Create an excavation site in your classroom or home with these two fun dinosaur activities. Peak the interest of a little archeologist by making your own DIY Dinosaur Dig and Dino Ice Escape. Children love dinosaurs and will be fascinated with the oobleck and fossils. These activities also equip you with a chance to present a lesson on dinosaurs and extinction. Children will learn, engage in dramatic play, and administer critical thinking skills when partaking in these exciting and simple exercises.
How do the dinosaur activities encourage dramatic play and critical thinking?
Children will embrace their role as archaeologists when participating in the DIY Dinosaur Dig and Dino Ice Escape activities. They will experience the day-to-day duties of someone in this field by digging and carefully dusting off their finds in the Dino Dig. You can extend learning by encouraging children to record and draw their findings. After making detailed records, they can guess how old fossils are, where they came from, or which dinosaurs they belonged to. Critical thinking will also be applied in the Dino Ice Escape activity when children figure out how to help the dinosaurs escape their frozen enclosures. These fun educational activities will keep children engaged and excited about learning.
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Required Materials:
- Cornstarch
- Water
- Fossils, Bones, or Rocks
- Toy Hammer
- Paint Brush
- Dinosaur Figurines
- Pan or Plastic Bin
- Squirt Bottle
1DIY Dinosaur Dig
- Oobleck – Mix cornstarch and warm water (3:1) to make the oobleck. Allow children to feel and play with the oobleck before you let it harden.
- Dry – Take a small plate or pan and add fossils, rocks, and bones in the bottom. When done, pour the oobleck mixture over the items until they are covered. Set the pan on a window sill or cabinet for 24 hours so the oobleck can harden.
- Dig – Carefully remove the hardened oobleck fossils from the pan and place on a tray. Encourage children to dig, hammer, and brush around for different fossils as if they are an archaeologist.
2Dino Ice Escape
- Freeze – Place each dinosaur figurine into a cup and fill the cup full of water. Place the cups in the freezer overnight to create an ice shell around the objects.
- Remove – Peel away or remove the cups from the ice entrapping the dinosaurs. Place the trapped figures in a plastic bin to minimize the mess from melting.
- Escape – Encourage children to problem solve in order to figure out how to free the dinosaur figures. We used warm water in a squirt bottle and a toy hammer to free our dinosaurs, but there are a variety of methods you can use for this activity.
Enjoy these hands-on learning opportunities at school or at home and watch as children embrace their roles in the activities. Be sure to browse our list of science-related products, resources, and professional development.