Activity: Dino-riffic!
Invite your child to explore science, art, and share personal ideas about prehistoric animals by making a homemade super-sized dinosaur bone.
Materials:
- empty gift wrap or paper towel tube
- large plastic bowl and spoon to hold and mix the flour glue
- flour and water
- newspaper and/or brown paper bags
- wide masking tape
- tempera paint (white, tan, yellow, gray)
- paint brush; paper towels; or old rags for applying paint
Directions: Place large wads of crumpled newspaper on each end of tube. Secure with masking tape to make the form for a big dinosaur bone. An adult should prepare the following mixture: Mix 1 cup of flour with 1 cup of water. Add to 4 cups of boiling water. Stir and simmer for several minutes. Allow mixture to cool. Tear 1-2 inch strips of brown bags or newspaper. Dip paper strips into cooled mixture then wrap around the bone form. Let dry, paint, and think about which dinosaur this amazing bone could have came from!
Talk about It: Talk about big dinosaur words like paleontologist, predator, prey, fossil, extinct, carnivores (meat eaters), herbivores (plant eaters), and omnivores (plant and meat eaters). Ask your child what question(s) he/she wishes he/she could ask a real dinosaur and what he/she would tell a dinosaur about life on Earth today.
Take it Further: It's true! Dinosaurs really did walk the earth millions of years ago and fascinating discoveries are still being made. Take your child on a prehistoric journey by using these ideas:
- Start a home dinosaur book library and dinosaur community by collecting books and dinosaur toys for playtime.
- Visit your local museum for the latest on dinosaur exhibitions.
- Search online resources for age-appropriate references for dinosaurs and prehistoric life.
With a Group: Help your group make their own prehistoric-like fossils by using art plaster. Spray a shallow tin pie pans with non-stick spray. Lay a soda pop tab in the top area of each pan for hanging later. Pour plaster into pans. Then help each child carefully make an impression of their hand or foot...just like the dinosaurs did millions of years ago. Use pencil to help children autograph the wet plaster for a prehistorically fun fossil!
