Dinosaurs

SPECIAL TOOL

NEW! With each theme, we aim to offer a special tool. (Open group identification-Dinosaurs) Print the items and use them to identify children’s spaces and personal items throughout your daycare.

CIRCLE TIME

NEW! A treasure hunt to discover the theme

(Open educa-decorate-Dinosaurs) Print and laminate. Set the illustrated items on objects throughout your daycare. Invite children to search for them and hand them to you. As a group, name the items and encourage children to guess which theme you will be exploring.

Suggested circle time questions:

• Have you seen dinosaurs in books or movies? Can you name different types of dinosaurs?
• Have you ever seen dinosaurs in real life? (Some children will surely claim that they have seen dinosaurs, play along with them!)
• Explore dinosaurs using pictures and plastic figurines. Name the different dinosaurs. Encourage children to name the color of each dinosaur along with any other characteristics they notice (their size, horns, the length of their neck and tail, etc.).
• Discuss just how big dinosaurs were. Compare their size with objects that children are familiar with, such as a bus, an electric pole, etc.
• Which dinosaur is your favorite and why?
• What did dinosaurs eat? Explain the difference between herbivores and carnivores.
• How were baby dinosaurs born? Talk about eggs, nests, etc.

This portion of the day is ideal for getting children up and moving. Tell them, "You are inside a dinosaur egg." (Children curl up as tightly as they can). "You are moving around to crack the egg." (Children wiggle around but remain curled up). "Poke your head out of the egg." (Children raise their heads and upper bodies). "The dinosaur is growing." (Children stretch and return to standing positions). Ask children what kind of dinosaur they were mimicking. To guide you in your discussions about dinosaurs, we have prepared a simple game to explain, with pictures, the difference between herbivores and carnivores. (Open dinosaur diet) Print, laminate and attach Velcro to the pictures. Have children associate the pictograms to the correct card.

AREA SETUP

NEW! Thematic poster-Dinosaurs

(Open thematic poster-Dinosaurs) Print, laminate, and display on a wall to announce the theme.

NEW! Educa-theme-Dinosaurs

(Open educa-theme-Dinosaurs) Print and laminate the elements representing the theme. Use them to present the theme to your group while decorating your daycare.

NEW! Educa-decorate-Dinosaurs
(Open educa-decorate-Dinosaurs) Print, cut out, and laminate. Use the illustrations to decorate the walls of your daycare and set the mood for the theme.

NEW! Dinosaur cieling
Use plastic dinosaurs or various pictures and objects related to the theme to create a mobile. If you prefer, simply press pictures of dinosaurs on your ceiling, over your changing table.  

Cut out the different dinosaur tracks. (Open dinosaur tracks and dinosaurs) Glue the tracks on the floor to create a path. Have children follow identical tracks to discover which dinosaur they belong to. Be sure to glue the corresponding dinosaurs at the end of each path. Paths can lead to the bathroom, to the sink, etc.

VARIOUS WORKSHOPS

Have fun with these great workshop ideas provided by Caroline Allard.

Building blocks:

• Create giant blocks using empty cardboard boxes covered with wrapping paper.
• Add the dinosaurs you have on hand.
• Build (or have children build) a mountain for the dinosaurs...if you have the time, paper mâché is child's play.
• Add plastic bones or rawhide bones for dogs. Children will add them to their constructions.

Arts & Crafts:

• Dinosaur stencils.
• Sand and glue to create a sandy dinosaur.
• Dinosaur pictures to trace using tracing paper.
• Dinosaur-themed coloring pages.
• Various objects that can be dipped in paint to create dinosaur tracks. In stores you can find animal footprints designed for stamping.
• Neutral, less vibrant colored crayons...for drawing dinosaurs.

Role Play:

• The archeologist: a hat, beige colored clothing (shirt and short), sneakers, different accessories (binoculars, tweezers, camera).
• The explorer: survival kit (water bottle and flashlight), camping kit (sleeping bag, net to protect from mosquitoes).

Manipulation:

• Memory game about dinosaurs.
• Modeling clay with neutral colors (beige, brown, white), you may also want to add sand, oats, or sawdust to create different textures.
• Dinosaur puzzles.
• Homemade game to teach the difference between herbivore and carnivore dinosaurs (picture association game).
• Different lengths of string representing the actual size of dinosaurs...to make comparisons, include strings the length of cats and dogs too. Children will understand just how big dinosaurs really were.

