1 In the gallery
ADULT-LED
Create dinosaurs from found and natural materials, in two and three dimensions.
Planned learning intentions
To work as part of a group, taking turns and sharing fairly
To build and construct with a wide range of materials
To respond in a variety of ways to what they see, hear, think and feel
To use talk to organise and clartify thoughts, ideas, feelings and events
Adult:child ratio 1:4-6
Resources
Images of dinosaurs; dinosaur small-world figures; a range of materials to build with - milk crates, ropes, cardboard tubes, cable reels, sturdy boxes, pine cones, nuts, stones and twigs, etc; digital camera
Activity content
* Explain to the children that you are going to create a dinosaur sculpture gallery in the outdoor area. The dinosaurs can be of any kind, including those that they have invented!
* Ask the children to help you gather the materials and, once outdoors, give the children time to explore them and discuss how they might be used.
Some of the children will already be developing ideas about how the dinosaurs might be made. Make time to discuss these ideas and share them as a group. The children can use the images as reminders, if need be, but should not be encouraged to follow them slavishly.
* Help the children decide what they would like to build. (Be aware that this may change and evolve as the building continues.)
* Support them during the building process, but respect their ideas and ways of representation. Some groups might want to build upwards in three dimensions, others by laying artefacts and materials on the ground to create more of a pictorial image.
* Observe the building process carefully. Listen for the kinds of language that are used, and for the children's ideas being made explicit through their interactions and conversations with each other.
* Photograph the results.
Stepping stones
* Children with little experience will make three-dimensional structures.
* Children with some experience will begin to describe different textures.
* Children with more experience may choose certain colours to use for a specific purpose and may experiment to create different textures.
Extension ideas
* Where possible, leave the dinosaurs outside for a while so that the children can see them all together.
* Make a gallery of images of the dinosaurs that have been created by displaying your photographs indoors, thus linking the indoor and outdoor environments.
* Encourage the children to tell stories about their own and the other dinosaurs.
* Encourage the children to represent their dinosaurs in a variety of ways - for example, through drawing, painting and music-making.
2 Designer dinos
CHILD-INITIATED
Create dinosaur costumes from sheets of fabric.
Resources
Large sheets of fabric in a variety of 'dinosaur' colours (provide both plain and patterned fabrics); lengths of rope for tails; pegs (to attach tails to waistbands) and lengths of ribbon to use to fasten the fabric; container in which to store the fabric
Play suggestions
* Handling and talking about the fabrics.
* Using the fabrics to create a variety of dinosaur costumes.
* Developing role-play scenarios.
* Telling stories.
* Making accessories, masks, etc.
Things to say and do
* Offer appropriate suggestions to enhance the children's play. What kind of adventure might the dinosaurs be having? Can you make up a story like any of those we have read? (See Top ten titles, page 6.)
* Ensure that the children have easy access to the resources that they need to feed their play, such as paper and card for making masks.
* Find time to show a variety of excerpts from the BBC series Walking with Dinosaurs so that the children can mimic a range of dinosaur behaviour - although they will probably all want to be a T-Rex at some point!
* Scribe the children's stories and read them back so that they can act them out.
* Chalk a 'dino theatre' in the outdoor area, a special place where children can act out their stories for one another.
Possible learning outcomes
Uses imagination in role play
Comments on the features of the different fabrics
Uses mathematical vocabulary to solve problems
Responds in a variety of ways to what they see and feel
Uses talk to organise and sequence ideas and feelings.
Negotiates roles
Makes up their own stories
3 Off the wall
CHILD-INITIATED
Provide resources for the children to create a fantastic dinosaur drawing on a large scale. Note that this activity requires a certain amount of preparation on the part of the adults, but the result will be open ended.
Adult:child ratio An adult can work with a large group to begin with, then the children can access the resources independently
Resources
Magnetic chalkboard and blackboard paint; large piece of hardboard - the bigger the better; selection of playground chalks; magnetic dinosaur pieces - these can be made using laminated images from the internet, or children's drawings, or a combination of both, with magnetic tape stuck to the back; piece of wall or fencing to attach the hardboard to!
Preparation
* First paint the hardboard with magnetic paint and allow it to dry. Then paint over with the blackboard paint. You now have a magnetic blackboard to use for a range of activities outside.
* Fix the blackboard securely to a wall or strong fence at a height that is appropriate for the children to stand at comfortably.
* Obtain two lidded containers suitable for use out of doors. Place the magnetic pieces in one, and the chalks in another.
Play suggestions
* Drawing a background for the magnetic dinosaur pieces to inhabit.
* Making up stories with the magnetic dinosaur pieces.
* Sorting and ordering the magnetic dinosaur pieces.
* Making large story maps.
* Representing episodes from role play and from small-world play through drawing.
* Collaborating on a huge work of art.
* Exploring colours.
Things to say and do
* Soak the chalks in water, so that the children can create a different effect on the blackboard.
* Add laminated photographs of the children (with magnetic tape on the back) so that they can draw themselves having an adventure with the dinosaurs.
* Listen to the stories that the children tell as they draw. Write some of them down.
* Make time for the children to show each other their artwork and to discuss it with their friends.
Possible learning outcomes
Uses story language
Experiments with colours
Uses a range of mathematical language
Captures a range of experiences with art materials
