Things to do with a kid who loves dinosaurs
Sunday, June 21, 2015Mention 'dinosaur' and see his eyes brighten up.
Yes, that was L when he was about 3 to 4 years old. This boy was able to rattle off names of dinosaurs from A to Z, and pronounce them accurately. Although he has passed that phase where he was very much more obsessed with dinosaurs, he still enjoys reading about them now. Even K, who probably doesn't quite understand much about dinosaurs at this moment, can pick out her dinosaur toy among other toys from the sand-table.
These are some of the activities we have done with L and K to indulge their interest in dinosaurs:
:: Sing and dance to dinosaur songs
K loves the dinosaur song from Hi-5 Season 14. The catchy tune attracts our attention, and K loves singing and dancing along with the cast. I can't even remember how many times I've danced myself silly in front of the TV when this song is played.
:: Read dinosaur books
We were blessed with many pre-loved dinosaur books from friends whose children outgrew this phase, and L picked up a lot of facts about dinosaurs from them.
Recently, seeing that he is still interested in dinosaurs, I got the My Book Of 100 Stickers: Dinosaurs from The Groovy Giraffe as an activity book to engage him during Sunday worship as he is still not able to follow the whole sermon. He especially loved identifying the correct dinosaur stickers to match their silhouettes. There are also maze puzzles and matching activities in this book.
The Groovy Giraffe is Singapore's first official online remainder bookshop. They carry a good range of children's books and early learning resources at unbelievably low prices. The best part is, the prices can be as low as 80% of the recommended retail prices!
And for the whole of June, The Groovy Giraffe is having a SALE as they just turned TWO! Do visit their website and pick out something for your child, or nieces and nephews, with this great promotion. My last check with The Groovy Giraffe on 16 June shows that there are currently 16 great dinosaurs titles in their store now!
"A is for Apatosaurus. B is for Brachiosauras. C is for Compsognathus. D is for ..." At 3 years old, L was able to go on and on till dinosaur Z by playing with my phone apps that gives dinosaur facts and pictures. He could also learn the correct pronunciation and spelling without anyone's help. That's the beauty of such phone apps.
You can Google "best dinosaurs phone apps" for the most updated apps.
I found a few other excellent online resources:
Top Ten Dinosaur Activities for Kids at Mother Natured.
12 Great Dinosaur Websites for Kids compiled by Great Kids Websites.
DinoMight on Sheppard Software.
You can set up your own sensory bins using fantastic ideas suggested by bloggers like Sarah from Little Bins for Little Hands.
Or you can take the easy way out (like me!) and subscribe to a sensory play kit from My Messy Box. The Dinosaurs Adventure theme comes with pasta of different shapes, small toys like a tree, dinosaurs and bones, cinnamon (as logs) and broad beans (as rocks) in the Explorative Play and Active Play packs. There are also suggested questions and instructions included to guide your child to play with these packs.
I extended the play for K by hiding the dinosaur toys in our sand-table and she managed to overcome her unwillingness to touch sand with her bare hands.
You can read other reviews I did of My Messy Box here and here.
 |
| Photo credit |
Or you can take the easy way out (like me!) and subscribe to a sensory play kit from My Messy Box. The Dinosaurs Adventure theme comes with pasta of different shapes, small toys like a tree, dinosaurs and bones, cinnamon (as logs) and broad beans (as rocks) in the Explorative Play and Active Play packs. There are also suggested questions and instructions included to guide your child to play with these packs.
I extended the play for K by hiding the dinosaur toys in our sand-table and she managed to overcome her unwillingness to touch sand with her bare hands.
You can read other reviews I did of My Messy Box here and here.
:: Visit dinosaur exhibitions
Singapore just opened its first and only museum - the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum - that is dedicated to showcasing biodiversity in Southeast Asia. Many who have visited rave about this place and the dinosaurs exhibits are one of the reasons why people love this museum. I do hope to be able to bring our little dinosaur enthusiasts there soon.
Thankfully, we had some free time on a weekday during this school hols, so we managed to catch a small dinosaur exhibition in a shopping mall recently. The two replicas of the Argentinosaurus and Giganotosaurus dinosaurs absolutely exude a mysterious and majestic feel around the mall. I wished there were more of such huge exhibits though.
L joined one of the hands-on workshop to create his Geological Timeline spiral. It was really hard work for him to cut out all those animal graphic boxes, and the spiral itself, but when it comes to art, L definitely displays 100% concentration to complete the task well.
Other pending activities in my dinosaur-to-do-list:
1. Watch the movie Jurassic World with the older kids. Review of this movie seem pretty good, but I hope the kids won't be freaked out.
2. These dinosaur activities suggested by Play Ideas are definitely going into my bookmarks. I think K will love them!
3. A little book of dinosaurs (by Jus from Mum in the making) when K is older and is able to manage some independent work with the pencil. This can go to her busy bag in the future when she goes out with us.
It's amazing how these prehistoric creatures can fascinate our kids (and adults!) so much. Do you have an interesting dinosaur activity that you have done with your child? I'll love to hear from you.
 |
| Photo credit |
Thankfully, we had some free time on a weekday during this school hols, so we managed to catch a small dinosaur exhibition in a shopping mall recently. The two replicas of the Argentinosaurus and Giganotosaurus dinosaurs absolutely exude a mysterious and majestic feel around the mall. I wished there were more of such huge exhibits though.
L joined one of the hands-on workshop to create his Geological Timeline spiral. It was really hard work for him to cut out all those animal graphic boxes, and the spiral itself, but when it comes to art, L definitely displays 100% concentration to complete the task well.
Other pending activities in my dinosaur-to-do-list:
1. Watch the movie Jurassic World with the older kids. Review of this movie seem pretty good, but I hope the kids won't be freaked out.
2. These dinosaur activities suggested by Play Ideas are definitely going into my bookmarks. I think K will love them!
 |
| Photo credit |
3. A little book of dinosaurs (by Jus from Mum in the making) when K is older and is able to manage some independent work with the pencil. This can go to her busy bag in the future when she goes out with us.
 |
| Photo credit |
It's amazing how these prehistoric creatures can fascinate our kids (and adults!) so much. Do you have an interesting dinosaur activity that you have done with your child? I'll love to hear from you.
0 comments