Reading/Relaxation:

• Books about dinosaurs and prehistoric life.
• Dinosaur or animal puppets.

Music/Motor skills:

• Psychomotor obstacle course...walk like dinosaurs.
• Step in paint and leave tracks on a large sheet of paper, just like dinosaur tracks.
• Make dinosaur sounds...be inventive!

Sensory bins:

• Water table: add aquarium pebbles to create a lake. Use miniature dinosaurs. Cut styrofoam plates or trays to represent islands.
• Sand box: children play the role of archeologists and dig for bones that you have hidden. They can retrieve them with tweezers and then clean them with paintbrushes, etc.

Science:

• Use plaster to make an impression or to shape a dinosaur tooth. Make a mould in sand and pour plaster into it.

ACTIVITY SHEETS

(Open activity sheet pre-writing D) Print one sheet per child. Children trace the letter "D" in the word "dinosaur".

NEW! Activity sheets are suggested for each theme. Print and follow instructions.  (Open activity sheets-Dinosaurs).

NEW! Writing activities

Writing activities are suggested for each theme. Print for each child or laminate for use with a dry-erase marker. (Open writing activities-D like dinosaur)

PICTURE GAME

NEW! The pictures may be used as a memory game or to spark a conversation with the group. Use the pictures to decorate the daycare or a specific thematic corner. (Open picture game-Dinosaurs) Print, laminate, and store in a "Ziploc" bag or in your thematic bins.

WORD FLASHCARDS

NEW! The flashcards may be used during circle time to spark a conversation or in your reading and writing area. They may also be used to identify your thematic bins. (Open word flashcards-Dinosaurs)  (Open giant word flashcards-Dinosaurs) Print. Tyrannosaurus, triceratops, diplodocus, pterodactyl, velociraptor, spinosaurus, brachiosaurus, iguanodon, herbivore, carnivore, paleontologist, fossil.

ACTIVITIES

NEW! I protect my egg

Hang an inflated balloon behind each child. Use pieces of string that are long enough to ensure that the balloons can easily touch the floor. When you give the signal, children attempt to step on their peers’ balloons to pop them, all while trying to avoid having their own “egg” popped. The winner of this game is the last child with an inflated balloon.

NEW! Dinosaur path
Create a prehistoric obstacle course. Children can, for example, be encouraged to crawl through a cave (a tunnel or under a table that you have draped a dark blanket over), walk on dinosaur eggs (fill a kiddie pool with crumpled pieces of brown paper), jump over lakes (hula hoops on the floor), walk through lianas (garbage bags cut into strips and hung from the ceiling or furniture items), etc.  

NEW! Beware of the dinosaur

Play tag with your group. Give the child who is “it” a pool noodle. You can draw eyes and wings on your noodle to represent a dinosaur. The child must attempt to touch his peers with the “dinosaur”. Every time he succeeds, the child who was touched must stop in his tracks and remain perfectly immobile until another player touches him. He can then resume running from the dinosaur.

NEW! Flying dinosaurs

Here, you will need a cylindrical inflated balloon for each child. Inflate the balloons and invite children to draw dinosaur eyes, wings, and legs on their balloon. Next, show them how they can round the upper portion of their balloon (their dinosaur’s head). Invite children to toss their dinosaur up in the air. Whose dinosaur will fly the highest? Which one will be the last to land on the floor?

NEW! Dinosaur hunt

(Open tiny dinosaurs) Print, cut out, and laminate the dinosaurs. Set them on items throughout your daycare. If you wish, you can also organize this dinosaur hunt in your yard, by setting the dinosaurs on items throughout an enclosed area. Invite children to search for the dinosaurs. They can set them in a butterfly net and use this tool to carry them.

NEW! I capture a dinosaur
Cut dinosaur shapes out of heavy cardboard. Attach a paper clip to each one and set them on the floor, behind a couch or a high furniture item. Children use a homemade magnetic fishing rod to capture the dinosaurs.

NEW! Giant dinosaur

(Open giant dinosaur pieces) Print, laminate, and cut out each piece. Children sit on the floor to assemble them and create a giant dinosaur.

NEW! Where are the dinosaurs hiding?

