Welcome to the classroom! We love to play, learn, create and sing together in the classroom, and we’d like to encourage our classroom friends to keep learning and playing at home once Caitie’s Classroom is over. We’ve put together activities and resources so the playing, learning, creating and singing doesn’t have to stop once Caitie says goodbye. Try these out at home or in your own classroom, and have fun!
In this episode of Caitie’s Classroom, we are exploring dinosaurs! Paleontologists are scientists that study the bones dinosaur’s left behind called fossils. By studying the fossils, we can guess what dinosaurs might have looked like, and learn about them. New discoveries about dinosaurs are being made every day! Join Caitie in the classroom as we pretend to be paleontologists and learn and play together! Read on below for tips and ideas for how to recreate our dinosaur activities and more at home.
Dinosaurs!
In this episode, we mainly focus on three kinds of dinosaurs: the brachiosaurus, the triceratops and the tyrannosaurus rex. After watching the episode, see if your little one can identify them by name, pointing to a picture, the tv or your own toy dinosaurs. Move along with Caitie as we pretend to be each dinosaur.
10 Little Dinosaurs
This is a fun song to explore dinosaurs and to practice counting to ten! Super Simple has a couple different versions of this song, Ten Little Dinosaurs, to feature different kinds of dinosaurs. In this episode we sing a mix of the two. You can find the original videos for the songs below.
Find out more about learning and teaching with Ten Little Dinosaurs with our How To Teach: Ten Little Dinosaurs episode.
Discovering Fossils
By looking at fossils, paleontologists can learn about dinosaurs and guess what they might have looked like. Below are some ideas to help make that connection at home.
You can use our illustrations of dinosaur skeletons for these activities.
- Look at pictures of dinosaur skeletons and imagine what they might have looked like. Try drawing a picture of what the dinosaur might have looked like, or match it with a dinosaur toy or picture.
- Go backwards! Take a look at pictures of dinosaurs in a book or online and draw what the skeleton might look like.
- Print our illustrated dinosaur fossils and cut them up into a few different pieces, like a puzzle. Have your little ones put them together.
Pretending To be Paleontologists
In the classroom we pretend to be paleontologists and dig in the discovery bin. You can try this at home a few different ways.
You can use our illustrations of dinosaur skeletons for these activities.
- Fill a bin with sand, dirt and rocks. This might be better done outside! Hide toy dinosaur bones in the bin and give your little ones small shovels and a paintbrush to find the bones. Once a fossil is found it must be treated very delicately. Use the paintbrush to brush away any left over dirt to make it nice and clean.
- If you don’t have toy dinosaur skeletons, try using pictures of dinosaur skeletons and bury them in the dirt to find.
- You can also just use small rocks! Fossils are found in rock and fossilized bones last millions of years because they have become rock. Put some interesting shaped rocks or stones in the bin for your little one to find.
- Once all the pieces are found, have your little one count everything they found. Clean them up and arrange them for placement in a pretend museum.
- If using toy dinosaur skeletons or photos, see if your little one can identify the dinosaurs.
- If using rocks or other objects in the discovery bin, encourage your little one to name their new dinosaur discovery. When a paleontologist discovers a new dinosaur, they get to name it!
- You can also skip the discovery bin and go straight outside to dig in the ground and search for rocks or real fossils!
- If you’d rather skip the mess, use the space you are in as your discovery bin. Hide pictures, toys or rocks around your play room or classroom for your little ones to search for and discover.
Field Trip To The Canadian Museum Of Nature
The Canadian Museum of Nature houses over 30 complete dinosaur skeletons from millions and millions of years ago. During our field trip we meet Doctor Jordan Mallon a real paleontologist who teaches us about the difference between herbivores and carnivorous dinosaurs, and shows us how real dinosaur discoveries take place. Explore museums in your area with your little one!
Dinosaur Scratch Card
This craft is also a fun activity! Little ones will love scratching off the paint to reveal the dinosaur bones underneath. Learn how to do the craft at home.
We hope you have fun singing, playing, learning, and creating! We love to see photos of our friends having fun in the classroom and of their wonderful creations! You can share them with us a few different ways:
