists do. I ended up having
to quadruple this recipe to make enough for all the pieces in this particular
model.
Children pretend they are paleontologists while picking at and scraping out
the chocolate chips in the cookie - much like digging the bones out of the dirt.
I've purchased dog biscuits in various sizes. The first day I have the children paint
them white. The following day before school I take them to the sand box and bury them. We
head outside first thing and dig up our bones. We carefully transport our finds into the
classroom where teams work together to put their bones together. I have them glue their
bones on large pieces of cardboard. Label the type of dinosaur for them. Of course as
always happens we have to be flexible as teachers. On year it snowed the morning of our
dig, do you know that many dinosaur bones are found when basements are dug. Our schools
basement became the new dig site!
Mix 5 measures of sand (utility sand works great!) with 2 measures of plaster of
Paris. Stir together. Add 2 measures of water. It doesn't matter what the
"measure" amount is as long as it is the same for all three. Stir together until
mixed. Pour into molds (such as 8oz. paper cups) Push small plastic (Cheap) dinosaurs into
mixer immediately. Let dry overnight. Pop out of cups and give to children along with
tongue depressors for digging. My young 3's loved this activity so much that we had to do
it twice last year. If possible do this outside as it does create a mess in the process of
opening the "egg". Be sure to look for the fossil too!
I've purchased dog biscuits in various sizes. The first day I have the children
paint them white. The following day before school I take them to the sand box and bury
them. We head outside first thing and dig up our bones. We carefully transport our finds
into the classroom where teams work together to put their bones together. I have them glue
their bones on large pieces of cardboard. Label the type of dinosaur for them. Of course
as always happens we have to be flexible as teachers. On year it snowed the morning of our
dig, do you know that many dinosaur bones are found when basements are dug. Our schools
basement became the new dig site!
Mix 5 measures of sand (utility sand works great!) with 2 measures of plaster of
Paris. Stir together. Add 2 measures of water. It doesn't matter what the
"measure" amount is as long as it is the same for all three. Stir together until
mixed. Pour into molds (such as 8oz. paper cups) Push small plastic (Cheap) dinosaurs into
mixer immediately. Let dry overnight. Pop out of cups and give to children along with
tongue depressors for digging. My young 3's loved this activity so much that we had to do
it twice last year. If possible do this outside as it does create a mess in the process of
opening the "egg". Be sure to look for the fossil too!
We find a true measurement of a dinosaur feet print. We ask the children to
guess how many of our feet prints would it take to fill up the dinosaurs foot print. Then
we would trace the children foot and place them in the dinosaurs foot print.
I put a boiled egg into vinegar for several weeks, we can take it out each day and feel
it. After a few weeks it loses the calcium that makes it hard and brittle, it becomes soft
and leathery like a real dinosaur egg might have felt.
To make a "real" life dinosaur fossil, put a small amount of clay on the bottom
of a paper cup. Push a small plastic dinosaur into the clay to leave an imprint. Remove
the dinosaur. Pour in Plaster of Paris to fill the rest of the cup. Wait a day then peel
off the paper cup. You will have a great "fossil" in the plaster! You can paint
the dinosaurs and have fun!
Dino Fossils - In individual foil muffin cups, fill half way with damp sand. Let children
choose which small plasitc dino shape to press into the wet sand. Remove plastic dino and
pour in plaster of paris. Let harden, turn upside down to unearth. Give children
toothbrushes to use as a tool to clean the fossil and pretend they are archeologists.
When discussing dino's or fossils with your Preschooler's, you can
try taking a rectangular baking pan or 2 and filling it half way with water and small
plastic insects/bugs and freezing it. Later, when that half is completely frozen, fill to
the top with more water and insects and let it freeze. The next day, take the ice and
insect mixture out of the pan and into the texture table. Give kids metal spoons to dig
for the "fossils". I recommend limiting the # of kids to 3, for safety. The
children came up with some other good ways to dig the "fossils" out also, like
warm water over the top of the ice.
7-17-98
Name: Alison
E-Mail: cooter697@aol.com
For our dinosaur unit we added lots of plastic dinosaurs and cave
people to the sand table. The kids loved playing in it together acting out the times of
the dinosaurs. One day we also put in the "bones" of a dinosaur I found at the
dollar store, when they were all found we put the "bones" together to make a
glow in the dark T-rex! They loved it, they keep asking when we can talk about dinosaurs
again!!
6-16-98
Name: Carol
E-Mail: apple@wantree.com.au
Dinosaur bone. Spread out newspaper (I overlapped four sheets then
added about another 20) then roll it up..add more sheet if you want it thicker. Then I
made the ends look 'bony' by rolling another few sheets, folding in half and tucking fold
into the end of long wad. When satisfied with shape, I then wrapped the lot in plaster
bandage (acquired from a Doctor Dad!) and kept wrapping it until well covered. Next I
covered it all with plaster of paris and left to dry. End result....a huge leg bone. Did
all this when the children were not in attendance and kept it hidden until it was dry
.....and planted it in the sandpit with only a tiny tip sticking out. Our archaeologists
had a great find and loads of language was used as they discussed which dinosaur, how it
got there, what part of the dinosaur etc. etc.
6-14-98
Name: Adrienne
E-Mail: GloryLight@AOL.com
Archaeologist Fun - You will need a xerox copy of a dinosaur
skeleton. Cut out the head, ribs, legs, tail, neck bones. Run off each piece seperately
until you have a sheet with twenty heads, one with twenty legs, etc. That way each child
can build their own dinosaur. Give them the pieces and let them figure out what piece goes
where. No model is needed - each child's dinosaur can be different and you can tie this
project in with a large group activity about how archaeologists put together the fossils
they discover.
6-13-98
Name: Kari
E-Mail: markkari@gateway.net
Another age-old idea for creating "fossils" is to place
several small shells or dead bugs in a milk carton cap, and fill with Elmer's mucilage
glue. You'll need to add repeated layers of glue, as it soaks into the shells / evaporates
as it dries. This project takes several days, & preschoolers get a work-out squeezing
the glue bottle.
6-10-98
Name: Barb
E-Mail: MiLady956@aol.com
For dino-fun and to encourage handwashing, I mix Ivory soap flakes
with water to make a dough. The child then forms the dough in an egg shape around a small
plastic dino. We let them dry and then the children take them home. The only way to get
that dino out is to wash your hands!!!
6-6-98
Name: Teri
E-Mail: Teri123@yahoo.com
During our unit on dinosaurs we made dinosaur eggs. I had a balloon
for each child. Before I blew it up I put a small plastic dinosaur in it. Then I blew it
up and the children put paper mache over it. After it was dry they painted it green with
brown speckles. This was their own dino egg. They soon found out that their was something
inside their egg and they could not wait to "hatch" it. What a wonderful
surprise to find a baby dino in it.I displayed these eggs in the hallway for about a week
while we were waiting for them to "hatch". I put some hay in our sand and water
table and laid the eggs in the "nest". The rest of the school tried to figure
out what kind of eggs they were. Lots of FUN!!!
2-28-98
Name: Carol
E-Mail: apple@wantree.com.au
Rather than the adults making the volcano - we had our children
create dinosaur land from scratch! We put out a large heavy piece of cardboard, some
chicken wire twisted into a basic island/volcano shape, newspaper and PVA glue. Children
covered the whole lot with torn-up newspaper and glue (using their hands to smooth it
down) and the only instructions given were to explain that they needed to leave a hole in
the top of the mountain. After many layers of paper had been glued on, we left it to dry
for several days. After looking at pictures of islands and dinosaur landscapes - we put
out green, brown, blue, red and white paint. Children applied colours as to where they
thought they should go and what we finished up with was a terrific play mat - complete
with the cotton wool smoke coming from the top of the volcano (they insisted on this!). We
used this for many weeks with our model dinosaurs - and by putting a small container into
the volcano, they could make it erupt to enhance the play. We still have the playmat and
intend giving it to the children, this year, to recover and start the dramatic play all
over again. Parents were most impressed when their children could explain, in detail, all
about islands and volcanos - and make suggestions as to why dinosaurs disappeared.
2-23-98
Name: Michelle E-Mail:
buttonml@aol.com
Make a volcano!! Bury a frozen juice can containing 1/4 c. of
baking soda up to its rim in a mound of sand. Dot the sand surrounding the can w/ toy
miniature dinosaurs, trees, etc. In another container, mix 1 c. water w/ 2/3 c. white
vinegar, 1/3 c. dishwashing liquid and several drops of red food coloring. Slowly add this
to the juice can. The eruption occurs immediately! It's fun for all!
2-23-98
Name: cindy
E-Mail: cin69@webtv.net
Did you know that a T-rex could open it's mouth 10 feet long! Place
some paper on the floor (if you have the prep time you can make this from butcher paper
and add teeth) or you can use regular construction paper tape it to the floor and measure
each child inside the "mouth" to see if they will be a meal or a snack. How many
children does it take to fill up the dinosuar's mouth?
