Dinosaurs

I cannot take credit for any of the ideas contained on my pages; they are the result of many others's combined years in the early childhood profession .

Dinosaur Chow
1/4 C dirt (cocoa)
1/2 C swamp water (milk w/ green food coloring)
2 C crushed bones (sugar)
1/2 C fat (butter/margarine)
2 C dead grass (uncooked oatmeal)
1/2 C squashed bugs (peanut butter)

Mix dirt and swamp water. Add crushed bones and fat. Boil about 3 minutes. Add squashed bugs and dead grass, and stir until melted. Remove from heat and stir until mixture begins to thicken. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper.

A few ideas for dinosaurs:

Use foam sheets cut out dinosaur shapes. Have the kids decorate them with yarn, beads, buttons, feathers. I had them just use regular glue. Glue on wiggle eyes. Stick/glue pieces of magnet on the back. I then used black fabric paint and wrote their name on them. When they dry, stick them on the frig.

Color pictures of dinosaurs, cut into 3 or 4 pieces, laminate--instant puzzles. I put magnets on the backs to use on the chalkboard. Easy to tell them if all the pieces are there.

Blow up pictures of dinosaurs and have the kids color them. Then create a mural on the wall with the dinosaurs. Add some trees, bushes, flowers. It looks great. Since we don't know what colors dinosaurs were--the variety of colors the kids use is great.

Stuffed baby dinosaurs:
On brown paper sack or butcher paper folded in half, trace a shape of a dinosaur. I did two different ones so they could have a choice. Cut out and let the kids color. Have them color both pieces. Staple 3/4 around dinosuar. Use shredded newspaper and stuff the baby dino. When full enough, staple opening closed. Attach yarn to the top and hang from the ceiling or add to your mural.

Another idea for dinosaurs:
Make volcanoes out of playdough and let them erupt. Form the mountain from the dough and push your thumb in the top part way to form a small dip. Mix 1/2 C vinegar, 1/4 C water, 1/8 C dish soap, red food coloring. Put a small amount of baking soda in the top of your volcano, use an eyedropper to add the above mixture. Watch your volcano erupt. I had groups of 3-4 kids do this together. Each group had their own container, volcano, baking soda and mixture. I used a plastic container about the size of a shoe box. This helped contain the mess--because it is messy.

Clay Dinosaurs:
Use a homemade clay recipe. I used one that you have to bake for an hour in the oven. Let the kids create their own dinosaurs. When done baking, paint in a variety of colors. These turn out so neat. We had a variety of "dinosaurs" and even nests with dino eggs in them.