tiffanyjanephoto: Dinosaur Camp

There has been a few dinosaur themed events that have come to town and it made me want to take advantage and learn about dinosaurs with my kids. It kind of led to a slight obsession with dinosaurs which is fine by me! I'm sick of Power Rangers and Avengers. I can totally support dinosaur love though! I organized a little dinosaur camp over Spring Break, although it didn't work out quite as planned. We only got to have our friends over to join us 1 of the 3 days. The activities that we did do, however were really successful and I wanted to record them so I could recreate if ever needs be. Here's our Dino fun!

This exhibit comes to town every year. It's called "Discover the Dinosaurs". We gave it a try, but considering that it was $22 a child, and way overcrowded, we won't be going back. It was a fun one time thing to do, but didn't win me over to come back every year. We did get some sweet pictures riding dinosaurs though!

Probably the funnest part of Dinosaur camp was the egg hatching activity. I tried all different recipes for eggs and put them all in a sensory bin with some sand, tools, and toys. I also put some geode crystals in there to break open. Here's the supplies and set up:

Here's the 2 excited kids:

And here's the fun times:

Baking Soda Eggs:
-Baking soda
-Water
-Food coloring
-Vinegar to make them hatch

Add the desired amount of baking soda to a bowl, then add food coloring. Stir. SLOWLY add in water. If you use to much water, they will never fully harden. Form dough around small dinosaur and mold in the shape of an egg. Let harden overnight on a cookie sheet. Use vinegar to fizz and hatch.

Real DINO rocks:
-1/2 cup coffee grounds
-1/2 cup salt
-1/2 cup sand
-1 cup flour
-1 cup water

Stir dry ingredients. Slowly add water, being careful not to add to much. Form mixture around small dinosaur toy and shape into an egg. Preheat oven to 250 and bake for 15-20 minutes. Turn oven off and leave to dry overnight. I had to turn mine over and let the other side dry out too.

Ice Eggs:
Place 1 baby dino inside of a balloon. 1 dino per 1 balloon. Fill with water and tie tight. Place in freezer overnight to freeze. Once frozen, cut balloon off and you will have a frozen dinosaur egg. These were my kids favorite ones!

Some of the more successful activities we did: