Who Wants to be a PALEONTOLOGIST?

Dinosaur Bones

This one is all about dinosaurs! Last year, Camp HSR! held a dinosaur class for lower-elementary students. It was a ton of fun, and definitely something you could do at home!

We framed this unit around the book The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley.  This is an excellent book about how our images of dinosaurs came to be.  

Interactive Whiteboard about dinosaurs

This interactive whiteboard allows you to see the pictures and read about what went into making the book.

  1. Game suggestion:  Fossil Wars Dinosaurs
  2. Dinosaur Bingo 
  3. Chapter book suggestion:  Magic Tree House #1: Dinosaurs Before Dark, along with some worksheets to go along with the book
  4. Video suggestions:  Dinosaur Train is a fun show for younger kids.  How to Build a Dinosaur and When Dinosaurs Roamed America are documentaries for an older audience.  The Magic School School Bus: The Busasaurus (S2, E3) is a fun elementary episode.  
  5. Writing/drawing prompts 
  6. FINALE!  Wrap up your dinosaur unit with a project.  Our class created an awesome book through Student Treasures, but you can do this on your own!  Have your child pick a dinosaur, whether it’s their favorite or even better, a new on they’ve never heard of.  Write an age-appropriate article about it and create a mini-presentation. If you do this activity with a friend, they can present to each other via an online chat platform.  Depending on what you have on hand, they can create a model, drawing, painting of their dinosaur. Remember, scientists (and artists), are only making educated guesses about what the dinosaurs looked like, so they can make their own guesses!  
  7. Since No. 6 was the finale, this is the encore.  If they enjoy this topic, maybe they’ll want to explore more than one dinosaur and create a book.  You can bind it using yarn, clips, or whatever you have on hand. I like to laminate our at-home projects.  It makes my kids feel totally legit!