HIT: Dinosaur Art Activities

[Kathleen Fencil <tkfencil@MCN.NET>]

>Date:         Thu, 13 Nov 1997 21:02:02 +1000
>Reply-To: Cheryl King <cak@KUENTOS.GUAM.NET>
>Sender: School Library Media & Network Communications
>              <LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
>From: Cheryl King <cak@KUENTOS.GUAM.NET>
>Subject:      HIT:  Dinosaur Art Activities
>To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
>
>Several weeks ago, a teacher asked me if I knew of any art activities to go
>with dinosaur units.  Being unartistic, I called upon you for help and
>these were the responses I received.  Thanks for your ideas!  The teacher
>was very pleased.  My personal favorite, since I like to cook but am not
>artistic, was the chocolate chip cookie idea!  Read on!
>
>I went to this dinosaur site featured in September's MultiMedia Schools
>entitled "CyberBee Meets T-Rex and other Dino Stories" pgs. 32-35.  The
>entire article appears at the MM site.  It has some great ideas.
>http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/sep97/cybee997.htm
>
>I picked this idea from the "Lessons" section.
>This site presents a variety of art activities that could be adapted to 5th
>grade.
>
>a. making fossil prints
>b. dinosaur cookies
>c. dinosaur mobiles
>d. make a diorama
>e. dinosaur shape book-writing about the different dinosaurs and
>illustrating on each page
>f. construct a dinosaur skeleton using pipe cleaners
>g. construct a dinosaur mural and use it as a TV show and have each student
>give some information about the dinosaur he/she drew
>http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/curry/class/Museums/Teacher_Guide/Science=
>/Din
>osaurs.of.Long.Ago.html
>__________________
>
>Aloha, Cheryl, from Hawaii! It's nearly 6 in the evening and the work day
>delights of baby, toddler and preschool storytime, class visit and
>reference desk duty are done, so if these ideas seem wacko, you'll know why.
>Just 4 to share from the top of my noggin:
>
>1.  Impress leaf/leaves in plaster of paris or other medium rounds or ovals
>for paper weights or top-of-desk pencil and pen holders.
>
>2.  Design a 10-9-8 number book entitled "Dinosaur Countdown" w/ drawings,
>collage, etc., or create a dinosaur alphabet or word book entitled "Avoid
>Extinction. Read."
>
>3.  Hatch felt or fabric or paper dinosaur finger puppets from L'eggs
>containers or plastic Easter eggs.
>
>4.  Sculpt polymer clay or other medium into a checkers set of carnivores
>vs. herbivores.
>______________
>I've had my students make dinosaurs using aluminum foil--shaping the body
>over the top of their hand and then creating legs, head, and tail by
>twisting.
>You could also do clay modeling, too.
>
>We created dioramas adding trees and greenery.
>_______________________
>
>How about making fake fossils with plaster of Paris?  It is easy, kids love
>it, and ties in with unit.  You can use plastic dinosaurs, shells, leaves,
>etc.
>__________________
>
>It seems more "craftsy" than educational, but the following new book just
>arrived in our library:
>
>Ross, Kathy.  Crafts for kids who are wild about dinosaurs.  Millbrook
>Press, 1997. ISBN 0-7613-0053-8
>
>It's one of a craft series by Ross and has project titles like:
>        Pasta Fossil Plaque
>        Plate Stegosaurus
>        Triceratops Ring-Toss Game
>        Pterosaur Hat
>        Design-a-Dinosaur Art Box
>        and about 15 or 20 others.
>___________________
>
>This ends up looking like fossils, but not dinosaur.
>Martha Steward took ferns, placed them on cardboard, covered them with a
>beige, linen look fabric, and then hit them with a hammer.  After they are
>washed a few times, they looked like fossils.  It looked like a really
>neat and easy project.  Weren't there fossilized ferns from the dinosaur era=
>??
>
>=46or dinosaurs, how about a shoe-box diorama, or origami?
>_____________
>The only "fossil" idea I can think of would be papier-mache skeletons, but
>perhaps that's too advanced, unless the whole class did one skeleton, each
>child working on a few bones each. It would really be something if it could
>be assembled! The hardest part would be getting each piece to the
