7 Adventurous Dinosaur Books

By Mariah Bruehl,

 

We are all about dinosaurs in the studio right now and thought it would be fun to share our favorite dinosaur books with you! As we are covering specific topics such as dinosaur bones, dinosaur eggs, and exploring the different species, these books cover everything we need to know and are fun for all ages to explore!

 

1. Dinosaurium curated by Chris Wormell and Lily Murray

This beautiful big book of dinosaurs lists all you need to know about dinosaurs species, from children’s favorites such as the Tyrannosaurus Rex to lesser known species such as Tsintaosaurus. The book features input from dinosaur experts and paleontologists to make it a stunning, informative, book for all ages.

2. 1-2-3 Dinosaurs Bite! by American Museum of Natural History, Illustrated by Steve Jenkins

Watch the pages disappear as Dinosaurs have sunk their teeth in each one and have taken a bite! This fun book comes to life as each page is filled with the amount of dinosaur bites to match the number on the page. This makes it a fun book for practicing counting as well as trying to guess which dinosaur is biting each page!

3. Dinosaur Atlas by Anne Rooney & James Gilleard

Everything you need to know about Dinosaurs is featured in this child-friendly Atlas with fun facts and illustrations. Kids can unfold maps, lift flaps to reveal facts about dinosaurs, famous paleontologists, and the most up to date theories. This atlas is perfect for any child who wants to know everything you can know about all things dinosaurs!

4. Dinosaur A to Z by Dustin Growick

This big catalog features more than 150 dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures in alphabetical order to not only give a lesson to children about different species of dinosaurs, but to practice their ABC’s. This big book of dinosaurs is filled with colorful illustrations while also drawing comparisons to sizes, colors, and characteristics to different species.

5. Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones by Byron Barton

This bright colored story introduces children to the study of paleontology as they follow six paleontologists finding and digging up dinosaur bones and bringing them to the museum. The vibrant illustrations and simple text is perfect for little ones learning about Dinosaur Bones!

6. Dinosaur Eggs by Jennifer Dussling, Illustrated by Pamela Johnson

Take a journey with dinosaur hunters on an expedition in South America to find fossils of birds from when Dinosaurs walked the Earth. However, the expedition takes a turn when the hunters come across hundreds of fossilized dinosaur eggs. This is a great transition book for children to begin reading all on their own with an informative look into learning about dinosaurs and their eggs.

7. ABC Dinosaur by American Museum of Natural History

Developed in conjunction with Paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History, children can practice their ABC’s while learning about a different Dinosaur from each letter of the alphabet! From Apatosaurus to Zupaysaurus, each page includes information about a different dinosaur while also helping preschoolers practice their ABC’s in a fun way!

 

 

More to Explore

 

Join us over at the Teachers’ Lounge and enjoy access to our complete unit on Dinosaurs!

 

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Dinosaur Investigations

By Mariah Bruehl,

 

Description

Learning about dinosaurs can be very exciting for children, and often times they end up knowing more about dinosaurs than the adults do! Use our fun printables to guide children as they begin to identify the names of different types of dinosaurs and learn interesting facts about these prehistoric beasts. How big was a brontosaurus? How much did a tyrannosaurus rex weigh? What did stegosaurus eat? Browse through books, or visit a natural history museum if you’re lucky enough to have one in your area, and absorb as much information as you can. A favorite way to use this guide in the Playful Learning Studio is to have plastic dinosaurs in a sensory bin with the laminated guide nearby.  Children enjoy matching the dinosaurs in the bin to the pictures on the guide.

Also enjoy our dinosaur three-part cards! Three part cards are a classic Montessori tool, used to aid children in learning vocabulary and new information. There are many ways they can be used including, matching, playing memory, or playing a “Go Fish” style game. A favorite in the Playful Learning studio is to match a collection of toy dinosaurs directly to the cards.

 

Materials

 

Books to Inspire

 

More to Explore

 

Join us over at the Teachers’ Lounge and enjoy access to our complete unit on Dinosaurs!

