Parkland College Parkland College
SPARK: Scholarship at Parkland SPARK: Scholarship at Parkland
A with Honors Projects Honors Program
Spring 2023
Project Approach – Teaching Dinosaurs in Pre-K Project Approach – Teaching Dinosaurs in Pre-K
Erin Preslar
Follow this and additional works at: https://spark.parkland.edu/ah
Part of the Early Childhood Education Commons
Open access to this Essay is brought to you by Parkland College's institutional repository, SPARK: Scholarship at
Project Approach – Teaching Dinosaurs in Pre-K
Erin Preslar
Topic Description
I have chosen the rather broad topic of Dinosaurs. This topic is open, allows for a lot of exploration into
whatever the children want to go with, and can easily be kept up for 3 weeks. I decided to keep it broad to allow
for more questions, more book opportunities, and more community resources (since we do not have, for
example, an active science museum or any professors who specialize in dinosaurs that I could find on the UIUC
website). I would note that, while dinosaurs aren’t necessarily accessible in their living form, if any of the
children in the class have visited Chicago, they have likely gone to the Field Museum and seen dinosaur fossils
or other physical proof that they did once exist. While dinosaurs are not directly observable like an animal at the
zoo would be, they still are able to be seen and understood to have existed for children of the correct
developmental age group.
When it comes to the other criteria for topic selection, it is culturally sensitive (dinosaurs lived
everywhere and it is actually a great way to bring up other places like deserts where they get dug up). Many
children are already fascinated by dinosaurs and it is something that most of them already know a little bit
about. There is the ability to apply basic research skills, looking at pictures/examples of different teeth and
learning what kind of things the dinosaurs ate, for example. It is also represented in every medium I can think of
including art, children’s tv shows, and music. And the topic is especially popular in books. I also started the
project by checking for community options and brainstorming some parent involvement activities, to make sure
those categories could be covered.
When it comes to the topic of dinosaurs, it often intrigues people why so many children find them so
fascinating at a young age. Though there are many personal reasons for each child’s interest, there is the
overarching framework of imaginative play that dinosaurs so neatly fit into. According to pediatrician Dr.
Lavin, children enjoy learning about and fitting dinosaurs into their imaginative play because they are so well
suited to it (Marples, 2021). The creatures no longer exist in our current world. They cannot be observed. Much
like the fantastical creatures of unicorns and dragons, but there are real facts and things to be learned about what
dinosaurs were, when they lived, what they ate, and how they died. It is a fascinating subject for young minds,
but also a rich opportunity to bring science into dramatic play.
When it comes to the importance of play, both cooperative and imaginative, like dramatic play is, this
has also been highlighted by the American Academy of Pediatrics that it is connected to an improvement in
“executive functioning, language, early math skills (numerosity and spatial concepts), social development, peer
relations, physical development and health, and enhanced sense of agency.” (Yogman, 2018) Based on this
research, it is clear that encouraging and promoting the interests involved in this type of play, including those
commonly associated with dinosaurs, is very important. Projects like this one are a way to do it.
Citations:
Marples, M. (2021, September 24). This is why your child is obsessed with dinosaurs. CNN.
Retrieved April 19, 2022, from
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/24/health/dinosaur-psychology-children-wellness-scn/index.html
Yogman, M., & et al. (2018). The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in
Young Children. Pediatrics, 142(3).
Age Group
This topic and activity set that I have come up with is most appropriate for late preschool 4’s or pre-K
classrooms. While younger children are able to learn about this subject effectively, some of the objectives I
have for it are learning more about when dinosaurs lived and what they were called. The names are long for
most types of dinosaurs and many have difficult mixes of consonants and vowels. For children to be
developmentally able to say the names, they would likely need to be in the late preschool years.
In addition to speech, another part of this that I am interested in involving a lot of books in this project,
since there are fewer in person activities that you can do in Champaign-Urbana with this activity. Most of the
nonfiction books on dinosaurs that I have found are aimed at early elementary and above. Since I would like to
include a few nonfiction sources, it makes sense to aim this activity at a 4’s or pre-K classroom.
