Friday, September 30, 2011

D is for Dinosaur!

This week, the boys and I looked at dinosaurs! We visited the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. and purchased some really great books at one of the gift shops. I couldn't resist this huge book about dinosaurs! The boys have been reading it since, so, for the letter Dd we learned a little more about DINOSAURS! 

Lucky for us, the Letter of the Week Curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler did dinosaurs too! 
Eli, trying out his grip. 
Turner was very proud of this dot-to-dot page! 

D is for DEACON! 
Eli, rescuing dinosaur eggs and putting them back in their nest. I posted about his tot trays on Tuesday.
Matching dinosaurs up.
Identifying footprints.
Dinosaur bones! Store bought pizza dough, cut in to strips then place small chunks on the ends. Sprinkle with cocoa powder and sugar (mixed)
One highlight of the week was our dinosaur dig! We had some friends over (but I forgot to ask their mommy to use pictures of all the kids) and dug for "fossils" in the back yard. A few days prior, Turner and I made dino foot prints using a mixure of salt, water and flour (which I baked at a low temperature to harden) and then I used some dinosaur skeletons I found at the Dollar Tree. The kids all gave it the obligatory 5-7 minutes worth of activity but it was worth it because they went back today to dig again!

Eli with a discovery. 
I know Turner thought it was cool, but he was pretty engrossed in a "competition" to see if he could find the most.
Putting together a 3-D dinosaur puzzle (Dollar Tree). 

Nothing but frustration for Eli with the puzzle; it was actually quite difficult.
Eventually, Eli was happy to toss the parts in to some play-doh!
And, finally, our Fun Food for the day (inspired by Meet the Dubiens)! In case it's not obvious it's a pterodactyl (cheese), some dinosaur leaves (kale chips), a T-rex (pb&j quesadilla), an exploding volcano (fruit leather, red peppers), and that flailing thing on the bottom is a fossil (veggie sticks). 
We did lots of other things I just didn't have time to take pictures of them. Baby splashing in the toilet, anyone? I did not get the chance to take pictures of was all the reading we did about these incredible creatures, and the really neat dinosaur painting (take any dino from around your house, dip in paint, and "walk" along paper!). It was another great week around here!

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3 comments:

  1. I look at all your wonderful trays and work and just wish I could get into a better groove to provide my children with such structure. I had the structure in place, but our daily rhythm is off again and I just don't get prep or clean time, so I have stuff like this on hold again.

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  2. I just saw your comment, Martianne! (It's January!). If it makes you feel any better, our rhythm was hectic so I took a long break from the trays. I like calm...but it doesn't always happen! The kids were chomping at the bit to get back in to things, though, so here I am, up late, prepping for the next day! It's so hard with my kids the ages they are (well, mainly just the 3 and 18 month old...the 5 year old can be super patient!) but we try to just chug along.

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  3. I am seeking permission to use your picture of the pizza dough bones in a research/learning packet I am creating for home school families. It would be used as an example and to add interest. Warmly, Mary Ann Johnson www.home-school-coach.com

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