I started the program by talking briefly about dinosaurs and giving some fun dinosaur facts. For example, no one has ever found dinosaur fossils in Wisconsin! Many kids said they were going to be the first to find them, so I tried to convince them to name their dinosaur after me. We will see if they follow through.
Next, I read "The Super Hungry Dinosaur" by Martin Waddell. My group definitely skewed younger and this was the perfect book for them. We all roared with the dinosaur and they even changed their roar as the dinosaur got more upset. It was awesome.
Then, I released them to the craft table after briefly explaining the project. Thanks to Sunflower Storytime for this great idea! I also used the template and instructions from Loving My Nest.
While we waited for the glue to dry, we read "Chalk" by Bill Thomson. I stopped the book right before the final few pages and told everyone to close their eyes and stay quiet while they thought about what they would do next with their chalk. Then, I passed out paper and markers and let them draw it out. They stayed pretty much silent throughout this whole process because they wanted to surprise their friends with their idea. The ideas ranged from making another dinosaur, to a sword, to steaks and nachos because they thought the dinosaur was probably just hungry like our last one. I had quite a few kids even guess the ending. I was very impressed with their creativity.
Then, we went back to our craft tables and sprinkled coffee on the artwork. Kids really enjoyed this part. They somehow managed to keep the floor clean, and they had a great time just smelling and feeling the coffee.
Once they were done with their art, I gave them a cookie in a small bowl with a toothpick. I instructed them to dig out the chocolate chips with a toothpick. A few older kids immediately said they were just going to eat the cookie. I told them I understood, but if they could get at least 2 chocolate chips out without breaking the cookie they would officially be a paleontologist. Surprisingly, it worked.
The program was a success with around 55 people attending. The kids were all extremely well behaved and I couldn't have asked for a better group!
Oh my gosh, this is awesome! We have a dinosaur program at the end of the month (focused on HOW DO DINOSAURS..) and I am going to steal so many of your ideas! :D
ReplyDeleteI've also been looking for a way to incorporate more wordless picture books, so I love how you are using CHALK here - it's a great tie-in and way to get them really engaged in creating and imagining the story.
Thank you so much for this! :D
Thank you! Feel free to use any and all of them.
DeleteI love wordless picture books and they can definitely be challenging, but the group really loved this one. They had so many creative ideas on what they would do next with the chalk. It was my favorite part of the program!
Nice! This looks as though it turned out to be wonderful! Good Job!
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