I set up the dramatic play area to look like a volcano with a lava pit. To create the volcano I taped butcher paper to the wall in the shape of a volcano and then cut out strips of tissue paper to look like lava and fire. Then I put the little slide and climber thing we have to where it ended in our pool. (I had to clean it up a bit first of course.) I filled the pool with ball pit balls and finally set out some adorable dino costumes for them to wear. You can find a tutorial on how to make the tails here. And I made a variation to this tutorial for the head pieces by using craft foam instead of paper to make them more durable.
They really loved the pool ball pit idea and I will probably recreate it once it is too cold for using the pool outside.
We started off with some dino themed math and graphing using worksheets from education.com and livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com. We also had some fun with growing dinosaur sponges from the dollar store.
For the second day we discussed paleontology and some general information about dinosaurs. We started with some generic dinosaur math.
We had already discussed the different types of dinosaurs so, this topic had come up a few times but, by focusing on it the idea was really reinforced. We started, as always, with some dino themed math. Then we did another dinosaur focus worksheet.
We wrapped up the week with a focus on volcanoes. We had a lot of fun making a volcano in our dino sensory bin and taking a dino and volcano bath with shaving cream paint. We also watched a few videos on youtube about volcanoes.
To make the volcano, I got a plastic cup, filled it with some baking soda and red food coloring and then cut out two pieces of brown paper and taped them to each side. Then for the reaction you just add vinegar! For the volcano and dino bathtub scene I cut out a volcano shape from brown craft foam as well as a few "tree trunks" and then cut out some "leaves/tree tops" from green craft foam. Add dino toys and red shaving cream paint and it's a party! |