 

* This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.

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Eat the Colors of the Rainbow

By Mariah Bruehl,

Description

Eating foods of many different (natural) colors is a sure way for your body to get all of the nutrients it needs to stay healthy and strong. Invite your children to use our Colors of the Rainbow printables to create a colorful grocery list and document the foods they consume each day.

Being aware of the choices we make is a positive step towards building healthy eating habits and developing a positive relationship with food!

Materials

Books to Inspire

 

More to Explore

 

You can enjoy our complete Food for Thought unit over at the, Playful Learning Teachers’ Lounge!

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New Year Reflections and Intentions

By Mariah Bruehl,

Description

When this time of year comes around, it’s nice to connect as a class or a family by reflecting on the year that has passed and envisioning the one we have before us.

With this in mind, we’ve created two inspiring printables to help facilitate this process…

Our Year-End Reflections lesson is an invitation to record our life events, both big and small. From important life lessons and beloved memories, down to our favorite foods and books—these are all features of the year that or worthy of documenting and fun to look back on.

Next, visualize the year ahead and put your ideas into action! Remember, the more specific you can be when setting goals, the better! The first step is taking your big-picture dreams and breaking them down into actionable steps—one intention at a time. It’s the small accomplishments that create a sense of well-being for children and grown-ups alike.

Spend some time imagining what it will feel like to accomplish your goals. Draw a picture of what it would like and feel like to once your goal comes to fruition.

Once you’ve shared this experience, find a creative way to save everything until next year. Then, you can reflect on your growth and celebrate your accomplishments!

Materials

Books to Inspire

 

May 2018 be filled with play, inspiration, and creative endeavors…

Happy New Year!

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Winter Haiku Poetry

By Mariah Bruehl,

 

Description

Celebrate the beauty of winter and nature by trying out a classic, three-line Japanese poem called a Haiku. This type of poem requires the writer to count the number of syllables per line; there are 5 syllables in line one, 7 syllables in line two, and 5 syllables in line three.  Younger children will enjoy clapping out each of the syllables in words, and older children learn that each syllable within a word must have at least one vowel.

Before writing the poem, we suggest heading outside to embark on a nature walk. Take a bag with you, because your child will want to collect wintry items like evergreens, berries, and twigs. Once inside, explore the treasures and identify words that describe the sights, sounds, tastes, feelings and emotions that these objects evoke. Cut apart the words, play with the number of syllables, and compose your winter Haiku. As an extension, grab your favorite art materials and illustrate your poem!

Materials

Books to Inspire

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The Human Body

By Mariah Bruehl,

 

Description

Identify beginning letter sounds while learning about the human body. Children cut apart a letter strip and match each sound to the correct picture.  Do you have wooden or magnetic letters on hand?  Deepen your child’s understanding of letter sounds by using them to make the words on the printable. We love to pair this experience with corresponding plastic figures. It’s fun to put them in a mystery bag and then match each one with the image in the printable.

 

Materials

 

Books to Inspire

 

Join us over at the Teachers’ Lounge and enjoy access to our complete unit on The Human Body!

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All About Leaves

By Mariah Bruehl,

 

‘Tis the season for appreciating leaves as they change color and gracefully fall from the branches… What better way to join in on the fun than with some leaf counting and leaf observations?

 

Description

Math is everywhere! For this activity have your students find the numeral under each tree; you may want to cut the printable up so that each tree is on it’s own card. Once they find, and identify the number have them count out the corresponding number of leaf gems or stickers and place them on the tree. Some of our members have also used painted leaf rocks and finger paints to add leaves!

You can also enjoy our, Complete the Leaf activity. Start out by collecting some leaves in your backyard or on a walk. Observe each leaf carefully with a magnifying glass and notice the small details like the veins and margins. Next, invite your child to incorporate the details they observed by drawing the second half of the leaf.

 

 

Materials

 

Books to Inspire

 

You can enjoy our complete leaf unit over at the, Playful Learning Teachers’ Lounge!

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Phases of the Moon

By Mariah Bruehl,

There are few things in life as constant as seeing the Moon at night, yet what seems most predictable about the Moon, is the cycle of change that it experiences month after month. Children are naturally curious about the Moon and the mystique that it holds, which makes it a great entry point for learning about cycles in nature and how-to observe change over time.

Capturing the moon together also inspires a sense of being connected to something larger than oneself…

Description

Learn why the moon seems to change shape during the course of a month. Children may use a white gel pen or play dough to create the moon phases and then label the parts. For some added fun, look up the current monthly moon calendar on Farmer’s Almanac. Invite your children to observe the subtle changes first hand.

Materials

Books to Inspire

 

Join us over at the Teachers’ Lounge and enjoy access to our complete unit on Outer Space!

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Exploring the World Through Flags

By Mariah Bruehl,

Playful Learning: Flags of the World

Current events provide great entry points for playful learning experiences. The Olympics offer many educational opportunities for young children. Some possible themes for exploration are: geography, flags, national anthems, introduction to different cultures, teamwork, and the list goes on… In preparation for the Olympic opening ceremonies, we thought it would be fun explore flags around the world!

Start out by generating a list of the countries that your have personal connections with. We started with nine countries that either we’ve been to, or know someone who lives there. Next, cut out the flags from those countries and glue them on the on the world map (see printables below). As the Olympics progress, you travel to new places or current events unfold, continue to add flags of the your countries of interest!

Printables

Playful Learning: Flags of the World Playful Learning: Flags of the World

Materials & Resources

• Flags of the World – Pictures and Maps
• Flags of the World – Printables
• World Flags – Video
• World Flags – Online Game

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Starting a Book Club for Children

By Mariah Bruehl,

Playful Learning: Staring a Book Club for Children

One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is a love of reading…

Yet, as many of us know, it doesn’t necessarily come easy. Even with our best efforts and intentions, it can be hard to figure out how to spark and maintain an interest in reading with our children.

When our daughters where in approximately 2nd and 3rd grade a small group of us moms decided start a book club. This endeavor turned out to be a wonderful experience, with memories that will last a lifetime! Adding the social element to reading, was just the inspiration the girls needed to stay actively engaged in reading outside of school. They couldn’t wait for the next book club meeting and loved discussing the nuances of each book together with their friends.

I also loved the fact that the other parents in the group became such wonderful role models for all of the children who participated . Our book discussions evolved into important life discussions…

While instilling a lifelong love of reading within your child can feel daunting at times, forming a book club for them is an achievable and rewarding thing you can do right away. And, your child will appreciate your effort for years to come.

Here are some tips on forming a book club to help you along the way:

  • Encourage all of the children to make book recommendations and spend quality time flipping through and reading the descriptions of the suggested readings together as a group. The process of selecting good books is a valuable lesson in and of itself. It’s also great to set-up a time to meet with your local children’s librarian. Call her ahead of time and ask her what she recommends for the age, level, and interest of your group.
  • Start out by talking about things you can share as a group during book talks (see printable below). The elements mentioned in the printable are great comprehension strategies that good readers use. They help young readers to know what to look for when reading and make for great discussions.
  • Have each child create their own reading journal. Explain that their journals are a place they an draw illustrations of scenes from the book, write down questions they have as they are reading, keep track of new vocabulary, record their favorite quotes and passages from the book, and more! It’s helpful to paste the book discussion printable below on the front page and the vocabulary printable on the back pages. You can find our favorite notebook supplies, here.
  • Provide sticky notes! Ask the children to mark their questions, comments, favorite words, etc. as they read, to share with the group each week.
  • Rotate the meetings at each other’s houses. For each meeting ask the child who is hosting the event to be in charge of coming up with a fun activity that the group can do that relates to the theme of the book. Learning how to host friends in your home is another valuable life lesson…
  • Enjoy the process! Let go of preconceived expectations and know that more than anything, quality time with your child is the best gift you can give.
Book Clubs: Book Discussions Book Club: Vocabulary


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