Frozen Dinosaur Eggs

 I put tiny plastic dinosaurs in regular balloons with a little water and stuck them in the freezer.

 We added the frozen dinosaur eggs to a bin with a little sand and more toy dinosaurs and toy snakes.

 Reagan and Collin were curious.

Boo had to check it out too.

 When most of the ice had melted, we added a little water and food coloring to the bin.

After a while, Kate asked for bubbles so that she could clean all of the dinosaurs and snakes.

Flying Monsters

I always seem to find it easy to come up with special outing ideas for Reagan and I to do together, and struggle a little about what to do with the boys.  So I was thrilled when I received a post card from the Audubon Society about a special screening of Flying Monsters 3D.  I knew Collin would enjoy it, and he was very excited about having a special night for just the two of us.

Grandma watched the girls yesterday afternoon, and Collin and I went to the IMAX for this special event.

The film was very interesting.  I had never heard anything about pterosaurs before, so I learned quite a bit.  Collin mentioned that he thought the 3D aspects of the film were really good, and I have to agree.

The Audubon Society had a table set up with different items for sale, and Collin chose this Dinosaur Poop Excavation Kit.  I knew he would pick that.

After the film, there was a screech owl presentation in the lobby.

This owl's name is Odie and he was hit by a car when he was first learning to fly.  He is about six years old now, and is blind in one eye from the accident.

We had a great time out together!

Collin actually mentioned how happy he was that he had two special outings in just a few days.  On Saturday, Tom took him to the PC Friars basketball game!  I think it's so important to do things with each of the kids individually; I know they appreciate the one on one time!

More Dinosaur Fun and Cookies!

We are still having a blast learning about dinosaurs.  This is what I love about our Fifty States Project - we had no plan to study dinosaurs, other than reading about the T. Rex skeleton (Sue) that was found in South Dakota, but once we read about Sue we wanted to learn more.

I could not resist making the baby Brontosaurus cookies from Almost Unschoolers.  She is far more talented than I am when it comes to hand crafting cookies; the legs on mine are a bit weird, but I got the cookies to stand up and that made my day.  I also used the Almost Unschoolers sugar cookie recipe and I am thrilled with it.  The dough was easy (super easy) to work with and the cookies taste great!   I made the dough last night, but didn't make the cookies until this morning (I refrigerated the dough, of course) and everything went well.  I can't wait for C to come home from school and see this cookie.  I made one for C and one for R, and I used the rest of the dough to make dinosaur cookies with a cookie cutter.  I am really happy with the results! 

Last week, we watched a Reading Rainbow (I LOVE Reading Rainbow!) DVD featuring the book Digging Up Dinosaurs by Aliki.  In this video, LeVar Burton buries a time capsule and relates the activity to what we find when we look at dinosaurs from the past.  He also visits the Dinosaur National Monument where dinosaur fossils are dug.  The book that is featured in the video explains how scientists uncover, preserve, and study fossils.

C and R enjoyed eating Perdue dinosaur chicken nuggets while watching the video!  They thought this was just wonderful! 

After the video, we read Dinosaur Bones by Aliki.  This book is from the Let's Read and Find Out Science series and it explains how we learn about dinosaurs from their bones.

We also read The Magic School Bus In the Time of the Dinosaurs by Joanna Cole.  R is not really interested in The Magic School Bus books yet, but C really likes them.  In this one, Ms. Frizzle takes the class back in time to the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods where they are able to observe dinosaurs, plant life, and more.

I borrowed Eyewitness Books Dinosaur by David Norman and Angela Milner from the library, and I have left this book out for C to look through whenever he wants.  R has not had any interest in this one.

In addition to the books and video, C has really enjoyed playing Digging for Dinosaurs on his Leapster.  This game was a gift for Valentine's Day and lately he has really become interested in it.  The games feature dinosaur facts, digging for fossils to see how each dinosaur was unique, and building dinosaur skeletons.  (By the way, C and R both have Leapsters and really enjoy them.  I worried that they would grow tired of them quickly, but that has not been the case in our house.)

Finally, I set up a 100 piece glow in the dark dinosaur puzzle for us to work on together.  There is nothing scientifically accurate about this puzzle, but I thought it would be fun.

I have to mention that R bought this puzzle for her brother with money she had left from a gift card she received for her birthday; I thought that was very sweet of her!

C will be participating in a week long dinosaur camp (run by the Audubon Society) this summer where he will learn about dinosaurs, participate in archeological digs, and learn about fossils.  We also have plans to visit the Boston Museum of Science to see their current dinosaur exhibit! 

All of this learning and fun began with our South Dakota state study! 
 

Future Paleontologist

We are having a lot of fun with our dinosaur theme for our South Dakota state study.  So far, we have made dinosaur teeth and dinosaur fossils.  We also used a Smithsonian kit to excavate a T- Rex skeleton.  The kit came with a sand brick that had a T-Rex skeleton replica in it for excavating with a mallet and dowel.  The kit also came with goggles, but according to the directions, the goggles were for play, not for protection (?????).  My kids still insisted on wearing the goggles.

R worked on the kit for about fifteen minutes and left the rest for C to finish.  I think R was a little frustrated that she didn't find any of the bones, but even after C started to find them, R never had any interest in going back to the excavating.  C, on the other hand, worked on this for hours!  He has since decided that he wants to be a paleontologist. 