There are also some activities that I have come up with on the activity list that include some more
complex dramatic and cooperative play. To make sure that is developmentally appropriate for the majority of
the classroom, it is important to place the activities in a classroom that is at a developmental age where complex
dramatic play is natural, normal, and fun. To this end, it would make the most sense for it to be in a 4’s or pre-K
room, not early elementary (though the topic matter is also something that would fit in an elementary
classroom) since dramatic play starts being less of a tool for learning and exploration by that age.
Topic Web
My first Topic Web was made by myself. It includes the basic 6 questions/topics that I thought would be of
interest.
- When did dinosaurs live?
- Where did they live?
- Their names
- Their food
- Who studies dinosaurs?
- How do you find them?
A couple of these have common answers that I wrote down. The boy I work with already knows what a T-Rex
is, for example, and knows many facts about them. He also knows that you find dinosaur ‘bones’ by digging for
them in the ground, so a smaller question that may be asked is ‘why are they under ground?’
My second topic web (created with the boy I babysit) added one question to the first:
- How did dinosaurs hunt?
This is likely due to a fun book that we read about a baby T. Rex wanting to go on a hunt called Regina is NOT
a Little Dinosaur (by Andrea Zuill).
Learning Objectives
The 4 Learning Objectives for this project are:
1) To learn the basic ways that people discover and uncover dinosaur fossils through activities and books.
2) To learn the names of and basic facts about dinosaurs like what they ate and where they lived.
3) To explore, through dramatic play, books, and art, the homes and habitats of dinosaurs.
4) To learn the basics of the way that dinosaurs lived and how they hunted.
Activities List
*Bold activities are my activity plans
Library Corner (Including recommended series):
- The Pebbles Plus series
- The Abdo Kids: Dinosaurs series
- Fossils Tell Stories (by Yu-ri Kim)
- Dinosaur Bones (by Bob Barner)
- T. Rex (by Vivian French)
- Dining with Dinosaurs: A Tasty Guide to Mesozoic Munching (by Hannah Bonner)
- Dinosaurumpus (by Tony Mitton)
- Regina is NOT a Little Dinosaur (by Andrea Zuill)
Art:
- Making paper mache dinosaur eggs
- Painting based on dinosaur figurines
- Forming playdough or clay into dinosaurs
- Making dinosaurs out of cut out shapes
- Making dinosaur footprints (based on the pictures at the end of Dinosaur Bones by Bob Barner)
Music:
- Dancing to dinosaur themed music listed in links on the Resources List I made
- Using instruments or other items to mimic what we think dinosaurs sounded like
- Making dinosaur songs ourselves
Dramatic Play:
- Building and playing in dinosaur habitats
- Pretending to be dinosaurs
- Building dinosaur fossils in a museum
Sensory Play:
- In winter: bringing snow inside and using it as a habitat for dinosaurs to live/play in until it melts
- Playing with dinosaur toys in oobleck (cornstarch and water)
- Putting dinosaurs in the water table
Science:
- Freezing dinosaur toys partially in ice then trying to get them to melt
- Using: hair dryer, time, fan (won’t work), light, etc.
- Putting dinosaurs in air dry clay, letting it harden, then cracking the ‘eggs’ open
- Making a ‘fossil’ as outlined in the back of the Fossils Tell Stories book listed above
- An indoor dinosaur, fossil, and egg dig
Math:
- Counting/pattern making with dinosaur pictures from books (scanned and cut out)
- Making a ‘Very Hungry Dinosaur’ knockoff book with a counting exercise based on the foods we’ve
discovered dinosaurs could eat
- Measure a T. Rex’s real size outside and have the kids see how many steps it takes for them to walk it.
Fine Motor and Manipulatives:
- Laminating scanned cutouts of dinosaurs from books and putting them on popsicle sticks to have shows
related to books
- Creating dinosaur finger puppets
- Trying to make dinosaur hand shadows
Large Motor:
- The book Dinosaurumpus by Tony Mitton (dancing like the dinosaurs in the book)
- Dancing to dinosaur music
- Crawling/running/leaping like dinosaurs (outside)
Outdoor:
- Playing running games pretending to be raptors or other fast dinosaurs
- Digging in dirt for fossils
- Trying to see how high you can jump (based on facts about raptors from one of the books in the Pebbles
series)
Blocks:
- Building dinosaurs out of blocks
- Building dinosaur nests out of blocks
- Building dinosaur habitats out of blocks
Specific Activity Plans
*see attached files
Experience Plan
While the Orpheum no longer exists, with it’s dinosaur dig that would have been perfectly
developmentally and age appropriate for this project, I was able to find a program at the Anita Purves Nature
Center that provides classroom materials (in the form of giant loan boxes filled with books and activities) for
classes doing projects on different subjects. They are aimed at Kindergarten and up, but the materials seem to be
age appropriate for pre-K as well. They are, unfortunately, on hold for actually loaning out these boxes due to
the pandemic, but it is a great resource for pre-K rooms when the pandemic is over. The contents of the box and
a picture of it are as follows.
The activities and materials in this loan box include some ones that I had really wanted to get ahold of
somehow, which were teeth and fossilized bones. The box could be loaned over the course of the three weeks
and used to provide some good nonfiction sources (though I also found my own to make sure there were
definitely pre-K appropriate ones as well). The materials would provide opportunities for examples during art
activities and tactile/play exploration of the subject. Also, the poster would be good for hanging up on a
magnet/bulletin board to show the parents what we are learning about.
Some of the activities that I were planning for this box were as follows:
- Practice using stencils to make dinosaur drawings then coloring them in
- A discussion and measuring/drawing of the size of dinosaur teeth
- Puppet shows with dinosaurs based on books
- Drawing and painting dinosaurs using the figures provided as models
- Discussion on eggs and where they could be found (based on information in books too)
- Feeling the skin cast and trying to replicate its pattern on paper using different materials
These activities would mainly focus on small motor, social/emotional, language, and cognitive
development through drawing/painting activities and both discussions and problem solving.
Some standards that I would be pointing these activities toward are
- The puppet shows: 2.B.ECb: With teacher assistance, retell familiar stories with three or more
key events.
- The discussions: 1.B.ECd: Engage in agreed‐upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening, making
eye contact, taking turns speaking) and 31.C.ECa: Begin to share materials and experiences and
take turns.
- The small motor activities: 19.A.ECe: Use writing and drawing tools with some control.
Family Involvement
Some ways that you can promote family involvement in projects like this one are, for example, bringing
in parents to read. Or, if you’re very lucky, having someone in the class who knows about dinosaurs or knows
someone at the University who does (though that is unlikely). Since I didn’t plan a field trip, volunteers for that
are not required, but volunteer spots to build for the dramatic play activity would be offered. Whether it was
cardboard pieces or, if there was a particularly skilled family member, actual wooden dramatic play equipment.
A nest with eggs would be an option to bring in sticks/other materials to make a real nest out of. As well as help
supervise and help the children while making paper mâché eggs.
Resources List
I have also compiled a resources list for this project that includes sources for curricula based on dinosaur
exhibits at museums, library resources, songs, activities, finger plays, and more.
Resources List
Erin Preslar
*Some of these links have repeated songs or recommendations on them, but all have at least one new item
that I wanted to showcase
Museums with Online Exhibits for Virtual Exploration/Field Trips:
- Natural History Museum
- Connecticut Science Center
- National Museum of Natural History
- Museum of the Rockies
- Fernbank Museum of Natural History
Book List:
- The Pebbles Plus series
- The Abdo Kids: Dinosaurs series
- Fossils Tell Stories (by Yu-ri Kim)
- Dinosaur Bones (by Bob Barner)
- T. Rex (by Vivian French)
- Dining with Dinosaurs: A Tasty Guide to Mesozoic Munching (by Hannah Bonner)
- Dinosaurumpus (by Tony Mitton)
- Regina is NOT a Little Dinosaur (by Andrea Zuill)
Resources for Songs:
- New lyrics and typical songs (ex: row row row your boat with new words):
https://carrotsareorange.com/dinosaur-songs/
- Songs with videos: https://www.pre-kpages.com/dinosaur-songs-for-preschool/
- More songs with videos: https://preschoolinspirations.com/dinosaur-songs-for-kids/
Resources for Activities/Rhymes/Fingerplays:
- Resources from Libraries:
- Primarily fingerplays: https://www.barbertonlibrary.org/dinosaurfingerplays
- Full activity list and book idea list (includes Dinosaurumpus!):
https://read.poudrelibraries.org/readers/pdf/Dinosaur.pdf
- Other Sources:
- Includes activities, books, and songs/movement activities: https://www.kidssoup.com/craft-and-
resource/preschool-dinosaurs-books-rhymes-and-songs
- Mainly a fingerpay, but the site has songs in other places:
https://www.songsforteaching.com/fingerplays/5bigdinosaurs.htm
Curriculum Ideas Based on Museum Websites:
- Based on a specific museum’s exhibits but the curriculum can be adapted to cover dinosaurs in depth
