Lately we’ve begun talking about dinosaurs! Noah isn’t all that impressed with them, but he seems to like them enough to use them as a teaching tool. So, we are using them to talk about the letter ‘D’ and I’m incorporating some scientific stuff in there too 🙂

‘D’ is for Dinosaur

Having a mother that is an Austism Consultant for our county school system, I have been made very much aware of sensory play and have started making sensory boxes. I see the value of sensory items in special needs children and also see that they are very much important with all children! I saw something like this on Pinterest and played until I could create my own.

I used a clear drawer (that I plan to put back when I’m done 🙂 ) for my ”box”. I added sand, beans (for pebbles), a bowl of water, some twigs, plants, mini dinos, and created a nest for my dinosaur eggs. These were REALLY easy to make and I’m so excited for Noah to crack them open!

Dino Eggs

Mix the following:

• 1 cup of coffee grinds
• 1/2 cup of salt
• 1/4 cup of sand
• 1 cup of flour
• 3/4 cup of water

Knead until it forms a dough, then shape it around objects to create fun filled eggs. I let mine dry about 4 days and it was the perfect consistency! I bought little plastic dinosaurs from the dollar store and made dino eggs 🙂

I’ve also gotten together a few worksheets that have a dinosaur theme and gathered some books (fun and educational) to use. I came across a preschool dinosaur pack and it’s great. There’s lots of prewriting work, matching, sorting, etc in it.  I laminated them too so I can use it later for Berkeley and am very pleased with it. You can find it at www.overthebigmoon.com. It’s going to be a fun week!