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Preschool Weekly Curriculum - Dinosaurs
Get preschoolers excited about learning with this hands-on theme. Included are ideas for circle time activities, arts and crafts, math and science, music and movement and pretend play. Dinosaur books that are appropriate for the theme are recommended.
Arts and Crafts - Make Dinosaur rubbings from purchased plastic molds or make them yourself by tracing a pattern on a piece of cardboard and going over it with glue.
Math and Science - Fill Dinosaur Eggs (plastic Easter eggs) with items of different weight. Have the preschoolers put them in order from lightest to heaviest.
Music and Movement - Play dinosaur tag. One child is the T-Rex and the others are all plant eaters. The T-Rex tags the plant eaters. When the plant eaters are tagged they must sit down.
Pretend Play - Add plastic dinosaurs to your sand table and have preschoolers go digging for "dinosaur bones" throughout the week.
Language and Literature - Read The Day of the Dinosaur
by Stan Berenstain. Ask the preschoolers what the world would be like if dinosaurs lived today.
Arts and Crafts - Make a dinosaur fossil by stamping a dinosaur shape into home-made or purchased dough. It is best to use a dough recipe that can be baked and hardened to show children that fossils are hard like rocks. This activity can also be done with leaves or pieces of pasta.
Math and Science - Go on a fossil hunt. Give each preschooler a magnifying glass and a container to hold rocks. Take them outside and have them collect rocks. Once inside, have the preschoolers look at each rock with the magnifying glass. Are any of the rocks fossils?
Music and Movement - Tie paper lunch bags to children’s feet with a piece of yarn. Let the preschoolers stomp around like dinosaurs or dance to music.
Pretend Play - Fill dinosaur eggs (plastic Easter eggs) with small dinosaur toys. Let children pretend to help the dinosaurs hatch out of the eggs.
Language and Literature - Reread The Day of the Dinosaur by Stan Berenstain. Ask preschoolers to talk about which dinosaur is their favorite.
Arts and Crafts - Print out a picture of a dinosaur. Give the preschoolers dried white beans and have them blue them where the bones would be on the dinosaur.
Math and Science - Be a dinosaur scientist. Fill the sand table with dinosaur toys and have each preschooler
use a paint brush to find the dinosaurs in the sand. Talk about why scientists use brushes to find bones rather than digging with tools that could damage the bones.
Music and Movement - Dance to We Are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner.
Language and Literature - Reread The Day of the Dinosaur by Stan Berenstain. Ask preschoolers to go through the book and find the letter D.
Arts and Crafts - Print out a picture of a dinosaur. Have the preschoolers trace the dinosaur with glue. Cover the glue with sand and gently shake the excess off. Allow the glue to dry.
Math and Science - Freeze small dinosaur toys in a small cup of water. Give each child a spoon or other blunt object to chisel away and help dig out the dinosaur bones.
Music and Movement - Dance to We Are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner.
Language and Literature - Reread The Day of the Dinosaur by Stan Berenstain. Ask preschoolers to pay attention to what the dinosaurs like to eat.
Arts and Crafts - Marble paint on any color paper. Let it dry. Cut the paper into an egg shape to make a dinosaur egg.
Math and Science - Make chocolate chip cookies. Talk about what a paleontologist is. Give each preschooler a toothpick to pick the chocolate chips out of the cookie.
Pretend Play - Have children build volcanoes in the sand table. Scoop out a space at the top of the volcano and fill it with baking soda and vinegar. Watch the volcano erupt.
Language and Literature - Read Ten Terrible Dinosaurs
by Paul Strickland.
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Monday
Circle Time - Talk about what a fossil is. Have the preschoolers feel a small rock or a fossil sample if you can find one and discus how we learn about dinosaurs through the fossils that we have found.Arts and Crafts - Make Dinosaur rubbings from purchased plastic molds or make them yourself by tracing a pattern on a piece of cardboard and going over it with glue.
