I hope you have been enjoying the Playful Preschool series. If you have missed anything, just follow the hashtag #playfulpreschool across social media and you can catch up. This week’s theme is dinosaurs. The Sugar Snaps love dinosaurs so it was not hard to pique their interest. We have Fall gourds throughout the house. When I looked at one of them, it reminded me of a dinosaur head. So, we added some google eyes and craft foam using white glue and it was easily transformed. If you want to have a more robust dino-gourd, I would suggest using a hot glue gun.
The Sugar Snaps are fascinated with the notion of hide and seek and love to find things that are lost. I decided to combine their excitement about finding things with their love of dinosaurs and do a nature walk to find hidden ‘dinosaur eggs.’ The gourds were perfect pretend dinosaur eggs. As soon as The Sugar Snaps found out what we were doing, they were immediately excited about the idea of being explorers on a hunt for dinosaur eggs. This activity is great for preschoolers as part of a dinosaur learning series or it would make a great dinosaur birthday party game.
First, we had them hide their eyes and count to ten as we hid the ‘eggs’ nearby. They had a really hard time not peeking. So, we changed it so that I would sneak ahead and hide the ‘eggs’ and Greg and the Sugar Snaps would catch up to find them. They each took turns being the leader. We gave the Sugar Snaps a limit on how many ‘eggs’ they could find so they each found equal amounts.
Dinosaur Math Play by The Educators’ Spin On It
Dinosaur Dig for Fossil Puzzles by Mom Inspired Life
Dinosaur Theme for Preschool: Hatching DINO Eggs – Early Math & Science.by The Preschool Toolbox
Dinosaur Activities: Beginning Sound Fossil Matching by Growing Book by Book
Classification and Sorting of Dinosaurs by Rainy Day Mum
Can You Be A Dinosaur? by Learning 2 Walk
Dinosaur Sensory Play by Still Playing School
Dino-Gourd Dinosaur Egg Hunt by Capri + 3
Dinosaur Hatching by Tiny Tots Adventures
Dinosaur Hunting with Paint by Powerful Mothering
Hands-on Play-based Dinosaur Activities by Raising Lifelong Learners
Dinosaur Habitat Sensory Play With Slime by Little Bins for Little Hands
Backyard Dinosaur Dig by The Kennedy Adventures
They are soooo cute! I love how you took an object and put your spin on it for a great movement game outdoors!
This is BRILLIANTLY creative! What an awesome and inventive way to use what you already have! We'll be doing this today!
Thank you Amanda.
We had so much fun. I love that they could really imagine the gourds to be dinosaur eggs at this age. They really got into the spirit!
: 0 ) Theresa
Thank you Devany.
I hope you enjoy trying it out.
: 0 ) Theresa
What a fun idea! Off to start collecting gourds!
Thank you Dianna.
If you don't have gourds, you can substitute for something you already have. I love how children can use their imaginations to make just about anything transform into dinosaur eggs!
: 0 ) Theresa
Fantastic idea! My son would enjoy this so much.
What a great idea! I'm going to pin this for an idea when my son gets a little older. And, they are just so adorable too!
Thank you Danielle.
I hope your son has fun trying it out some time.
: 0 ) Theresa
Thank you Tricia.
I hope your son has fun with this activity some day. He is lucky to have a Mama who is pinning and ready to engage him in fun activities now and later!
: 0 ) Theresa
That is such a cute idea! My little ones would so love that!
Very inspiring. My little girls would have a blast. I definitely have to try this with my family.
Thank you Penny Pinching Peach.
I hope they get the chance to try it some time. It is fun and easy.
: 0 ) Theresa
Thank you 3CityGirlsNYC.
I think your girls would have so much fun with this too. Enjoy.
: 0 ) Theresa
Such an awesome idea! Definitely something to try during school holidays.
Ooh so cute! Must get gourds this week 🙂 Thanks for the post!
Hi Shaney.
That's a great idea to try this for the school holidays. It would keep children active while having fun.
: 0 ) Theresa
Thank you Amanda.
I've always loved gourds. There is something about them that captures the Fall season.
: 0 ) Theresa
What a great way to get them outdoors and moving. I along like that you took what you had on hand and made it completely new for them, I'm all about reusing.
Thank you Natasha.
I love that gourds are really robust. After the activity, they went back to being decorative gourds in the house. I think they may want them to become dinosaur eggs again soon though!
: 0 ) Theresa
Fantastic activity – I need to start collecting or growing gourds to do this and how cute are your kids they make me smile every week.
Thank you Cerys.
I haven't tried growing gourds yet. That would be so fun to see what shapes emerged!
: 0 ) Theresa
Super cute idea! And not too hard to pull off. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Bree Talks.
It is always great when something is easy! We are all busy as parents, and an easy activity is fantastic!
: 0 ) Theresa
This is a fantastic Idea!! Perfect for the season, to keep the kids moving, and getting some fresh air!
LOVE IT
Thank you Twitchetts BlogSpot.
I think our whole family liked getting moving and getting fresh air. It was nice to go on a hike/nature walk.
: 0 ) Theresa
Oh my goodness this looks like so much fun. We might need to do this later this week!
Great job getting them to play outside!!!
Thank you Christine.
They do love going on hikes and nature walks.
: 0 ) Theresa
thank you Growing Book by Book.
I hope you get the chance to give it a try.
: 0 ) Theresa
I totally loved this idea and I so much love the Dino-Gourds too. Your kids are so adorable. Hats off to your creativity.
Thank you IQmom Jaya.
We had fun seeing how excited they got.
: 0 ) Theresa
What a great scavenger hunt for the October Dinosaur Theme! I'll bet the kids had a blast searching and finding all the gourds!
Thank you pschooltoolbox.
They really enjoyed it. I think we will do it again soon. It adds an element of excitement to a nature walk.
: 0 ) Theresa