dinosaur activities

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2002 : May : 10

dinosaur activities
By Julianne

Some things I've done with kindergarten or first:

Giant paper stuffed dinosaurs - make a pattern (or kids can make their own). Cut it out twice from bulletin board paper or other very large art paper. Staple around the
edges of the dinosaur leaving a stuffing space, and color both sides. Now stuff the thing with crushed up newspaper or other waste paper. Finish stapling and you have a 3D giant dinosaur. Just so you know - brontosaurus doesn't work so well because it's awfully hard to stuff that long, skinny neck!
Dinosaur footprints - using homemade playdough have students press their handprint into

the dough. Now fill the impression with plaster of paris. Wait until it is completely hardened, then remove the playdough. It sometimes sticks, but you can gently wash the print if you wait until the plaster is thoroughly set (overnight).

Jurassic Trees - Take several individual sheets of newspaper. Begin rolling at one edge of one sheet. As you get to the opposite edge of that sheet place another sheet on top of it and continue rolling. Roll about 5 sheets together this way. Tape the last sheet so you now have a long, thin tube of newspaper. Next cut down the tube by placing your scissors so one blade is inside the tube and one blade is outside. Cut down the tube about 8 inches or so. Make four or five cuts. When you are done it should look like a straw that "exploded" on one end. Now get hold of one of the inner fronds and start pulling. As you pull your jurassic tree will begin to grow. You should be able to pull the fronds out to make each tree over 6 feet tall. If you want the trees to be green you can paint the newspaper with poster paint ahead of time and let it dry, or use bulletin board paper.