Dinosaur Sensory Bin

Remember that little dinosaur obsession Eva developed two years ago?  Well it's still going strong.  It's amazing how much dino info a four year old brain can hold!  This past week Eva was pretty sick so we were home bound and getting a little squirrelly.  Hours upon hours of pretending to be dinosaurs and playing with dinosaur toys can get monotonous so to shake things up we created a dinosaur museum.

The sensory bin became a paleontology dig, filled with various dried beans, rocks and dinosaur skeletons.  (I found five different packs of two at the Dollar Store.)  Eva carefully digs them out and cleans them off.

Then she looks through her dinosaur cards (a Target Dollar Spot find a few years ago) and matches the skeleton to its info.

We also made a display that allows Eva to sort her toy dinos into groups- Sauropods, Theropods, Stegosaurs, Ornithopods, Ankylosaurs, Ceratopsians and Other Reptiles.

She also added some pictures she's drawn lately of dinosaurs.  

Now every morning, the first thing Eva does upon waking is setting up her museum.  Stop on by, she loves giving tours!

March Sensory Tub

In March we are "visiting" India and taking in all the beautiful colors and shapes the country has to offer.  Our sensory tub this month is full of rainbow colors and shapes.  I found the pack of 3D shapes here and the flat shapes are meant for overhead projectors back from my teaching days (similar to these).

I was so excited to make this tub but really hadn't thought about what Eva could do with it.  No worries! I gave it to her and she created her own activities.  I forget sometimes that not everything needs a plan- I'm still working on doing more following, less guiding!  Eva used the shapes to make things.  This one is a penguin:

And she experimented with how many toys she could cram into a tiny zipper bag:

She has also used the bin as a place for her dinosaurs to romp (yes, we are still a bit dino-obsessed!) and many a "downtown" has been constructed with the blocks.  Sorting by color and shape are also options but chances are if I suggest them, they will be vetoed.  Three is a very independent age!

Building and Construction

(Image Source)

One of the first things that often pops into mind when thinking about China is the Great Wall.  We will be honoring it by learning more about tools, buildings and construction.

Crafts
Nuts and Bolts Painting- we'll shake these fasteners around in some paint to make some cool abstract art

Scrap Box Buildings- our building supplies will come from our box of recyclables and scraps that we keep in the art center- can't wait to see what we create!

Activities
Blocks- you can't talk about building things without playing with blocks!

Marshmallow Structures- we'll use mini marshmallows and toothpicks to build all sorts of things

Exploring Tools- we'll try out hammers, screwdrivers, levels and many other tools to see how they work and what they are used for

Home Depot Field Trip- we'll visit one of Eva's favorite stores

Cooking
Triple Decker Sandwich- we'll take building to the kitchen and erect a tall tasty lunch

Books
            

Welcome to China

Today we traveled to China.  Eva found it on her map and colored it in.  She also got another stamp in her passport.

The sensory tub has been filled with a staple in China- rice.  We colored some red and some pink and I added a set of red heart scoops and a bunch of red pom poms.  The rice is a huge hit.  Eva has always been drawn to rice tables and will spend hours scooping and feeling the rice.

I also made a few felt fortune cookies for Eva to practice transferring between take-out containers with chopsticks.  It is definitely tricky!

The fortune cookies are really easy to make.  Take a felt circle, fold it in half and place a bit of ribbon in the fold but sticking out at one end and then sew it shut.  Using a needle and thread, make a stitch 1/3 of the way in on the fold and another 1/3 from the other end, pull tight and tie off.  It should fold in like a real fortune cookie.

Indoor Snow

Lately it has been so bitter cold, we haven't been able to play outside in the snow.  So instead of staring out the window wistfully, I brought the snow inside!  I filled a big container (I used a foil turkey roaster) with snow and then let Eva go to town in it with a bunch of kitchen utensils.  I think we will be doing this every day- it was such a hit!

I put a blanket down to catch any snow that jumped out of the pan.  After a few minutes Eva asked for her mittens and dove right back in.  Lots of fun and minimal mess!