Dinosaur Feet!

The children have discovered that dinosaur feet are huge! They learned that a Tyrannosaurus foot is about 4 feet long and 2 feet wide. Next the children traced their own feet and cut them out to compare them with the Tyrannosaurus foot. They also tried to see how many steps a Tyrannosaurus could take walking across our gym and then counted their own steps. The discussion also led to how tall the dinosaur might be. Some guessed it could be as tall as our gym.

Dinosaur Fossils

The children have been learning about dinosaur fossils and made casts of dinosaur imprints at preschool. Before beginning the project the children watched a video at YouTube – How to make a Dinosaur Fossil. The children mixed sand, dirt, and water together and then pressed a dinosaur into the mud. The imprint was filled with plaster of paris to create the cast.

Dinosaurs at the Preschool House

This week the preschoolers learned that dinosaurs hatch from eggs. The children have been singing counting songs and finding dinosaurs in eggs. Today they talked about what dinosaurs eat and found that most were plant eaters. Following this discovery they played the Triceratops Leaf Eating game. Children drew a numbered card from the deck and then had to feed the corresponding number of leaves to the triceratops. They practiced Chinese vocabulary while playing the game.

Toddlers Paint Dinosaurs

Today the toddlers painted dinosaurs and then decorated them with colorful sequins and stones. Yueying taught the children Chinese vocabulary related to dinosaurs and painting.

September is Dinosaur Month!

This month the preschoolers are studying dinosaurs and prehistoric habitats. Later in the fall they will learn about deserts and plains environments. In the winter we will study the arctic and then forests. Oceans, rivers, lakes, and ponds will be covered in the spring. Children will also learn about the people and cultures who live in each environment.

Yesterday the children learned about paleontologists and digging for dinosaur bones. To make the concept more concrete dinosaur puzzle pieces were hidden in the sand table. Children had to dig for the puzzle pieces and then take them to the table to figure out how they fit together. This was also a wonderful group activity where the children learned to work together as a team.

 

Oregon Mountains

This week the children are learning about mountains in Oregon and how they are formed. On Monday the children talked about the mountains we could see from Portland and then watched a video of Mt. St. Helens erupting. We looked at several pictures of other Oregon mountains and then drew pictures of Mt. Hood. Later in the afternoon we did a volcano experiment and watched “lava” erupt from a papier mache mountain. Later this week the children will look at animals that live in mountain habitats, and then we’ll end the week learning about Crater Lake.