at a pre-k level: https://www.caspercollege.edu/tate-geological-museum/curriculum/
- Includes songs, activities, poems, science experiences, and games: https://childrens-
museum.org/media/uploads/DinosaurActivitiesForEarlyLearners.pdf
DRAMATIC PLAY ACTIVITY PLAN Name: Erin
Preslar
Activity Title:
Dinosaur Habitat Creation/Dramatic Play
General
Description:
This activity is both the creation of and the use of a Dinosaur Habitat in the classroom (that
would later be shown to the rest of the center). There would be a ‘brainstorming session’
where we’d come up with what we wanted in the classroom’s dinosaur habitat. Some
examples could be: nests with eggs, paper trees/plants, water or sand, volcanoes/meteors,
and a den/cave. These could be a great opportunity for parent involvement: bringing in
supplies and helping build things if they have volunteer time. The habitat would be set up,
then children could take what they’ve learned about how dinosaurs lived and play in the
habitat (which would be quite a bit of the classroom at that point) however they wanted to.
An example of an activity would be foraging for food (hiding fake food in the habitat and
having the children look for it). You could involve art activities to make the habitat as well
as, for example, fake food that dinosaurs would have eaten (since that doesn’t typically
come in preschool kitchen sets). It would be an opportunity for creative, small/large motor
activity, and social/emotional development as the children work and play together.
Development
areas:
Circle one (or more) of the areas in which your activity promotes development.
Small Motor Language Social/Emotional
Large Motor Cognitive Creativity
Learning
Objectives:
Explain how your activity promotes development in the areas above. AND reference at
least one of the IL Early Learning Standards your activity will work toward.
1) Develop small motor skills through arts and crafts activities to create the habitat.
- This objective works toward standard 19.A.ECe: Use writing and drawing
tools with some control through aiming to use utensils with some accuracy.
2) Develop large motor skills through dramatic play activities.
- This objective works toward standard 21.A.ECa: Follow rules and procedures
when participating in group physical activities through the use of rules during
dramatic play activities.
3) Promote social and emotional development through group discussions and
cooperative play.
- This objective works toward standard 31.B.ECb: Engage in cooperative
group play as well as standard 31.B.ECa: Interact verbally and nonverbally
with other children. Through the discussion they will work on verbal and
nonverbal skills and they will participate in cooperative play when they are
doing dramatic play.
4) Promote creativity through the ability to make choices and decisions based on the
children’s own ideas.
Ages of
children:
Describe what age children this activity is best suited for and why?
This would be good for 4’s and PreK because it requires a lot of planning and talking about
what you want. There’s some social pragmatics to work on (like turn taking in group
discussion for example) and that will be a thing that 4-year-olds and children in pre K
classrooms would be a good age to get practice at.
Materials:
List all the materials you’ll need for this activity.
Wide Variety but a basic list:
- paper
- scissors
- glue
- open space
- shelves to hang things on
- tape
- coloring utensils
Write 3 open-ended questions you could ask to facilitate or scaffold children’s learning during this activity:
1) What are our goals for what we want our habitat to look like?
2) What do we want to do in our habitat?
3) How can we rearrange our classroom to better fit our habitat as we want it to look? (this would
require moving some shelves but that is okay just do it when the kids aren’t there)
How could you add to or build on this activity? Describe at least one specific example.
A way to add to this activity is to focus on the language aspect of it. The vocabulary needed for creating the
habitat. Not just the word habitat but also things like ‘construct’ (if you’re putting together a big item) and
other building terms that could add to the children’s vocabulary.
You could also focus on other aspects of social/emotional development to add to the activity’s value. Like
hand raising during discussions and turn taking in building centers. These are skills that will be needed in
kindergarten and it’s important to promote them in pre K specifically.
