Dinosaur Nest Activity

I had a group of very disappointed children yesterday, when we had to postpone a trip to Bozeman's Museum of the Rockies, because of a threat of iffy weather (snow, rain, thunderstorms, and the like) on the passes.

To cheer them up I picked up a box of Quaker Oatmeal with Dinosaur Eggs. The children loved it. But, the best part was the grow-in-water dinosaur toys I found on the same aisle.

We almost never buy the special theme oatmeal, much less toys from the supermarket, so it was already a pretty big surprise. But, I decided to up the ante on the toys, and turn them into a full blown activity.

First I encased them in paper mache eggs (made just like standard pinatas, only tiny, around water balloons). I hadn't told the children about the toys, so they had no idea what I was making, and I did most of the finish work while they were sleeping, to keep it all a surprise.


I started them yesterday afternoon, and had them finished, and dry enough to hide in a brown towel "nest", in an out of the way corner of the living room, before we headed off to church.


After lunch, I read Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld's Dinosaur Babies, with the younger children...


...and then sent them on a search for the nest.


Once the eggs were found and broken open, the dinosaurs were immersed in water, and left to grow.



Hopefully, we'll make it over to Bozeman soon to take a look at, or rather another look, because we have been there before, real fossilized, Maiasaura eggs. If I remember right, the fossilized eggs are far less colorful, than our paper mache copies. Hopefully, the children won't be too disappointed.

In the meantime, while we're waiting for our toy dinosaurs to grow in their glasses, I'm off to check out the Science Sunday link-up at Adventures in Mommydom, for more science themed projects, and ideas for children.

It's great to be a homeschooler.