Fun with Excavating Dinosaurs

Age: From 6 years old

Objective(s): To learn about archaeology and dinosaurs in a fun way.

Materials:
1. Crystal mining kit consisting of 1 plaster block with dinosaur bones buried inside, 1 digging tool, 1 brush, 1 magnifier and 1 fact sheet

2. Some newspapers

3. A small container/pail containing water to wash the stones after excavation

Directions:
1. Simply spread newspaper out on the table and let your child have fun to hammer and dig into the plaster to find the dinosaur's bones.

2. Study the bones together.

3. Build the dinosaur.

4. Display it in a display case.

Additional Information:
J played with this on 30 May 2015 (6Y2M25D) for a good 45 mins. He liked it very much. We didn't finished it. He will continue another day. Beware, it can get messy. We put him in the washroom for this activity for ease of cleaning. We had to hose the floor with water after throwing away the newspapers.

This is a fun and educational toy that I highly recommend :-) You can find it in Amazon here:

Montessori Activity: Dinosaur "Excavation" Site Sensory Box

Inspired by Nurturing the Tender Years

Age: From 2 years old

Activity Duration: Unlimited

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Objective(s): To develop the 5 senses

Materials:

1. 10 small dinosaur figurines
2. Storage box with lid 60 x 40 x 18 cm (approx. 30 litres capacity)
3. Sand
4. Garden spade or paint brush
5. Magnifying glass

Directions:

1. Put this together with your child if he is old enough, if not put it together and then present it to him.

2. Demonstrate by digging for a dinosaur, and pretend to examine it under the magnifying glass. Name the dinosaur, etc.

3. Let him try.

Cost:

Dinosaurs: Box of approx. 30 dinosaur 75DKK from flea market.

Additional Information:

It is said that there are two main things that a child MUST play with - sand and water - because it is very stimulating for the brain. I am a very terrible mother, when it comes to tolerating messy play. Thus, I send J to the daycare, as he gets to play with sand and gets dirty, without me going bonkers. Better err on the wrong side, I brought him for baby-swimming, when he was an infant, but I have now slackened a lot with the swimming and water play :-(

J likes to play with dinosaur, and I like to create play activities. So I have created this :-). I am excited to let him try.