Dinosaur Days

If your child is a dinosaur enthusiast like the pupils at Keswick House Nursery in East Putney then look no further. With the Easter break approaching, here are some ideas for dinosaur-related projects that can keep your little ones entertained for hours.

Fantastic Fossils

Our Keswick House children love the opportunity to create their own dinosaur fossil. All you need for this activity is a toy plastic dinosaur and salt dough (easily made by combining a cup of flour with a cup of salt and half a cup of warm water). Simply create the dough, roll into small balls, and press the plastic dinosaur into the dough. Some children might like to create footprints, while other children may prefer to press various parts of the dinosaur into the dough – maybe they can create a tail fossil, a tummy fossil, or even a head fossil!

Once the ‘fossil’ has been created, pop them into a preheated oven at 250 degrees for one to two hours until they are hard. Be careful because they are so hot when they come out of the oven! Once cooled, perhaps you might want to hide them in sand for your child to excavate all by themselves – give them a paintbrush so they can be like real palaeontologists, as well as develop their fine motor skills!

Dinosaur Shape Building

Learning how to tessellate various shapes is a fantastic skill not only with regards to maths, but also with reading, which is why jigsaws are such a good pre-reading activity for children. While this activity is not quite a jigsaw, it will nonetheless support tessellation skills, as well as developing Expressive Arts and Design and Imagination skills. Children can be given a variety of pre-cut shapes to build a dinosaur. Perhaps they could make a terrifying T-Rex, or a brilliant Brontosaurus? Or maybe they can invent their own dinosaur? They can use the shapes to construct to their heart’s content. Talk to them about why they are making certain choices, and why they are including certain features. Less experienced children might want to build along a pre-drawn shape, starting with clear defined shapes before moving on to smoother outlines which challenge them to select the correct shape, before complete independence. This activity will also develop fine motor skills, and, as there is no wrong way to build a dinosaur, will support self-confidence!

Frozen Dino Eggs

This investigative activity is a firm favourite at Keswick House, and supports divergent thinking skills, as well as Understanding of the World. Simply pop a dinosaur into a non-inflated balloon, fill with water, and freeze overnight, and then the next day your child can try to figure out the best way to “hatch” the dinosaur from its icy egg! You can make materials such as salt and warm water available if you want your child to learn the science behind dissolving ice quickly, or maybe you want to give them a more hands on experience, and show them how to safely use tools such as hammers to break up the ice. This would help hand-eye coordination, as well as helping children to realise how tools are used. Older children might wish to record how they freed their dinosaur, so make sure you have pens and pencils at the ready for them to do so.

Keswick House Nursery offers children a high quality education in an environment where every individual is valued for who they are and for their contributions to their strong school community. Pupils achieve outstanding outcomes and leave the Nursery ‘Reception Ready’, brimming with confidence and with a love of learning.

Pastoral care is at the heart of the Nursery as emotional wellbeing and happiness are essential to the children’s success.

To book a tour and hear about their ambitious, exciting curriculum please contact 020 8704 4857 or email office@keswickhousenursery.co.uk