LARGE MOTOR ACTIVITY PLAN Name: Erin Preslar
Activity Title:
Dinosaurumpus Large Motor Book Activity
General
Description:
Dinosaurumpus by Tony Mitton is a book about dinosaurs getting together for a giant dance
party. It has many different dinosaur names mentioned as well as fun ways that they move
and dance. The book also has lyrical/rhythmic repeating sections after each dinosaur enters
making it similar to a song. The book is perfect to do a large motor dance activity in
association with. The activity I was planning was pretty simple. To dance along with the
dinosaurs in the book. Movements could include, for example, things like swinging back and
forth, snapping your arms like they’re giant jaws, and stomping (among others). For each
dinosaur who enters the children could make up their own action that they think makes
them look like the dinosaur in the book, then do that for the page that the dinosaur is on.
Then, before the last page where all the dinosaurs are dancing, the teacher would tell them
that they could do their favorite action out of all the ones they’d come up with.
Development
areas:
Circle one (or more) of the areas in which your activity promotes development.
Small Motor Language Social/Emotional
Large Motor Cognitive Creativity
Learning
Objectives:
Explain how your activity promotes development in the areas above. AND reference at
least one of the IL Early Learning Standards your activity will work toward.
1) Promote large motor development through dance and large motor activities that go
along with a book.
- This objective works toward standard 19.A.ECb: Move with balance and
control in a range of physical activities through practicing balance and
coordination when dancing.
2) Promote increased vocabulary through interesting and fun use of new dinosaur
names.
- This objective works toward standard 1.E.ECc: With teacher assistance, use
new words acquired through conversations and book‐sharing experiences
through the use of a book to introduce new and interesting words.
3) Practice creative thinking by having the children come up with their own actions
instead of assigning them.
Ages of
children:
Describe what age children this activity is best suited for and why?
This activity could be done with kids as young as 2 probably, because the book is very
simple in structure. But to accomplish the 2nd learning objective listed above, preschool
aged children would need to be the focus. While it would be a fun and physically
active/appropriate activity for younger children, to achieve that objective you would need to
aim the activity at preschool aged children.
Materials:
List all the materials you’ll need for this activity.
Materials include: Open space (preferably outside like in the book) and the book listed
above.
Write 3 open-ended questions you could ask to facilitate or scaffold children’s learning during this activity:
1) How could you make yourself clatter like the stegosaurus’ plates do? What sound can you make that
is like that?
2) Can you say the line with me? (then say the repeating line in the book that is said after every
dinosaur enters) - this is specifically to promote language development and attention to the words in
the story
3) Why did you choose ___ action at the end? Why was it your favorite?
How could you add to or build on this activity? Describe at least one specific example.
You could build on this activity through the adding of music or musical instruments. Like making a basic beat
to read the story along with. It has a great rhythm and could easily be read to a beat. You could have some
children (maybe ones who don’t want to dance but still want to participate) stomp a slow beat or clap a slow
beat and you could read along with that. It would be a fun way to add music/rhythm and math into the activity
despite there not necessarily being a dedicated song that goes along with the book.
MATH ACTIVITY PLAN Name: Erin Preslar
Activity Title:
Fossils Pattern Activity
General
Description:
This activity takes pictures from the book Fossils Tell Stories by Yu-ri Kim and scans them,
then cuts them out. They are colorful pictures of fossils. I would take two from the cover and
one from an inside page (all ammonites of different colors and sizes) then I would cut out 20
of each of them and laminate the individual pieces. Then I would create cue cards with
options for patterns like red-yellow-red, etc. Then I would cut long strips of felt that could be
used as mats and let the children use those and the cards and shapes to make patterns
(either from the cards or their own). I would only come up with about 5 patterns myself (so 5
children could do the activity at once). But it would allow for math exploration with patterns
and manipulatives.
Development
areas:
Circle one (or more) of the areas in which your activity promotes development.
Small Motor Language Social/Emotional
Large Motor Cognitive Creativity
Learning
Objectives:
Explain how your activity promotes development in the areas above. AND reference at
least one of the IL Early Learning Standards your activity will work toward.
1) Develop small motor skills through interaction with small math manipulatives.
- This objective works toward standard 19.A.ECd: Use eye-hand coordination
to perform tasks through the use of small movements to place and use the
manipulatives.
2) Develop cognitive abilities through the use of math manipulatives to create patterns.