2-12-98
Name: cindy
E-Mail: cin69@webtv.net
Draw a dinosaur footprint on a large sheet of butcher paper. Have
each child place one foot inside the footprint and trace around it. See how many you can
fit just inside the footprint. You should be able to get approximately 19 to 20 footprints
of 3 to 5 year olds. Ask them to guess how many feet they think it will hold and graph the
results in your science area.
2-11-98
Name: Marlene
E-Mail: mapiggy@aol.com
Cut pieces of yarn into 1 foot lengths. Have the children line the
pieces of yarn along the floor to measure the length of the dinosaurs. For example,
they would line up 10 pieces of yarn for a 10 foot dinosaur. They can use books to get the
measurements. They love to see which dinosaurs would be able to fit in our classroom!
2-10-98
Name: Nancy
E-Mail: Yllibcire@aol.com
For a science project for my 4's and 5's, we recently "grew' a
dinosaur! I bought a growing dinosaur egg from Tho World of Science store in our mall. You
simply place the egg in warm water in a large container and it grows into a dinosaur in
four days! We charted this week-long project beginning on Monday at circle time. After I
read Dinosaur Valley, I intro'd the egg. We all filled the container, placed the egg in
and the discussions began! What would happen? Would the egg sink/float? Would it fizzle?
Would it change colors? Tues we charted the egg cracking open, Wed. the Dino emerged and
stated looking like a triceretops(we named it David the Dinosaur) and Thurs.it was fully
emerged and had grown overnight four times its size! What fun to take it out and touch it!
Observations were: The water is cold now, the egg is apart not together, the dino is
slippery, he has three horns etc.. Such a fun project--What great circle times!! P.S.--Our
chart filled the outside wall of our hallway, decorated with stamped dinosaurs in paint. A
REAL eye catcher for parents!!!!
2-9-98
Name: Dina E-Mail:
DinaBeena@aol.com
In our preschool room, we concentrate on dinosaurs for well over a
month. One of the childrens favorite science activities is to make dinosaur fossils. I go
to the supermarket and ask the butcher in the meat dept for styrofoam meat trays (one for
each child) (Editors note: make sure that you get unused meat trays. ) We
then give each child a large ball of regular clay (not playdough). The children like
rolling out this different textured art media flat. They are then given a choice of
different play plastic dinosaurs to choose from to make their fossil prints. All they have
to do is press the foot of the dinosaur into the clay, so they have different types of
dinosaur footprints. We write on the tray which imprint each dinosaur made. The children
love to guess which dinosaur each footprint came from. After the clay has hardened after a
few days, the children have a realistic fossil to bring home!
2-9-98
Name: Jean E-Mail:
JEng468066
Ask your parents for donations of paper towel and bathroom tissue
rolls. Have the children paint them white. Use your overhead projector to make a large
dinosaur cutout. Give each several tissue rolls and let them decide where they should be
placed to look like bones. After you have laid them all out help the children to glue them
down. I have done this with my 3-5 yr. olds and they loved it!
2-8-98
Name: DANA
E-Mail: DanaCrow@bc.sympatico.ca
DINOSAUR DIGS
Gather all the bones from a rosting hen & boil them til clean.
Remove all meat & carefully bake in warm oven till dry. Fill the sand play tub with
sand and bury the bones. Give kids seives & shovels to find them. They could even glue
them to paper to create their own skeletons after collecting those they need.
2-8-98
Name: CASi
E-Mail: KC028@aol.com
In our pre-K and Kindergarten classes, I have to admit that we all
love our dinosaur days and we introduce the concept of fossils into the classroom. First
we collect a variety of bones saved from meals in all households. I boil and clean the
bones, and then they are laid out to dry (while the kids try to guess where they had come
from. Then we cook up a batch of plain white playdough, let it cool and knead it
smooth. The children then take a bone, place it inside of a lump of playdough, make
sure the bone is completely covered by the dough, and put it on a cookie sheet. We then
slowly bake the dough (it can be air dried, but it takes forever!) until it's
"rock" hard. The children then use a variety of instruments (experimenting along
the way) to try to break the rock, use big bristle brushes to remove the dust, and slowly
but surely, expose the bone and see it's imprint in the playdough. It's a
great adventure for them to play paleon- tologist and to try to guess which bone they're
uncovering as they go along.
