Texture Play

Everyone loves PlayDoh in my house. Last night for family night we talked about impressions and fossils.

So, we had the kids search through the house that were different textures, or patterns.

They found a comb, coins, legos, a key, pipe cleaners, a dryer sheet, a chain, and bubble wrap. 

(we may have hinted to ideas)

Then it was time to have at it!

We do family night after bath, so please excuse the wet hair and jammies. :)

This is a great fine motor activity. It also helps distinguish textural differences.

 The kids all had a blast!

 Even the one year old took a stab at it...literally!

This was just another fun way to use play doh.

We talked about ridges, grooves, indentations, and textures. They each learned new descriptive words.

We also had them predict what would happen on the other side if they pushed too hard or too soft.

Really nice and quiet activity. :)

Look and Learn Dinosaurs

My nephew got this for Christmas last year and my son couldn't keep his hands off of it, so with an extra gift card that I had I went to Target and bought one for him. It is from National Wildlife Federation here is the LINK.

It is a view master too, so you buy the little books with the cards in it and let them explore. The best part is that they are 3D and they come with an information booklet with several disks in them.

If you have a little one who loves stuff like this I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this product. They even have a disney set of cartridges too!

Oh did I mention that if you didn't want it to be a view master it has a switch on it so it becomes actual binoculars? SWEET!

I LOVE this thing!

Rice Krispy Dinos

For dino week we also made a special treat, GREEN Rice Krispy Dinos. Here's how...

Bag of small marshmallows, 6 cups of Rice Krispies, 1/4 cup of butter, green food coloring.
I used cookie cutters to cut the shapes and then let my kids after bath identify what each dinosaur shape was and what they did. (eat plants or meat)
It was a great after dinner snack. Here is a tip do not add food coloring until everything is melted...then once the butter and marshmallows are smooth and green add the rice krispies.

WINNER of GIVEAWAY #3

I am bummed we didn't hit 100 comments but 91 is great!

Using Random.org Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

62 Timestamp: 2009-09-25 20:11:41 UTC

Who is #62?

Jennie said...
Entry #3 I plastered it ALL over FACEBOOK, since I don't blog! :)
September 25, 2009 8:11 PM

Oh and since we were sooooo close to 1oo I am going to give away another dino stamp set to 2nd place instead of the gift card since we didn't quite get there and the winner is...

36 Timestamp: 2009-09-25 15:19:22 UTC

Who is #36?

Cardon Times said...
Boyd would love this! Oh and um...I found this blog because you posted it on FB! I do pass it along to others as well. I think it is a great blog.
September 25, 2009 3:19 PM

Thanks everyone for entering...
Jennie and Cardon Times please email itty_bitty_wittes@yahoo.com so we can send you your package.

Tell your friends!
We have another Awesome prize next month and there will be 3 winners!

GIVEAWAY #3 - Dinosaurs!

I was contacted by Amazon again and Melissa and Doug over my Dinosaur Unit to do this month's giveaway so here we go...get ready for some oohs and aahs...

Item #1

Melissa and Doug Wooden Dinosaur Magnets included with a chart and games on figuring out the different names of these dinosaurs.

Item #2

Land of Dinosaurs Floor Puzzle by Melissa and Doug. It's 4 feet long and has large pieces.

Item #3

Melissa and Doug Dinosaur Stamp Set (cause I love stamps!)

I am even going to throw this one in because my kids LOVE these.

Parasaurolophus (3D Wooden Puzzle kit) Not by Melissa and Doug but something I found when I was preparing my Dino Weeks.

If we hit 100 comments then Amazon will send you a $25 gift card that will be awarded to 2nd place! For any Dino Book(s) of your choice!

And here are the rules...
- In the comments section I want to know -
How did you find this blog?

If you are a follower of this blog you can enter 2x - if you aren't no biggie,
but you can only enter one time!

If you tell your friends on your blog you can enter a 3rd time.

Contest closes Saturday night at 9pm Pacific Time.
Winner will be selected Sunday at 12pm Pacific Time.
Good Luck!

Love, Valerie

Please tell your friends, the more followers the more giveaways! And we all like that right?

A Stegosaurus

Project #4 in Dino Week

I have been reading my kids this series for a while, but especially this week we have been pointing out what each dinosaur is because they are all labeled in the book! AWESOME!

There are 9 books so far in the series by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague. I love them and thought I would tell you about them. Here is their site.

Because we had our friend K over I downloaded this DinoEventKit from the Scholastic Website.
We did a story hour of all the books and then the kids picked out which dinosaur they wanted to make.

They picked a Stegosaurus. So here is how we made them! Now remember I used to teach so I have experience in the order of doing things and now you can benefit from my wisdom! HAHAHA.

What you need is paint (any color) and paper, scissors, glue and 1 wiggly eye.

FIRST - Trace 3 hands on one sheet of paper (they will be painting a total of 2 sheets)
Turn the hand prints over, then paint the lightest color first. In our case it was yellow.
Then the green then the brown. Let dry.
We did 3 colors because I wanted to make sure we covered the entire paper with paint.
Then you cut the hands out once the paper is dry.
Oh and I free handed a dinosaur shape. Now the reason we drew on the back first is so we didn't need the kids for this step. I did all of the cutting during nap time and saved the gluing for when they woke up. We also did this so you don't see the ugly pencil marks on the front of the project...see there is the wisdom part of the project! LOL
When they woke up they glued the eyes on and hand prints on and there you have it...a freaking cute stegosaurus! Your Welcome! Hahaha (just kidding)

Legume Dinosaurs

Project #3 in Dino Week

We had my nephews over to play and of course do a project. Here is what you need...

I put them on plates and then free handed 4 dinosaurs.

I glued the outline and then the inside...

Since dinosaurs were scaly we used beans to recreate their skin.



We let them dry for a few hours and they look terrific! I immediatley put them on my art wall because they look so good! :)


The beans were all under a buck a bag and it was fun and not too hard.
Thanks E,N, and Auntie V!

Dinosaur Rubbing Plates

Project #2 in Dino Week

Learning about Dinosaurs can be so much fun. When we went to the Discovery Science Museum in Fort Collins, CO last week they had these...

I liked them a lot and my kids did too. I found this everything dinosaur website and ordered these RUBBING PLATES. We are waiting for them in the mail but I know my kids will enjoy doing these later. So I am adding this to my dinosaur unit!

What we will do is rub all the dinos out and then look up their stats online and make a chart to put meat eaters in one pile and veggie eaters in another.

Dino Feet

Project #1 in Dino Week

Dino Feet - This is a lot of work on your part but once they are done they are fun for everyone! (with little feet)

You need 2 sturdy boxes, I used Capri Sun boxes because they are tough and the right size and I had 4 of them since I get to make 2 pair (lucky me) Paper, Scissors, Packing Tape and Paper.

Mark your holes and then cut with a utility knife.

Trace the circle you just cut out backwards so you can turn the paper over and see no lines and it still matches up. You can trim the excess box if you are anal like me and don't want to see it.

Cut your own crazy claw/toenail pattern and tape it to the box.

Then wrap the green paper over the box and get the short two sides as well. DO NOT COVER the BOTTOM, it will make them slippery!

Now let your toddler enjoy them. Wearing your pajamas is not a requirement!

We added scales to the feet with markers to give it a more authentic look, my son insisted!