Math and Science - Fill Dinosaur Eggs (plastic Easter eggs) with items of different weight. Have the preschoolers put them in order from lightest to heaviest.
Music and Movement - Play dinosaur tag. One child is the T-Rex and the others are all plant eaters. The T-Rex tags the plant eaters. When the plant eaters are tagged they must sit down.
Pretend Play - Add plastic dinosaurs to your sand table and have preschoolers go digging for "dinosaur bones" throughout the week.
Language and Literature - Read The Day of the Dinosaur
by Stan Berenstain. Ask the preschoolers what the world would be like if dinosaurs lived today.Tuesday
Circle Time - Talk about meat eaters and plant eaters. Ask the preschoolers which type of dinosaur probably had sharp teeth?Arts and Crafts - Make a dinosaur fossil by stamping a dinosaur shape into home-made or purchased dough. It is best to use a dough recipe that can be baked and hardened to show children that fossils are hard like rocks. This activity can also be done with leaves or pieces of pasta.
Math and Science - Go on a fossil hunt. Give each preschooler a magnifying glass and a container to hold rocks. Take them outside and have them collect rocks. Once inside, have the preschoolers look at each rock with the magnifying glass. Are any of the rocks fossils?
Music and Movement - Tie paper lunch bags to children’s feet with a piece of yarn. Let the preschoolers stomp around like dinosaurs or dance to music.
Pretend Play - Fill dinosaur eggs (plastic Easter eggs) with small dinosaur toys. Let children pretend to help the dinosaurs hatch out of the eggs.
Language and Literature - Reread The Day of the Dinosaur
by Stan Berenstain. Ask preschoolers to talk about which dinosaur is their favorite.Wednesday
Circle Time - Tell the preschoolers that dinosaur starts with the letter D. Talk about other words that start with the letter D.Arts and Crafts - Print out a picture of a dinosaur. Give the preschoolers dried white beans and have them blue them where the bones would be on the dinosaur.
Math and Science - Be a dinosaur scientist. Fill the sand table with dinosaur toys and have each preschooler
use a paint brush to find the dinosaurs in the sand. Talk about why scientists use brushes to find bones rather than digging with tools that could damage the bones.Music and Movement - Dance to We Are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner.
Language and Literature - Reread The Day of the Dinosaur
by Stan Berenstain. Ask preschoolers to go through the book and find the letter D.Thursday
Circle Time - Put a handful of toy dinosaurs inside a plastic bag. Have the preschoolers estimate how many dinosaurs are inside.Arts and Crafts - Print out a picture of a dinosaur. Have the preschoolers trace the dinosaur with glue. Cover the glue with sand and gently shake the excess off. Allow the glue to dry.
Math and Science - Freeze small dinosaur toys in a small cup of water. Give each child a spoon or other blunt object to chisel away and help dig out the dinosaur bones.
Music and Movement - Dance to We Are the Dinosaurs by Laurie Berkner.
Language and Literature - Reread The Day of the Dinosaur
by Stan Berenstain. Ask preschoolers to pay attention to what the dinosaurs like to eat. Friday
Circle Time - Talk about how big a dinosaur was. A brontosaurus was 75 feet long and had a foot the size of a page from the newspaper. Measure a 75 foot long piece of string and take the children outside to see how long it is. Draw a dinosaur footprint on a piece of newspaper (the full page opened up) and have the preschoolers stand inside of it.Arts and Crafts - Marble paint on any color paper. Let it dry. Cut the paper into an egg shape to make a dinosaur egg.
Math and Science - Make chocolate chip cookies. Talk about what a paleontologist is. Give each preschooler a toothpick to pick the chocolate chips out of the cookie.
Pretend Play - Have children build volcanoes in the sand table. Scoop out a space at the top of the volcano and fill it with baking soda and vinegar. Watch the volcano erupt.
Language and Literature - Read Ten Terrible Dinosaurs
by Paul Strickland.
Like this article? Get more like it in your inbox. Subscribe today to our free weekly newsletter.