education: prehistoric pre-school activities

We've been in the dinosaur phase a LONG time, you guys.  So long that I was feeling officially tapped out on ever running around making dino toys roar, reading another dino fact book, or watching one of the MANY Land Before Time stories (the songs get rough, guys. Even Reba McEntire as a Pterodactyl can't save 'em).  So this morning while the baby was snoozing, I tried out 3 different dinosaur themed preschool skill activities, and by golly THEY WORKED. 100% engagement! I'm pretty sure all of these ideas could be themed with any type of animal or characters with which your kid is OBSESSED.  They build in literacy and math skills and help you not go crazy during playtime. WIN WIN!

​The first one is for reading, the second for art, and the third for math! 

READING: Dino-Alphabet Phonemic Awareness 

This one does work the most seamlessly if your dino-obsessed kid already knows the names of most of the dinosaurs, BUT it does work well regardless! 

1. CHOOSE DINOS: First I laid out the lower case letter magnets and the dinosaur magnets and let Ro choose which dinosaurs to place in lines on the magnet board.
2. NAME THEM: Next I asked him the names of each one and if we didn't know the name, he referenced his dinosaur books to find the name for me to read.
3. LISTEN TO THE SOUNDS: Next I had him listen to tell me the first sound of that dinosaurs name and then showed him the letter that made that sound for him to place under it.  Towards the end I gave him two letters to choose from to see which was the right sound. Later, we will work on finding the letters himself. 
*NOTE* Watch out if they pick a Pterodactyl!! haha!  I just told him it started with BOTH letters (PT), because it's a trick-word just how a Pterodactyl is a tricky "dinosaur" that's technically not a dinosaur at all since it can fly. 

ART: Create-a-Dino Detail Painting

1. BUILD A DINO: Build a create-your-own dinosaur with the body part magnets (or cut up some photos of dinosaurs and use the different legs/heads/tails.)
2. PAINT! Use watercolors to team-paint a representation while discussing the different colors, shapes, and details. `Ask lots of questions! "What color tail do we need to add? Does our dino have any spikes, crests or plates?" Is there anything we could add around the dinosaur to show where he lives like trees or volcanos?"
3. SHARE. Share about the art to someone else later, so they can practice discussing their choices and what each thing represents. 

(The volcano watercolor art shown below was a representation of the top green dinosaur magnet scene. Try to find the 3yo representation of that green dino in the top right corner of the canvas. haha!)

MATH: Dino Duel Number Value

This one is literally just my way to stay sane by playing "dinosaur fights," because I'm about to lose it, y'all!!! First you obviously need some figurines or stuffed toys.  
1. SORT. Separate the herbivore "leaf eaters" from the carnivore "meat eaters" or any other method for sorting into teams. 
2. PAIR AND PLAY. Start with the 2 largest of each team and let them enter the "ring" at the center of the rug or table. Create some guidelines like if one toy gets a spike to the belly, if one roars first, or if a toy gets dropped then that means that one lost and is down. Send the winner to the winners area. 
3. NUMER VALUE! Count how many from each team made it to the winners area and let your preschooler decide which number is BIGGER and who won!
4. WRITING. You could also incorporate making tally marks and writing the number on a paper or dry erase board, etc.  


SO that's it! What do you think about these play-lesson ideas? Any ideas of ways to modify for the older child or with a different theme of characters?

Below are the toys we used today!

Let me know if you have any interest in seeing more ideas like this for successful educational play!

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