>appropriate scale.
>_______________
>This may be too elementary, but our second grade teachers teach fossil
>hunting (esp. for dinosaur fossils) by having children try to dig out a
>chocolate chip from a choc. chip cookie using a toothpick to show how
>carefully it has to be done and how long it may take...
>_______________
>
> diorama
>
>a 2D scene--cut out parts from old wallpaper sample
>
>a mural
>
>mobiles
>_____________
>
>Cheryl, there is a book entitled MOTEL OF THE MYSTERIES in which the
>drawings and the story take place I think around the year 3000+.  The
>story is based around an archaeologist who has made a unique find
>(reminiscent of Pompeii).  While we are our present time realize it
>is a motel...the future archaeologists misconstrue everything...  How
>about an activity where students pretend they are future
>archaeologists who uncover artifacts from our time?  They could
>sketch the object and tell what it is for.  If possible, find the
>book...it is a great and short read!
>___________
>There are pre-made sponges shaped like dinosaurs at our teachers' store.
>My kids will be doing a background of a mural and the younger ones will
>sponge in the dinosaurs.
>_______________
>
>I dont know how "arty" this is, but I used to have the kids make fossils
>with shells and plaster of paris.  We would use milk cartons from lunch,
>add the mixed plaster of paris, then dip a shell in cooking oil (makes it
>easier to remove from the plaster) and then push into surface of wet
>plaster.  Hold for a few seconds, but not too long! Gently pull out of
>plaster.  Good discussion on the two kinds of fossils.  Also a nice time to
>explain chemical reactions because the kids always ask why the plaster gets
>hot while it is drying!
>___________
>I love art projects and though I have never done clay it would seem like a
>natural medium--make fossil dino footprints.  Depending on how ambitious
>your teacher is--we had a 5th grade student a few years ago who did a
>claymation dino video (using a zap shot camera) which was pretty awesome.
>_______________
>This Friday I am doing a project with kindergarten about dinosaurs. The
>teacher and I are going to make sugar cookie batter the night before and
>roll it out. We will then give each child a square and they can cut out
>their favorite dinosaur free hand.  We will provide M & M so make the
>armour that some dinosaurs have and we will probably dream up some other
>decorations as well.
>
>I don't know if this is academic enough for your fourth grade, but all kids
>like to cook and eat.
>_________________
>I have a few French books about Dinosaur activities - make a paper mach=E9
>dinosaur (small - 6 inches long or so) and paint it; make a Triceratops
>mask with chicken wire and paper mach=E9 and paint it (or other dino heads);
>Make a 3-D dino mobile out of paper or cardboard; make your own fossils by
>pressing someting into a piece of clay (a leaf, a bone, whatever), surround
>the mold with a piece of cardboard about 1-2" high and pour some plaster of
>paris into the mold. Voila, a fossil! Or make a big collective prehistoric
>mural on a big roll of paper. Good luck!
>__________________
>A group of children at camp a few years back made "fossils" using plaster
>of paris poured into small round lids (I can't remember what the lids were
>from).  Quickly, a leaf was pressed onto the surface and removed leaving
>the imprint of the leaf in the plaster of paris.  When hardened, the
>plaster was removed from the lid and looked like a rock.  I guess you could
>paint or stain and chip the edges and it would look more like a rock.
>
>
>
>
>Cheryl King, Librarian, Agana Heights Elementary, Box DE, Agana, Guam 96910
>=46AX:     (h.) 671-563-1091     Phone:(h.) 671-563-1073   (w.) 671-477-3550
>E-Mail:  Cheryl.King@KUENTOS.GUAM.NET
>
>President, Guam Library Association
>
>GUAM-Where America's Day Begins!               =20
>
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Kathleen H. Fencil              Washington Elementary School
1220 Poly Drive                 1044 Cook Ave.
Billings, MT 59102-1715    Billings, MT 59102
tkfencil@mcn.net

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