- This objective works toward standard 8.A.ECb: Recognize, duplicate,
extend, and create simple patterns in various formats by practicing making
patterns.
3) Practice creative expression and decision making by making new and inventive
patterns.
Ages of
children:
Describe what age children this activity is best suited for and why?
This would be a good activity for preschoolers. With the size of the manipulatives (being
laminated pieces so they’re basically as thin as playing cards) 4-year-olds would probably
be a good age for the activity physically. Three-year-olds might have a difficult time with
picking them up and placing them since their small motor development isn’t as far along, but
the activity is also aimed to work on that so the activity could still be presented to that age
group.
Materials:
List all the materials you’ll need for this activity.
Materials:
- The book listed above
- laminator and laminating sheets
- scissors
- scanner or scanning app on phone
- printer
- strips of felt
Write 3 open-ended questions you could ask to facilitate or scaffold children’s learning during this activity:
1) Is your pattern the same backwards and forwards?
2) Can you make your pattern the same backwards and forwards by changing or adding ammonites?
3) How can you collect your ammonites so that they are going from biggest to smallest? What color
order is that?
How could you add to or build on this activity? Describe at least one specific example.
You could build on this activity by scanning and cutting out more things from the book. You could make a lot
more interesting patterns than just ones with 3 parts. There is another ammonite as well as other fossils.
You could scan and cut those out and let children collect them based on size or shape to add more math
concepts to the learning gained from this activity.
SCIENCE ACTIVITY PLAN Name: Erin Preslar
Activity Title:
Indoor Dinosaur Dig
General
Description:
In this activity, the teachers would wet dirt from the store and hide dinosaur toys and
premade air dry crafts of dinosaur footprints (made by making a flat piece of air dry clay and
stamping a dinosaur foot or two on it) and clay dinosaur eggs in the dirt. Then they would let
it dry during the day. Then, they would give children an opportunity to dig and use brushes
to clean off the dinosaurs and ‘fossilized footprints and eggs’. This would be an opportunity
to learn more about what paleontologists do and how they clean off fossils/search for them.
Development
areas:
Circle one (or more) of the areas in which your activity promotes development.
Small Motor Language Social/Emotional
Large Motor Cognitive Creativity
Learning
Objectives:
Explain how your activity promotes development in the areas above. AND reference at
least one of the IL Early Learning Standards your activity will work toward.
1) Promote small motor development through the use of tools to dig and clean off
dinosaur figurines and fossils.
- This objective works toward standard 19.A.ECd: Use eye-hand coordination
to perform tasks through the use of small tools to do fine tasks like brushing
dirt off and digging.
2) Develop vocabulary through the introduction of new words associated with digging
for dinosaurs.
- This objective works toward standard 1.E.ECb: Exhibit curiosity and interest
in learning new words heard in conversations and books through the
introduction of new words through discussion.
3) Promote social/emotional development through the children working in groups to
clean off dinosaurs and fossils.
- This objective works toward standard 31.C.ECa: Begin to share materials
and experiences and take turns through the use of the same tools and
groups.
Ages of
children:
Describe what age children this activity is best suited for and why?
Based on the group work and aim to work on vocabulary, this would be best suited for 4
year old to preK children. It works on good skills for that age group.
Materials:
List all the materials you’ll need for this activity.
Materials:
- dinosaur figurines
- air dry clay
- brushes
- shovels
- dirt
- water
Write 3 open-ended questions you could ask to facilitate or scaffold children’s learning during this activity:
1) How do you think people tell where dinosaurs are?
2) When you look at the dirt, can you see any places where there might be dinosaurs? (you might have
some places where there are raised areas or a tail or foot sticking out)
3) Even though you only find dinosaurs in pieces, you see them put together in museums. How do you
think paleontologists do that?
How could you add to or build on this activity? Describe at least one specific example.
You could add to this activity by making different bones, like making an arm or leg and multiple parts to a tail
and hiding those near each other then letting the children put those together like a puzzle. there are also
dinosaur puzzles you could buy that are in pieces with the bones that you could model this off of (for
example: LRIGYEH 3D Wooden Dinosaurs Puzzles for Kids Wood Building Kits Including T-Rex,
Brontosaurus, Spinosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus and Parasaurolophus). This would allow the children
to see how the fossils are put together for museums/exhibits.
