Dinosaur Arts and Crafts

Fossils
1/4 cup of plaster of Paris
1 Cup of Vermiculite (found at gardening center)
1/2 cup of water
Measure and mix together. Put some in the bottom of a regular size paper cup. Fill about 1/4 full. Next they put in a small plastic or rubber dinosaur. Then the fun: the children bury their dinosaur completely. Don't let any part of him remain uncovered!! Set aside for 2 days. This mixture will turn hard (if measured correctly).

Wearable Dinosaurs
Do dinosaur T-shirts using sponges found in local craft stores, fabric paint, whatever the imagination comes up with!

Dinosaur Crowns
Cut sponges into the shapes of tyrannosaurus dinosaur footprints. Fold paper towels in half and place them in shallow containers. Pour a small amount of brown tempera paint on top of each towel. Give the children crowns cut out of construction paper. Let the children cover their crown with dinosaur footprints by pressing the sponge stamps first into the paint and then onto their papers. When the paint has dried, write "Tyrannosaurus (child's name) on the front of each crown.

Dino Skeleton
Provide the children with an outline of a dino. They glue on macaroni to resemble the dino skeleton.

Fossils:
Use small paper plates and home made play dough. Give each child a small ball of dough and a paper plate. They should first flatten the dough (with their hand) on the plate. Next they should press a small plastic dinosaur into the dough to create an impression. Use dinos that really show up: stegosaurus, dimetrodon, etc. Be sure the children press the dinos in sideways so the imprint of the dino side will show--unless you just want footprints.

Sponge Painted Dinosaurs
Cut a large mountain shape (rough outline) from easel paper. The children enjoy sponge painting dinosaurs on it.

Find Them Dino Bones!
Bury small dinos in the sand table for them to find. You can also find plastic bones for them to hunt, too.

Stuffed Dinosaurs
For each child cut two dinosaur shapes out of brown paper bags or brown butcher paper. Have the children hold their shapes together while you staple together around three sides. Then let them crumple small pieces of newspaper and stuff them into their dinosaur shapes. When the shapes are full, staple the remaining sides closed. Let the children decorate their stuffed dinosaurs with paint. When the dinosaurs shapes are dry, attach loops of yarn to them and hang around the room. Variation: Punch holes around the edges of the pairs of dinosaurs and let the children lace together with yarn.

Dino Hat
Duplicate a dinosaur pattern on construction paper for each child. Have the children decorate their dinosaur. Glue the dinosaur to a sentence-strip-shaped paper, staple ends of strip together to fit around the head. Have a dinosaur parade with children wearing their dino hats.

Dinosaur Shadow Box
Shoe box,crayons, grass (real or fake), toy dinosaurs or play dough dinosaurs that children make and rocks. Draw mountains or marsh on inside bottom of shoe box. Turn box on side and fill shadow box floor with grass, rocks and dinosaurs.

Coffee Dough
1 cup flour
1 cup coffee grounds
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
1/4 cup sand
Mix ingredients together. Shape into a ball and place thumb in center to form a hole. Place a treasure inside and cover up. Let dry 4 to 5 days. It is suppose to resemble a rock or a pumice stone. Then the child cracks it like an egg. An idea is to shape it like an egg and place a dinosaur inside. Have it crack and let the child be amazed to find a dino inside.

Tyrannosaurus Rex Snouts
You'll need:
Scissors
Tape
Plastic foam or paper cup with bottom removed
Four 2 1/2 inch pieces of rick rack or zig zag pieces of material or construction paper
Two 24 inch pieces of yarn
1) Starting at the bottom of the cup cut 1 wedge out of the cup. This is 1 side of the mouth. Cut another wedge out of the cup on the side opposite the first wedge.
2) For the teeth tape rick rack to the outer edges of the mouth. Decorate the snout anyway you like.
3) Tie a piece of yarn to each corner of the mouth. Put the snout up to your nose and tie the yarn around your head.

Cereal Apatosaurus
You'll need:
Pencil
Scissors
Dry cereal
Poster board
White crafts glue
Tempera paint
Waxed paper or newspapers
Cotton swab or paint brush
1) Draw a dinosaur outline on poster board. Cut the dinosaur out of the poster board.
2) Dab a small amount of glue onto the dino. Place cereal on the glue (as much as you like). Let glue dry for a few hours or overnight.
3) Cover your work area with newspaper or wax paper use the cotton swab as a paint brush and paint your dino. Let paint dry.

Tyrannosaurus Rex Necklace
Give each child a piece of wax paper and play dough (See recipe below) about the size of an orange. Have each child make about three to six dinosaur teeth, the thicker the tooth the less chance of breakage. With a pencil the children can poke a hole in the top of each tooth. Place the completed teeth on a cookie sheet and bake at 300F for 40 minutes. When cool, have the children string them onto a piece of yarn (tooth, knot, tooth..) Make sure the necklace can slip over the child's head and knot the ends together.
BAKERS PLAY DOUGH: 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 cup water. Knead until smooth. Put in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until needed.

Bones
Make up salt dough and let the children either mold their own bones, or use bone shaped cookie cutters. Let dry.

Skeletons
Using craft sticks, children glue what they think or want a dinosaur skeleton to look like.

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