May 12, 2020
These dino-themed activities cost next to nothing and will provide your aspiring paleontologists with fun of Jurassic proportions!
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Archaeological Dig
Hide some “dinosaur bones” (sticks, twigs, toothpicks, uncooked pasta, dried pieces of Play-Doh) in a bucket filled with dirt or sand (or in a sand table). Let your child dig for the “bones” using their hands, plastic shovels or rakes, or plastic cups. Have a race to see who can find more “dinosaur bones” the fastest!
Fossil Fuel
When hunger strikes, help the kiddos make their own tasty, no-bake, fossil fuel. This recipe includes cooking on top of the stove, so an adult will need to be on-board to help with the process. Be careful — hot sugar can burn — adults may need to take over as the mixture heats.
Ingredients include:
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3 cups oats
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1 cup coconut flakes (optional)
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5 tsp. cocoa
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½ tsp. vanilla
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2 cups sugar
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½ cup evaporated milk
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1 stick butter, plus 1 TB for greasing pan
Directions: In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. Combine sugar, evaporated milk and 1 stick butter in a medium saucepan and place on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Add the hot mixture to the dry ingredients and stir completely. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and grease with remaining 1 TB butter. Drop spoonfuls onto greased wax paper and let cool.
Dinosaur Egg Hunt
Plastic Easter eggs are surely still hanging around the house! Create a dinosaur egg hunt using those plastic eggs.
Fill them with prizes and scatter the eggs around the house or backyard. Place a special prize in one to mark the “golden T-Rex egg.”
If you do not have any available prizes, fill the eggs with special messages for your kids — uplifting words are so important! Or insert “gift certificates” for something in the future, like a trip to the zoo.
Draw Yourself As A Dinosaur
Have your children draw themselves as dinosaurs. They can make themselves tall like a brontosaurus or ferocious like a t-rex, or even flying like a pterodactyl. Then, encourage them to create their own dino-name by adding “-odactyl” or “-osaurus” to the end of their first names.
Example: Bailey could be “Baileyosaurus” or Mason can become “Masonodactyl.”
Dinosaur Shadow Drawings
Take a sheet of paper and your child’s favorite dinosaur outside on a sunny day. Have your child place their paper on the ground and their dinosaur on top of the paper. Using a pencil or crayon, help your child trace the dinosaur’s shadow onto the paper. Once finished, let your child decorate their dinosaur shadow using crayons, markers, glitter, feathers, or any other craft items you have around the house.
Photo credit: simplemost.com