D is for Dinosaurs: Themed Activities

 D is for Dinosaurs!  When I create my ideas lists, I am largely just writing out the suggestions as they come then organizing them a bit.  I haven't included links because they change over time and are generally equally available for you to find once you know what you want to look for (ie. a specific book or science experiment). However, if you need help visualizing an idea you think will benefit a child in your world, just ask and I will help you out.

Speech Based Activities: 

Name the dinosaurs from A to Z to create a great list and practice both ABCs and alphabetical order.

Discuss the similarities and differences between the species. Categorize them, for example separate plant eaters and meat eaters or large and small dinosaurs. You can use a Venn diagram to do this too.

Read books featuring dinosaurs such as The Dinosaur who Lost his Roar, Magic Tree House:  Dinosaurs before Dark, Rawr, various dinoosaur encyclopedias and so forth. 

Examine their features. You can use the book That's not my Dinosaur or make your own version of the book and say "It's feet are too webbed/scaly/green/?, It's tail/spikes/legs/neck etc are too ___ and describe the dinosaur(s). 

Watch dinosaur based movies like Jurassic Park or Land Before Time and discuss the story or create your own story! Use story starters like, "What if a dinosaur came to life?" 

Complete a dinosaur acrostic...eg. D (daring) I (ice age) N (noisy) O (omnivore)

Try to spell out a dinosaur name with scrabble letters.

Use all your new dinosaurs vocabulary as you play and get involved in activities such as those below.

Science Activities:   

Dinosaur dig-excavate dinosaurs (toys or 'bones') from cornstarch and water mix left to dry in a mold for approx 2 days. Use playdough tools, plastic knives and paintbrushes in your discovery.

Mix baking soda with a little water and colouring and hide something inside and shape them, like an egg for example, and freeze the whole thing for a couple days.  Then when you take them out of the freezer you can use vinegar in a syringe to fizz away the 'eggshell' and find the hidden surprise (dino?)  

Make salt dough (2 parts flour, 1 part salt, 1 part warm water) fossils of dinosaurs by imprinting the toys in the dough and leaving them to harden for approx 2 days. Match the imprint to the dino..

TVOkids has a dinosaur exhibit computer activity where you can put the bones together.

Order the dinosaurs according to their historic time period.

Colours and Matching Activities

Count the dinosaurs in a picture or the toys in front of you.

Complete a dinosaur and egg colour match file folder game or match your dinosaurs to construction paper or other same coloured items in your home or class.

Do a dinosaur shadow match file folder activity or trace their shadows on paper and find the match.

Match the dinosaur to the salt dough fossil imprint.

Match a dinosaur to the first letter of its name. Connect an S to a Spinosaurus or a U to an Ultrasaurus.

Math Activities

Have 1-10 dinosaur pictures on various cards and laminate them with an empty box in the top right corner where the child can write the number of dinosaurs in the picture with a wipe off marker. 

Compare measurements of the dinosaurs, either the toys or actual dinosaurs according to statistics. Measure their size compared to humans or other items like a bus or an elephant.

Complete numbered dot-to-dot pictures of dinosaurs.

Gross and Fine Motor Activities

Dance and/or do the dinosaur stomp.

Make a cube to roll with actions on each side such as stomp like an apatosaurus, jump like a raptor, flap like a pteradactyl, shake your tail like..., kick like..., stretch like... etc.

Complete dinosaur floor puzzles, paper activities and/or sticker art.

Use dinosaur stencils and pencil crayons to trace out scenes.

Create a diorama with recycled materials of dinosaurs in their presumed habitats.

Games

Play a clapping game called Concentration 64 or Categories ,

Concentration (clap, clap, clap) (or slap knees, clap hands, snap, snap) Sixty-four (clap, clap, clap)  No repeats (clap, clap, clap)  Or hesitations (clap, clap, clap)      I'll go first (clap, clap, clap)  You'll go last (clap, clap, clap) Category is: (clap, clap, clap)  Dinosaurs (clap, clap, clap)  <Player 1's word, i.e. "Velociraptor" > (clap, clap, clap)  <Player 2's word, i.e. "Tyrannosaurus Rex"> (clap, clap, clap)    ...and so on...   The first one to miss a beat is out

Play the card game called Snap.  Snap can also become a memory game to find matching pairs.  Usborne sells a great set but you can also print off your own cards on cardstock.

Have fun playing with the children as they learn many skills along the way including reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in an enjoyable setting.







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