Hide dinosaurs throughout your yard and encourage children to search for them. Every time they find a dinosaur, they must run to drop it in a large basket or bin before going back to search for more. Be sure to count the dinosaurs before hiding them so that you know when they have all been found.

Hunt and seek
(Open hunt and seek dinosaurs) Print and laminate. Children pick cards and search for the elements in the prehistoric décor.

Archeology
Hide plastic dinosaurs in a sandbox. With a brush, children dust the sand in search of the hidden dinosaurs, just like archeologists.

Dinosaur route
Prepare a prehistoric route. Here are a few suggestions of obstacles: children go through a cave (a tunnel or simply under a table draped with a sheet), cross over dinosaur eggs (fill a small pool with brown paper balls), jump over a lake (hoola hoops), and walk among the vines (hang garbage bag strips from the ceiling)...

Dinosaur bones
Cut out the dinosaur bones (Open dinosaur bones) Hide them throughout the daycare. When children find a bone, they deposit it on a table. Once all the bones are found, children reconstruct the dinosaur skeleton.

Dinosaur memory game
Show children different dinosaurs (picture game or plastic dinosaurs). Next, place them on a table and cover them with a blanket. Have children close their eyes. Remove one or more dinosaurs depending on the level of difficulty you feel appropriate. Take away the blanket and have children guess which dinosaur is missing.

Dinosaur hunt
Hide plastic dinosaurs within the daycare. Upon your signal, children must retrieve them.

Dinosaur walk
Children take large steps. At each step, they say "BOOM!" You may use musical instruments to sound out the steps.

Dinosaur family
Use pictures of dinosaurs. Laminate and cut them into three pieces each: head, body, and legs. Children discover new dinosaur families.

My puzzle
Have children choose pictures of dinosaurs which you have found in magazines beforehand. They glue their pictures on heavy cardboard and cut them in different-sized pieces. They will love their homemade puzzles!

Dinosaur search
Draw dinosaur feet and laminate them. Follow the footprints throughout the daycare. Where the footprints end, children find a bin of plastic dinosaurs.

Dinosaur nest
Place a basket full of large plastic eggs in the center of a circle. You may paint colorful spots with acrylic paint prior to the activity. In each egg, inscribe a simple activity (jump, dance, raise one leg, etc.) Play music and have children pass the basket around the circle. When the music stops, the child holding the basket opens the egg and acts out the instruction.

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

NEW! Game-Four dinosaurs

(Open game-Four dinosaurs) Print, glue the cards on opaque paper and cut them out. Arrange them face down on the floor or table (so that you can’t see the illustrations). Children take turns rolling a die. Every time a child rolls a “1”, he turns a card over and looks at it without showing the illustration to his peers. If he doesn’t already have this card in front of him, he sets it on the floor or table for everyone to see. The first child who has all 4 dinosaurs wins. 

NEW! Dino-shapes

(Open dino-shapes) Print and laminate the document. Cut out the shapes and press a small piece of adhesive putty behind each one. Display the dinosaurs on a wall. Children press the shapes on the dinosaurs as they name them.

NEW! Dinosaur letters

(Open dinosaur letters) Print the letters. Children set tiny plastic dinosaurs or press dinosaur-shaped stickers on their sheet to trace the letters.

NEW! Archaeological sorting

(Open archaeological sorting-Dinosaurs) Print and laminate the first page and set it on a table. Print, laminate, and cut out the fossils. Slide them into a bin filled with sand. Provide tiny paintbrushes and tweezers that children can use to find and pull out the fossils one by one. Next, invite children to sort the fossils on the first page, observing them to see if they contain a number or a letter. Children can also use the fossils with letters printed on them to write their name or reproduce the words printed on the theme’s word flashcards. Encourage them to place the fossils that have a number printed on them in numerical order.

NEW! Hungry dinosaur

(Open hungry dinosaur) Print and laminate the dinosaur face. Cut an opening for the dinosaur’s mouth and glue triangles cut out of a white Fun Foam sheet to represent dinosaur teeth. Secure the dinosaur face on a plastic garbage can. Print, laminate, and cut out the numbered leaves. Children take turns rolling a die. If, for example, a child rolls a “2”, he must find the leaf with this number printed on it and “feed” it to the dinosaur. With older children, you can choose to play with a pair of dice.

