Program: Dinosaurs and Fossils

We’ll learn about the dinosaurs through stories and crafts, then do our very own fossil dig here in the library!

April 22, 2010 from 4-5 p.m.

Grades: K-3

Budget: $15: $6 for a bag of seashells, $9 for 150 clothespins. I made the play dough at home, and haven’t got any idea how much it costs.

Activity

Make-your-own fossil (after explaining what a fossil is, of course)
Each kid gets a ball of home-made play dough*. Roll the play dough into a ball, then flatten it against the table. Turn over so the flattened side faces up. Have kids choose from plastic dinosaurs, twigs, seashells etc. to push into the play dough. Leave them there for a few minutes, then take them out. Have kids place their fossil on a paper plate with their name on it, put aside to dry.

Story

The Super Hungry Dinosaur by Martin Waddell

Craft

Clothespin stegosaurus: Each kid gets a cardstock stegosaurus cut-out. Have the kids color and decorate their dinosaur, then glue on a googly eye. Color 5-7 clothespins the same color as the dinosaur, and attach to the stegosaurus’s back.

* Play Dough Recipe:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cream of tartar

Easy. Mix everything together and cook it over medium heat until it all clumps together, then take it out and knead it for a few minutes (until it feels like store-bought play-do). Super easy, and it worked really well.

How’d it go?

Everyone loved getting to play with play dough (of course), and the fossils turned out awesome. Some kids took them home, but most left theirs at the library to dry on paper plates – they were all ready by the next morning. The dinosaur book display was also a hit, and everyone wanted to take home The Super Hungry Dinosaur – which is now my second-favorite Dino storytime book, after Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime.

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