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Playground Excavations

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The GIANT Encyclopedia of Kindergarten Activities

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The GIANT Encyclopedia of Kindergarten Activities

Materials

Old utensils old pots and pans old pottery old dishes old cups sand shovels old paintbrushes cardboard boxes play pith helmets

Instructions

1. While learning about prehistoric times, create this fun surprise on the playground.

2. When the children are not present, bury old utensils, pots, pans, pottery, dishes, and cups in the sandbox. These items are just a guide. You can also try to find items to bury that might not be familiar to the children such as old mortars and pestles or old tools such as levels, t-squares, and wrenches. Use any safe material that does not have sharp edges.

3. Explain to the children that one way scientists find out about how people lived in prehistoric times is to excavate an area where people used to live. Explain that excavate means to dig up or unearth.

4. Ask them if they think they might find anything from prehistoric times if they decided to excavate the sandbox area.

5. Give each child a sand shovel, an old paintbrush, and a pith helmet.

6. Encourage the children to carefully dig in the sand. Soon they will begin to unearth the items you planted there. Act surprised!7. Encourage them to use the old paintbrushes to carefully remove sand from the items they find.

8. Let the children continue to dig until they have found all the items you buried. Ask them to place their items in the cardboard box.

9. Head back indoors to explore your findings.

10. Examine each found item carefully. Ask leading questions such as, "How do you think a prehistoric person would have used this?" or "What do you think this item is?" Record the children's answers for later use.

11. After they have examined each item, create a display of the things they found on their excavation. Place the items on a display table. Next to each item place a note stating what the children thought the item was and how they thought it was used.

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