Dinosaur in the Snow

                 Buddy time last week took us outside.

Each big and little buddy partner had a nature bag containing a piece of yarn.  The plan was to walk in the woods finding 5 things the same length as their string but we had had a lot of snow the past few days and the path into the woods wasn’t passable.
       
Instead we walked along the fence and found sticks, old leaves and some rocks
                            and pine cones.
 
They collected their items in their bag then we made our way up to a sunny
                     spot in the school yard.
          
We had a little fun with shadows.  Shaping our buddies to look like dinosaurs. 
        Can you see the tyrannosaurus in the above photo?
       
When everyone gathered in our sunny spot I explained that we would use our materials to build a dinosaur skeleton in the snow.  The children began to empty their bags.  The first item was a big rock so we used it as the jaw.
                    
Continuing to build the skeleton and naming the parts; tail, back bone, claws led to our finished dinosaur.  The snow worked great as a back drop to the darker materials.  It helped us see our dinosaur clearly.

What Colour Were the Dinosaurs?

We have read many books about dinosaurs in the last several weeks but the topic of what colour they were only appeared in a few books.
     
This one “Uneversaurus” by Aidan Potts encourages the reader to question what dinosaurs looked like, from skeleton to skin colour and covering.
      
   But it was the inside cover that inspired our art project today.

      
The families approached the art table wondering what colour were
                           the dinosaurs and why? 


Using pencil crayons and paint chips they created their own dinosaurs.

                        A rainbowsaurus.

               A long neck blue with purple belly.
  
       
                  T Rex with an erupting volcano.
     
       Walking in the woods one morning I found this. 
                   Could it be dinosaur skin?

New Play Dough Area

                 I’ve rearranged a few of our tables this week. 
Packed away the Play Trays for awhile to expand the play dough area. 
       

This week the children were invited to play with dinosaurs in the play dough.
 
At first the dinosaurs spent time meeting each other and exploring the logs
                                and structures on the table.

   
      Then they went for a walk through the play dough.

       Leaving impressions for us to compare and match.

 
          
Soon small playscapes and stories were being created with all of the materials.

Dinosaur Dip

I found a dinosaur egg at the grocery store.  Have you ever seen one before ?
                  
I know what you’re thinking “it looks like an avocado” well I thought it looked
                                    like a dinosaur egg.
       
That is what we talked about when we sat down to make our special snack.  Could this be a dinosaur egg?  Why or why not?  Most children were into believing that it might possibly be a dinosaur egg (I’ve never lied to them before).  While others new it was an avocado right from the start.  This little prompt allowed me the opportunity to talk about using my imagination.  I told them that I was pretending that this was a dinosaur egg.
          
Avocados are great for using descriptive words, such as; bumpy, dark, shiny.
     And even more when you cut it open - green, slippery, smooth.
         
  We scooped the insides into a bowl and gave them a good mash.
                
          Then prepared the rest of the ingredients.
    
             Chopped onions and tomatoes.
       
            One last stir then for a surprise…
        
       Dinosaur teeth or toes, depending on who was talking,
                       to use to scoop up our dip.
       
       
                      Mmmm dino delicious.

Dinosaur Nesting

                
Dinosaurs took over our igloo last week which meant it was time to move on,
       take down the igloo and create a space for the dinosaurs.
         
I used a child’s wading pool and covered it with brown paper to make a nest. 
    
Then added fabric, a variety of dinosaurs and eggs and a play structure beside it.
          The dinosaurs look like they are trying to escape.

  
At first the grown ups weren’t sure if the children should go in the nest but
that was the most direct way to get to the eggs.  Plus climbing over the edge
helped work their balance and ability to manoeuvre around objects.

     
I’ve also noticed that some children like to be inside a smaller space.
         
So I added a box for a cave.  We’ll often see at least one child tucked inside playing, telling themselves stories or just getting away from the busyness of the room.  (Just like how they used the igloo)
   
The older children' play is more involved with the dinosaurs.  They tell each other what the dinosaurs are doing.  They create story lines, and scenarios.  They move around more so most of their play takes place on the outside of the nest.