Dinosaur Study

 This week we have been learning about Dinosaurs!  It was an unexpected direction of study but I was happy to follow him on the adventure path he created!


Dinosaur Skin! - Art / Texture / Patterning
Needed items:

• Washable Paint - We mixed green and brown
• Paper Plates - 2 
• Bubble Wrap - We had ours saved from packages we received
• Total Expense - $0.00

How To:

1. Mix your paint onto one of the paper plates
2. On the other paper plate write "Child's name - Dinosaur Skin - Date"
3. Allow child to lay the bubble wrap into the paint.
4. Place the bubble wrap paint side down on the paper plate.
5. Press down or have some fun and pop the bubbles
6. Remove the bubble wrap.
7. Ta-da!
8. *Helpful hint* The less paint you use the clearer the print.

Here we can see Little Paleontologist laying the bubble wrap on his plate to create the texture. 

Finished Dinosaur skin!

Little Paleontologist - Fine Motor / Science / Professions / Tactile 
Needed Items:

• A tray to keep bits of chalk from everywhere
• Small dowel rod, and paint brush
• Fossil kit
• Cost $5.00 for kit.

How To:

1. We have been talking about who Paleontologists are and how they dig up fossils
2. Give the child the chalk with dowel rod and brush
3. Motivate child to dig to find the fossil
4. Discuss if it was faster or slower then they expected
5. Celebrate their discovery!

Here is our little paleontologist  as he begins to work on digging the chalk away to find the fossils. It is a great time to talk to him about how hard of a job it is. How they know where to dig and other open ended questions. 

                                           

Victory!

                                             

Create your own Fossil - Fine Motor / Science / Professions / Tactile / Art
Needed Items:

• Dinosaur Toy
• Air Drying Clay
• Cost $5.00 for Clay

How To:

1. Have child select their favorite Dinosaur toy
2. Create a small disc of clay 
3. Have child push the foot into the clay
4. Allow clay to harden.
5. You can also expand on this by burying it in sand and letting the child discover their fossil.

Here is our little paleontologist stomping the foot into the clay to create his own fossil

Instant fossil!

July Activities Part 2 : Of Creeks and Creatures

Lets go to the Zoo -  Science / Gross Motor / Nature / Animals / Ecosystems

What do you need:

• A trip to the zoo!

He got to ride the carousel at the zoo. He picked a wolf.

He had wonderful fun talking about the other animals chasing him!

We had silly fun howling like the wolves we had seen earlier in the day.

The carousel offered a great chance for us to talk about what different animals ate.

It was a fun time to see if he remembered the facts I had shared on our venture into the park!

My Monkey surrounded by monkeys. Well, Great Apes actually. 

He fell in love with them. We talked about how they moved and interacted.

We looked at the poster and tried to spot each different Chimpanzee. It was fun! 

We talked about how different faces mean different things. We even practiced the faces in the mirror! 

They had a really cool exhibit of geyser. He really wanted to go play in it!

 His favorite part was absolutely the Dino exhibit. He had to ask every animal name. 

Then mimicked the sounds they were making. 

He discovered fossils at the dig site and even found baby dinosaur eggs!

Nature walk - Gross motor / Life Science / hot and cold / senses

What do you need?

• Just go take a walk in the woods!

Below are some pictures from our nature walk! He found a creek and was scared to get his feet wet. After a few moments of being silly he dared to get a little wet. Then - He loved it! It was such a wonderful day of discovery splashing in the creek. It breaks my heart to see how many children are denied such a simple and perfect experience as cooling off in a creek on a hot summer day. Children are washable - let them get a little dirty now and again. Be observant and Be safe, but that doesn't require living in a sterile world of  recirculated air and the buzz of technology. We had both been a little grouchy before our discovery. Afterwards we felt closer than ever before and the ride home was full of giggles and story swamping. I will remember this discovery for many years to come.