Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Weekly Theme: Diggin’ Dinosaurs - Other Activities
Dinosaur Diorama
What you need:
 paper and a printer (stiff paper works best - colored paper is great for this project)
 a shoe box or slightly larger box
 crayons and/or markers
 paste (a glue stick works well)
 scissors
 tape
 thread
 pipe cleaners
 optional: glitter (for great lava!), cotton puffs (for clouds), thin cardboard to glue to the
back of the animals if your paper is very flimsy (old cereal boxes work well)
How to make it:
 Using crayons or markers, decorate the inside of the box, the dinosaurs and plants. No
one knows what colors the dinosaurs were, so anything goes. When decorating the box,
remember that the Earth was very warm when the dinosaurs lived. Also, the Cretaceous
period was a time of very high volcanism - a volcano in the back of the box looks great.
Glitter makes a wonderful addition to lava - just sprinkle some on a little glue.
 Draw or cut out dinosaur pictures from magazines. You can draw these on heavy paper
or glue cut out pictures on heavy paper. Cut these out to be used in your scene. You
can also cut out some plants or use pieces of grass or plants found outdoors.
 Arrange the animals and plants in the box. Paste the bottom flaps in place. Hang any
flying animals from the top of the box using tape and thread or pipe cleaners. Green and
brown pipe cleaners also make nice plants.
 You can also add a clay volcano in your scene if you like.
Cookie Paleontologist
What you will need:
 Chocolate chip cookies (from approved vendor)
 Toothpicks
 Small Paint Brushes (new)
 Digging for Dinosaurs by Aliki
What you will do:
1. Read Digging for Dinosaurs by Aliki to the students.
2. Explain that paleontologists are scientists that study dinosaur bones.
3. Then have students do their own digging by using chocolate chip cookies, a toothpick, and
small paintbrushes.
4. The students need to "excavate" the chocolate chips using the toothpicks and paint brushes.
July 2008
1
Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Coffee Ground "Fossils"
What you need:
1 cup of used coffee grounds
1/2 cup of cold coffee
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of salt
Waxed paper
mixing bowl
some small objects to make impressions in the dough
empty can or other cylinder or a plastic knife
toothpicks (optional)
string to hang your fossil (optional)
What to do:
1. Stir together the coffee grounds, cold coffee, flour, and salt until well mixed.
2. Knead the dough together and then flatten it out onto the waxed paper.
3. Have the students cut out circles from the dough with the can/cylinder or use the dull
knife to cut slabs large enough to fit their "fossil” object.
4. Have the students press their objects firmly into the dough. When they take the object
out, they will have a "fossil". If you want to hang the fossil, poke holes into the edge to
hold the string.
5. Let the fossils dry overnight and then hang them if you wish.
Tip:
Annmarie Shafer wrote: We made these with my class and had to bake them for a short period
to get the "dough" to harden, but we loved the resulting "Rocks" which really resembled fossils
(we pressed a shell into the dough). The kids (ages 5-6) LOVED THEM!!!
DINOSAUR WEB PAGES
Click to follow link
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/
Apatosaurus Template - Enchanted
Free Animal Coloring Pages from SherriAllen.com Learning Software
Dinosaurs Coloring Book Pages
Mrs. Jones - Dinosaurs
http://www.dinosauria.com/
July 2008
2
Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Stuffed Dinosaurs
This activity creates stuffed paper dinosaurs. The activity takes about an hour or less. It is not
very messy. It involves cutting two identical paper dinosaur shapes, decorating the dinosaurs,
and stapling them together, and then stuffing them with newspaper.
SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Any thick paper, 8 1/2 x 11
Scissors
Stapler
Crayons, paint, or markers to decorate the dinosaurs
Newspaper or tissue paper to stuff the dinosaurs
1. Choose the type of dinosaur(s) you want to make that fit on standard 8.5" x 11" paper.
For larger templates, use an enlarging copy machine or use a grid and enlarge the
templates by hand.
2. Cut out the template(s) you've chosen.
3. Have each child make two identical dinosaur tracings, using two pieces of paper. This is
a good time to discuss how body shapes differed in the different species - for example,
compare the lean, long-legged meat eaters (like T. Rex and Velociraptor) to the shortlegged, slow moving plant-eaters (like Apatosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Ankylosaurus).
4. Staple around the edges, leaving a hole large enough to stuff the dinosaur later.
5. Have the child decorate both sides of the dinosaur, adding eyes, nostrils, camouflage,
teeth, etc., using crayons, markers or paint. This is a good time to discuss the placement
of facial features, and the fact that no one knows what color or patterns any of the
dinosaurs were.
6. Stuff the dinosaur with crumbled newspaper, scraps of paper, or tissue paper.
7. Staple the remaining hole shut.
NOTE: "Sewing" can be used as a more difficult alternative to stapling the dinosaur together.
Using a hole punch, you can punch holes around the edges of the dinosaur while holding the
two identical pieces together. Then the students can use yarn or string to "sew" through the
holes, attaching the two sides.
Make a Volcano!!
Bury a frozen juice can containing 1/4 c. of baking soda up to its rim in a mound of sand. Dot the
sand surrounding the can w/ toy miniature dinosaurs, trees, etc. In another container, teacher
mixes 1 c. water, w/ 2/3 c. white vinegar, 1/3 c. dishwashing liquid and several drops of red food
coloring. Teacher slowly adds this to the juice can. The eruption occurs immediately! It's fun for
all!
July 2008
3
Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Paper Plate Apatosaurus
You will need a paper plate and scissors for each child for this activity.
Ask the students to make one cut into the outside border of the plate and then cut out the round
center. The center will be the body of the Apatosaurus.
Then cut two small pieces from the border and staple them onto the body to make legs.
Cut the remaining border into two equal halves.
Staple one half to the body, curving upward, to make the tail.
Staple the other piece to the other side of the body, curving downward, to make the head and
neck.
Use markers or "wiggly eyes" for the eyes and make a mouth with markers.
Then the student may color or paint their apatosaurus.
July 2008
4
Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
It’s a Whatasaurus??
Scientists use Greek and Latin prefixes and suffixes to name new dinosaurs. Use the lists below
to let children create and name their own imaginary dinosaurs. For instance, you could combine:
tri (three), oculo (eye), retro (backward), pteryx (wing). Maybe a Trioculoretropteryx had three
eyes - one in the back of its head so it could see when it flew backwards!!
Using the prefixes and suffixes below (and others that the children may already know), have the
students think of a totally outrageous dinosaur. When they have named it they might want to
share it with other kids in the group. Also, they might want to draw the creation - What does a 3
eyed-backward-flying dinosaur look like anyway??
Prefixes
Suffixes
aqua = water
auri = ear
brachio = arm
coelo = hollow
dasy = shaggy
derma = skin
diplo = double
frigo = cold
lalo = babbling
mani = hand
myo = mouselike
odon = tooth
nano = dwarf
naso = nose
ped, podo = foot
pseudo = false
sapro = rotten
titano = gigantic
ultra = beyond
xeno = strange
lepto = small, weak
July 2008
cephalic = head
ichthys = fish
gnathus = jaw
mimus = imitator
pteryx = wing
raptor = thief
saurus = lizard
spinax = spine, thorn
spondylus = vertebrae
5
Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials