All of these images & great Dino ideas come from Preschool Playhouse’s Dinosaur Camp
- Dinosaur Paleontologists … discover how hard and how carefully paleontologists have to work to remove dinosaur bones from rock. Hammers would be quicker, but might break the bones!
- Freeze plastic dinosaurs in paper cups filled with water (makes a large ice cube).
- Give the kids squeeze bottles filled with warm water and have them work to get the dinosaurs out.
- Puffy Stegosaurus
- Cut out a simple stegosaurus shape (minus the spikes)
- Mix up a batch of homemade puffy paint
- Mix 3 parts shaving cream + 1 part white glue (then add paint)
- Let the kids use their hands to paint their stegosaurus and several clothespins (for the spikes)
- Let dry completely, then feel how smooth and spongy it is.
- After it dries, add a googly eye and clip on the clothespin spikes.
- Foam Dinosaur Capsules … you can get these dissolving capsules from Michaels, Amazon, or sometimes the dollar store. Put them in a sink or tub of warm water and the capsules dissolve and a foam dinosaur emerges!
- Dinosaur Hats
- Fold a large piece of paper in half and cut out a long dinosaur shape, keeping the tail end uncut on the fold (make sense?). Or use two sheets of regular 8.5x11 paper and staple together at the tail.
- Let the kids decorate their dinosaur with markers, stickers, googly eyes…
- Staple together (near the head/neck) to form a fun dinosaur hat!
- Hatching Paper Mache Dinosaur Eggs … this is quite the project that will take a few days to complete, but looks like so much fun!!
- Day 1: Insert a plastic dinosaur (I also thought some small wrapped candies would be fun too) into a small water-balloon-sized balloon.
- Blow up and tie.
- Make a simple paper mache paste … 1 cup flour + 1 cup water. Then stir in 4 cups boiling water. Mix well, keep in an airtight container.
- Cut newspaper strips about 6 inches long.
- Dip the strips in the glue, then smooth over the balloon. Cover the entire balloon.
- Hang by the balloon knot and let dry overnight.
- Day 2 (optional): to make the egg stronger, put a second layer after the first has dried. Let dry one more night.
- Day 3: Paint the eggs and let dry overnight.
- In the morning, use scissors to cut the knot off of the balloon. The balloon and dinosaur will still be inside the egg!
- Have the kids help make a dinosaur nest to put their dry, painted eggs into. Use leaves, grass, sticks…
- Hatching Time! Let the kids carefully try to remove their dinosaur (and candy!) from the egg keeping the egg intact.
I did the dinosaur eggs with my son & he LOVED it. This was such a creative idea and it was fun having a project that we could do together over a few days. We also read lots of dinosaur books while doing this project as well.
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