After the excavation was complete, C assembled the plastic dinosaur.  I have to admit that I expected better quality.  The dinosaur doesn't really stay together and it barely stands up.  C was pretty happy with it though.  As a matter of fact, he said that this kit is one of his favorite activities of all time; he really enjoyed the process.

We followed this with the book The Field Mouse and the Dinosaur Named Sue by Jan Wahl.

A tiny field mouse lives in a burrow beneath an old bone in South Dakota until his life is turned upside down by fossil hunters.  The mouse ends up in a box that is taken to the Field Museum in Chicago where he finds the dinosaur named Sue.  We all enjoyed the book.

Thank you to Almost Unschoolers for recommending this book, and hop over to Adventures in Mommydom for Science Sunday!
 

Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils - South Dakota

Earlier in the week, I saw salt dough creations at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns and it reminded me that salt dough has been on my to do list for a long time.  Then, I happened to see salt dough dinosaur fossils at Miller Moments and knew we had to make some of our own since South Dakota has been a hot spot for dinosaur fossils and we are currently studying South Dakota.

This is the recipe we used (from Miller Moments):

1 cup of salt
2 cups of flour
1 cup of warm water

Mix thoroughly until dough consistency. Roll out and create dinosaur footprints by stomping toy dinosaurs in the dough!

To dry, place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 200 degrees until dry. Or just leave out for several days until dry.

While C and R worked on making their fossils, we listened to various artists singing original songs about the T. rex named Sue on a CD we borrowed from the library.

Overall, the CD was pretty good in that it told the whole story of how Sue was found and how she eventually made it to the Field Museum in Chicago.  I don't really care for most of the music, but the lyrics are very educational.  My favorite song from the collection is How Do You Get to South Dakota?  C and R like all of the songs.

Dinosaur Teeth Snack

I made C and R some dinosaur teeth to snack on while we read A T. Rex Named Sue by Natalie Lunis.  We read this book because the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known as Sue, was found in South Dakota (our current state of study).  Did you know that while dinosaurs lived in every part of the world, T. rex bones have only been found in western North America? 

C and R really enjoyed this book; it kept their interest the entire time.  I really like the way the book is written.

We learned that T. rex's sharp, curved teeth were the size of bananas and that makes our dinosaur teeth snack just perfect!

To make the snack, I sliced bananas in half.  C and R each got two dinosaur teeth (one whole banana).

Then we spread each slice with peanut butter and sprinkled on graham cracker crumbs.  The nice thing about this HEALTHY snack is that the kids can help make it!  By the way, adults will enjoy this yummy treat too!

Don't you think our dinosaur teeth look like Sue's teeth?  C and R have requested this snack several times since we first made it, and they think it's really funny that there is a dinosaur that has the same name as their Grandma!

This isn't a science experiment, but this book has a lot of great scientific information in it, so I am linking this post to Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom.

The Dinosaur Tamer

If you are studying the fifty states like we are, you should check out The Dinosaur Tamer by Carol Greathouse.  This is an action packed book about Rocky, the best dinosaur tamer that ever lived.  Taming dinosaurs was pretty easy work for Rocky until he met T.Rex.  T. Rex was quite the challenge, but Rocky was not the type to give up. 

This adventure crosses many western states and mentions landmarks from the Mississippi River to the Olympic Rain Forest and Mojave Desert. We read this book while studying the state of Utah, so C and R both liked the reference to the Great Salt Lake.

This is one of those fictional books that has an element of geography for young children while also managing to entertain them with a fun story.  There is even a map of dinosaur tracks through the states.

We made our own dinosaur tracks across the western states.

I printed maps of the United States  and put them out with a giant ink pad and a toy dinosaur.  Then as I read the book, I would direct C and R where to place the dinosaur tracks.  They made the tracks by stamping the dinosaur in the ink and then putting it down on the map.

They got a bit carried away, but who cares?!  They had fun and we practiced finding a few states on the map!!

I am linking this to Geography & History at Children Grow, Children Explore, Children Learn.

D is for Dinosaur

R learned about the letter "D" in school this week.  We are expanding upon the preschool theme with a few dinosaur books and crafts.

I cut dinosaur shapes (head, body, tail, and two legs) out of cardboard.  C and R painted their dinosaur parts; R chose pink, purple and a little yellow while C (the traditionalist!) chose green.

We used bendable straws and packaging tape to connect the legs and tail to the body, and used string to connect the head to the body.  Then we attached one long string to the head and one long string to the body to turn the dinosaurs into marionettes.  C and R also glued on googly eyes.

Now, on to the books we have been reading this week.

We are really enjoying How to Raise a Dinosaur by Natasha Wing.  C and R love all of the little details in the book, from the dinosaur bites on the pages to the surprises hiding under the flaps.  It's a fun book!

Dinorella by Pamela Duncan Edwards is a must read for the letter "D" if you are doing a letter based curriculum.  This is also a great book to teach alliteration.  The fractured fairy tale features Dinorella and her stepsisters, Doris and Dora. Dinorella attends the Dinosaur Dance at Duke Dudley's Den, compliments of a Fairydactyl, and comes upon the endangered Duke, about to be devoured by a dastardly deinonychus. Dinorella comes to the rescue and you can imagine the ending!

R has never had any interest in dinosaurs, but she really enjoyed both of these books.  C enjoyed both books too!  

The dinosaur craft idea came from DLTK-Kids.
I am linking this post to What My Child is Reading at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.