Dinosaur Egg Excavation

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Invite your preschooler to pretend to be a paleontologist with this scientific invitation to explore. 
Preschoolers will love this scientific investigation that also supports developing perseverance, and attention to detail. 

Materials

You will need a few materials to create this invitation to explore. Some materials are optional but recommended for safety purposes. The safety equipment protects children in case of an accident and also supports them as they learn that safety equipment is an important part of work for paleontologists as well as other professionals that work with potentially dangerous materials. 

Suggested Materials:

• ​Safety Goggles
• Wooden Mallets, brushes and other excavation Tools (if your set doesn't have them included)
• Activity Trays
• Dino Eggs Excavation Kit (or DIY your own)
• Dinosaur Word Wall Cards included in the Dinosaur Activity Pack from PKPF
• Spray bottle with water (optional to ease excavation)
• Explorer hat (fun, but optional)
• Magnifying Glasses (optional)

Invitation to Explore

This invitation is simple to create. 
Activity trays are a great tool for this exploration as it keeps the materials in one space (and off the floor) and helps to contain the mess. 
Each tray should have a dino egg and excavation tools. Our kit came with a little chisel and a brush. Magnifying glasses and word wall vocabulary cards (included in the Dinosaur Activity Pack from PKPF). 
At this stage invite your preschooler to guess which dinosaur they think is in their egg. As parts of the dino emerge they can make changes to their predictions. 

Each child was given a paleontologist hat (Dollar Tree) for fun and Safety Goggles for safety. This presented a good opportunity to talk about safety equipment. We talked about the reasons for use during this activity including use of chisels and hammers as well as the dust. 
We also talked about other professionals that use safety equipment in their jobs. 

Perseverance and Patience

These eggs took a lot of effort to crack. 
Preschoolers are practicing perseverance and patience as they work to extract the dino from the egg. 
After some time if they are struggling, they can use the spray bottle with water to soften the material. 

A Dino Emerges!

As the dino starts to appear encourage your preschooler to revise their prediction. What dino do they think it is now? Why? Encourage them to recall information they know about dinosaurs. Which dino has a head with this shape? Have they seen a photo of a Parasaurolophus? Show them the excavation guide (if included) with the included dino species if needed to support their thinking. 

Success!

Finally, success! The Dinosaur is completely extracted! Now to confirm the species. 

The kit we purchased came with a handy guide. This made it easy for the preschoolers to identify their creature. 

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Extension Ideas

There are many different ways to extend this activity! 
Use your child's interest in dinosaurs to invite them to engage in a variety of learning activities in all domains. 
Find a all kinds of different activity ideas on the PKPF Dinosaur Lesson Planning Page

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