Miniature Jurassic Park
Provide a large bin to which children may add sand, water, pebbles, leaves, grass, and small branches. Encourage them to build a dinosaur park by creating streams, mountains, volcanoes, trees, etc.

CULINARY ACTIVITIES

Dinosaur nests

3 cups of Chinese noodles
1 ½ cups of chocolate chips
1 tablespoon of butter

Use oval-shaped candy to represent the eggs.

Method for nests:

Lightly crush the noodles, reserve. Melt the chocolate chips and the butter in a casserole over low heat or in the microwave. Add the noodles. Combine until all the noodles are coated with chocolate. Using a spoon, deposit small quantities of the mixture onto waxed paper. Delicately arrange candy in the center of the nests. Let stand until the chocolate has hardened once again. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes 30 nests.

Scented dinosaur
Children paint a dinosaur onto tactile paper using chocolate pudding. When the paint has dried, add googly eyes.

Dinosaur meal
Display a large plate filled with lettuce and hard boiled eggs in the center of the table. Children remove the egg shells themselves.

NEW! Walk like a dinosaur

(Open dinosaur tracks) Print and press the dinosaur tracks on the ground in your yard, creating 2 identical and parallel paths. Divide your group into 2 teams. Each team lines up at the start of one path. Each child must walk to the end of his team’s path, walking heavily on the tracks like a dinosaur and then come back the same way to tap the hand of the next child in line. The first team that sees all its players complete the path both ways wins.

ARTS & CRAFTS

NEW! My “foot-osaurus”

(Open foot-osuarus) Print for each child. Use a small paint roller or paintbrush to apply green poster paint to the bottom of each child’s foot. Have them press their painted foot diagonally on a piece of paper, once in the upper portion of the dinosaur head and once in the bottom half, with their heel towards the open part of the dinosaur mouth. Let dry and laminate each child’s dinosaur. They can add a large wiggly eye, cut out their dinosaur head and glue it on the end of large Popsicle stick to create a puppet.

Silly Dinosaur
Provide each child with a sheet of paper and markers. Beforehand, draw a starting point on each sheet of paper. Children must create a dinosaur from the predetermined point.

Dinosaur shells
Make a collage using egg shells on a black piece of construction paper.

Dinosaur skeleton
Build dinosaur skeletons using toothpicks on black construction paper.

My little dinosaur
(Open model dinosaur - craft) Print a craft for each child. Children color the different parts and glue them onto an empty toilet paper roll.

Mysterious dinosaurs
Children invent their own dinosaurs using the material with which they are presented: modeling clay, modeling dough, feathers, buttons, pipe cleaners, sparkles, cardboard pieces, tissue paper...

Fossil
Using modeling dough, make an impression of children's hands or feet. Allow to dry before painting.

My dinosaur
Print dinosaur coloring pages. Children trace the contour of the dinosaur using toothpicks and white glue. Sprinkle with fine sand or sparkles and remove excess.

COLORING PAGES

NEW! (Open coloring pages theme-Dinosaurs) Print for each child.

SEQUENTIAL STORY

(Open sequential story - dinosaurs) Print the story. Laminate and cut out.

Children recreate the story in chronological order.

SONGS & RHYMES

Dinosaurs all around

There are dinosaurs stomping all around, there are dinosaurs stomping all around
There are dinosaurs all around, stomping on the ground
There are dinosaurs stomping all around

There are dinosaurs flying all around, there are dinosaurs flying all around

There are dinosaurs all around, flying in the air
There are dinosaurs flying all around

There are dinosaurs swimming all around, there are dinosaurs swimming all around
There are dinosaurs all around, swimming in the sea

There are dinosaurs swimming all around

Dinosaurs
By: Patricia Morrison
Sung : to Are your Sleeping

They lived long ago, they lived long ago
Dinosaurs, dinosaurs
Now they are extinct, now they are extinct
Dinosaurs, dinosaurs

SUGGESTION OF THE WEEK

This week, children become paleontologists (person who studies dinosaur bones and fossils).

Monday:

The hunt is on for dinosaur footprints

Supplies: Sandbox, plastic dog bones, salt shaker filled with flour

Hide the plastic dog bones in the sandbox. Provide children with a paintbrush to remove the dust (sand) and a magnifying glass to examine the bones they find.

