Dinosaurs -- Preschool & Kindergarten
Dinosaurs
Starting A Theme... Make A List
1. Tell your children that you are going to be talking and learning about dinosaurs. 2. Ask them what they know about dinosaurs and make a list on a large sheet of paper. 3. Do the same on the last day; you will be surprised at how much they have learned. 4. Have the children draw a dinosaur, keep them and do the same on the last day of the unit. See how much their drawings have changed.
Lesson Long Ago
Big Ideas: Dinosaurs existed many years ago; we have found their bones. Zero is the number that tells how many dinosaurs exist today.
Learning Time
Make statements about dinosaurs to which children answer yes or no.
Dinosaurs ate bushes. (yes)
Dinosaurs drove cars (no)
Some dinosaurs could fly (yes)
Dinosaurs lived in houses (no).
Fingerplays/Songs
Dinosaurs Lived A Long Time Ago
Dinosaurs lived a long time ago
Some walked (stomp in place)
Some swam (pretend to swim)
Some flew, you know! (flap arms at sides)
Some were big (hands above head)
Some were small (hold hands low)
Some were gigantic (stretch arms out wide)
And very, very, tall (stretch arms up high)
Tyrannosaurs Rex Song Coloring Page
Great Big Dinosaurs Song Coloring Page
Five Huge Dinosaurs
Five huge dinosaurs, looking fierce and mean.
The first one said, "I eat things that are green."
The second one said, "I hatched from an egg."
The third one said, "I have big strong legs."
The fourth one said, "I can fly through the air."
The fifth one said, "I give everyone a scare!"
THUMP THUMP came Tyrannosaurus Rex that day.
And the five huge dinosaurs all ran away!
Dinosaur Dance
If you want to be a dinosaur, now's you're chance,
Cause everybody's doin' the dinosaur dance.
Just stomp your feet, move your arms around.
Stretch up, stretch up and now touch the ground.
And you're doin' the dinosaur dance, oh yeah!
You're doin' the dinosaur dance.
OOOOOOO AAAAAHHHH OOOOOOO AAAAAAHHHHH
OOOOOOO AAAAAHHHH OOOOOOO AAAAAAHHHHH
You're doin' the dinosaur dance, oh yeah.
You're doin' the dinosaur dance.
(Dance around and do appropriate movements to the rhythm of the dinosaur chant. During the oooooo's and aaaahhhh's, stretch up to the right and down to the left. Continue dancing until the end.)
Ten Dinosaurs(flannelboard)
(Start with one number higher than the number of children you have so everyone will have a turn to remove a dinosaur.)Ten huge dinosaurs
Sleeping on a cave floor
Wake up and started to roar,(children roar)
"There's no room, no more, no more, No more room on this floor!" They tossed and turned and pushed galore, (Move dinosaurs around cave)
Till one poor dinosaur was shoved out the door.
(have a child remove a dinosaur)
Four huge dinosaurs (three, two, etc)
(Continue down to 1 dinosaur)
Last verse:
One huge dinosaur
Sleeping all alone, on a cave floor,
Wake up and started to roar.
“I’m lonely, come back, it was better before,
It’s more fun, crowded together, on the floor.”
(children can put the dinosaurs back)
STOMP, STOMP, STOMP
The first big dinosaur went stomp, stomp, stomp
I said to the first dinosaur, "Stop, stop, stop!"
The second big dinosaur went run, run, run,
I said to the second dinosaur, "Fun, fun, fun!"
I said to the third dinosaur, "Jump, jump, jump!"
The fourth big dinosaur went whack, whack, whack
I said to the fourth dinosaur, "You stay back!"
The fifth big dinosaur went creep, creep, creep.
I said to the fifth dinosaur, "It’s time to sleep!"
Art
Dinosaur in Eggs
Cut out dinosaur egg shapes from brown paper bags. Have the children sponge paint the egg shapes. Then cut out a white egg shape "inside" the same size as the paper dino egg shape and have the children color baby dinosaurs on it.
Hang the sponge painted egg shape with the "inside" picture of a dinosaur next to it on your bulletin board.
Dinosaur pictures that can be colored and used to create a mural.
Dinosaur Land
Use brown paper bags and make mountains. Just dampen the bags with water (very little), then crumble or squeeze and form mountains. Let the children paint the mountains. Use another bag for the land and make some trees to glue on the land. Put it all in a cardboard box for a foundation. Put dinosaurs in the box and have a brave dinosaur land. Can also make a volcano with the brown bags and paint. Use shoe boxes and make individual communities for the children.
Dinosaur Mural
Take mural paper and cut it into two dino shapes big enough to cover a large table. The first day lay out dino shaped sponges. For the next day lay out collage materials. On the third day marble paint small dinosaurs. When dried mount on a wall; the eggs follow the "parent dinos" walking along. The next day paint huge leaf shapes and add to your mural.
Mini Book
Math
Dinosaur Math Maze 1-16
Dinosaur Sorting
Collect an assortment of animal pictures. Cut out the pictures. Place the pictures in a pile. Let the children sort them into piles of dinosaurs or not. (Living or Extinct). Place two large sheets of paper on the floor or table. Label one sheet of paper Living and label the other sheet of paper Extinct. As the children sort the animal pictures each child picks a picture and takes it to the large sheets of paper and places it on the correct sheet of paper. The child or the teacher then glues the picture on the paper.
Group Time
Dino-Pokey (same as Hokey Pokey)
claws in/claws out/scratch 'em all about/
feet in/feet out/stomp them all about
teeth in/teeth out/chomp them all about
tail in/tail out/wag it all about
Dino-Dino Were's Your Bone?
(played like Doggie doggie were is your bone)
need: a cut out shape of a bone
Play this game at cicle time all children are sitting
cross legged on the floor. One person is IT and hides
their eyes. The dinosaur bone is hidden under a child.
All children chant: Dino-Dino were's your bone? a
palentolgist took it home. The child that is It then quesses who is sitting
on the bone. Take turns being It.
Contributed by: Patty Bass
Learning Centers
Turn cardboard tubes into a dinosaur skeleton
Use toilet paper and paper towel tubes to assemble dinosaur skeletons.
Dinosaur Garden
Display is based on the book Dinosaur Garden
In the sand table add plastic dinosaurs. Add small shovels and tooth brushes for children to use to dig out the dinosaurs.
Snacks
Dinosaur Dip
Ranch dressing with green food coloring. Cut up some fresh broccoli. Pretend you are a diplodocus munching on tree-tops as you dip the broccoli into the dip.
Recommended Books
Lovely illustrations with a simple engaging story. At the back of the book is a glossary of dinosaurs with name and phonetic pronunciations underneath each picture.
A busy book of educational value, that’s presented in such a fun way with activities that keeps a child busy every day
Video
Things to Do
Things to Do-Other Sites
Make a Paper-Mache Dinosaur Hat
Dinosaur Memory Game Cards
Print out cards to make the game.
Dinosaur Craft
Toliet paper tube dino. Print out template patterns. These crafts are easy.
