Materials
T-shirts from home
dinosaur-shaped sponges
paint
dinosaur-related items
zipper-closure plastic bags
drawstring bag
numbered flags
paper and marker
Instructions
1. After a unit on dinosaurs that includes talking about the characteristics of
dinosaurs, what happened to them, and what we know about dinosaurs
roaming the earth, end the study by pretending you are paleontologists going
on a dinosaur dig.
2. Several days before the dig, ask each child to bring in a t-shirt. Encourage the
children to sponge paint a couple of dinosaur shapes on their shirts. The
children will wear these on the day of the dig.
3. Ask parents to bring in dinosaur-related items, such as small dinosaurs,
dinosaur erasers, dinosaur pencils, dinosaur eggs (candy), dinosaur eggs
instant oatmeal, and so on (one for each child).
4. Put the items into zipper-closure bags. (This is to prevent the candy from
getting dirty.) Fill enough bags so that each child will get one.
5. Put the zipper-closure bags inside a drawstring bag with a picture of a
dinosaur on it (can be purchased from a librarian's catalog).
6. If possible, have your dinosaur dig on your playground. Draw a map of your
playground and make copies. Ask a group of willing parents to bury the
treasure bags.
7. After each bag is buried, the adult places a numbered dinosaur flag to
indicate where the bag is.
8. Each map should have one number on it where one of the bags is buried.
Give each child a map and encourage him to look for the corresponding
dinosaur flag. This may sound like an easy task, but some bags are buried
deeper than others and the child may need an adult to help him find it.
9. After all the bags are found, enjoy a dinosaur picnic. This is fun for the
children as well as the parents.