Children make impressions in modeling clay with plastic dinosaurs. Allow children to sprinkle the tracks the dinosaurs left behind with the salt shaker filled with flour. With their paintbrushes and magnifying glasses, they remove the flour to discover fossils.

Outdoors:
If the sandbox is not frozen, children make impressions in the sand with their boots. They try walking like penguins, walking with one foot behind the other, walking on tiptoes, and taking giant steps like dinosaurs. Compare the impressions.

Tuesday:

What a funny egg

Supplies: Oval-shaped balloon, hard boiled egg with shell

Show children the difference between the two objects (size). Explain that dinosaur eggs were much bigger than the balloon and that, with the largest dinosaur egg, we could have made an omelet for 35 people.

Craft:

A silly egg puzzle

Trace the shape of a fairly large egg on white construction paper. Draw lines to divide the egg into four puzzle pieces. Using markers or crayons, children color their eggs, cut out the contour, and then cut on the lines drawn inside the egg. Have them enjoy their puzzle by then reconstructing it on a piece of colored construction paper of their choice.

Have a dinosaur egg hunt.

Cut out several eggs of the same size in construction paper of different colors. You must have 2 red eggs, 2 orange eggs, 2 blue eggs, etc... Hide one egg of each color in the daycare (on walls, on the floor, on large toys, etc.). Place the second egg of each color in a bag or box decorated for the theme. Children each pick one egg and search for the other egg of the same color. You may try the same game with eggs of different sizes, yet still the same color.

Wednesday:

Dinosaur discovery

Supplies: books about dinosaurs

Study the dinosaur books with the children. Ask them questions. What did dinosaurs eat? Some dinosaurs were herbivores and ate only plants, fruit, and flowers. Other dinosaurs were carnivores and ate insects, eggs, reptiles, and mammals.

Were dinosaurs small or big?

The smallest dinosaur was 1 meter long and weighed 3.5 kg. It was the compsognathus. The dryosaurus was 3 to 4 meters long, the nodosaurus was 5.5 meters long, the triceratops was 9 meters long and 3 meters high, the tyrannosaurus was 14 meters long, and the mamenchisaurus was 22 meters long. The longest dinosaur was the diplodocus. He measured 23 meters long. The tallest dinosaur was the brachiosaurus which was 15 meters high. Dinosaurs were as long as a house, sometimes even two or three houses or as long as the entire street. Did all dinosaurs look the same? Use books to show the differences. There were dinosaurs with horns and large ears such as the triceratops, dinosaurs with a ring around their heads such as the dilophosaurus, and dinosaurs with small heads but very long necks such as the brachiosaurus.

Craft:

My dinosaur

Trace a large dinosaur model twice onto a paper grocery bag for each child. Children cut out their two dinosaurs. Place the two dinosaurs one on top of the other and staple the contour, leaving a space to stuff the dinosaurs' stomach with tissues. Once stuffed, staple completely closed. Children paint their dinosaurs as they wish.

Thursday:

Our dinosaur park

Supplies: Sandbox, rocks, plastic miniature trees, plastic dinosaurs, empty tissue box cut in two (to create caves), broken egg shells which have been washed, modeling clay to shape tiny dinosaurs which can be inserted into plastic eggs, small plastic containers to make ponds or lakes.

Collective project: Our dinosaur park

Make materials readily available for the children. Allow them to create their dinosaur park as they imagine it.

Game:

Steps - Following the beat of a drum, children take giant steps or tiny mouse steps. When the drum plays loudly, they must take giant steps, and when it plays softly they must take tiny mouse steps. Children respect the rhythm. Once they are used to the game, choose a child to play the drum.

Friday:

A prehistoric animal

Supplies: Different types of fruit

Lay different types of fruit, a plate, and a plastic knife and fork on the table. Ideal fruits are bananas, strawberries, oranges, cut pineapple pieces, and melon. Use them to make a model dinosaur. To create the body, you may use a slice of melon. Use banana pieces to make the legs. Cut strawberries into triangular shapes to represent the points on the dinosaur's back. Make a tail out of a piece of pineapple and a head out of a slice of orange, etc.

Children use fruit pieces to make their own dinosaur-shaped snacks. Close the week with a "Barney" movie.

Have fun!

The educatall team