When I was in second grade, I dreamed of becoming a paleontologist, inspired by my fantastic teacher who brought our lessons to life by saving chicken bones in plaster for us to pretend to dig out. That early experience sparked a fascination with dinosaurs and hands-on learning that has stayed with me ever since. Now, I am thrilled to share a collection of dinosaur fine motor activities for preschoolers, designed to engage young minds and develop essential skills through playful exploration and discovery.
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Dinosaur Lesson Plans
Dinosaur Sensory bin
Dinosaur Small World Play
Kinetic Sand is captivating. It can lead to hours of sustained play (yes, please!) and promote creativity and imaginary play.
It’s the perfect base for a sensory bin, especially during a dinosaur theme!
Prepare an inviting prehistoric sensory bin with Kinetic Sand, plastic dinosaurs, bones, sparkly blue gems, and trees.
Then, the stage is set: Invite your preschoolers to create realistic dinosaur scenes within the sensory bin. Everyone will have fun!
Materials:
Crack the Dinosaur Eggs
Dinosaur Fine Motor Activities
When I think of Crack the Egg, the terrifying feeling of flailing while suspended above the trampoline comes to mind. You know the one. The ominous feeling when your siblings finally flung you high enough into the air to make you fear for your life and let go of your legs.
This dinosaur activity is not that, but it sure brings back fond (?) memories.
There will be no flailing. Just fine motor skills hard at work while your preschoolers “crack” these numbered dinosaur eggs using hole punches.
Materials:
Lava Balance STEM Challenge
Dinosaur STEM Challenge
The dinosaurs actually had to worry about the floor is lava!!
And unfortunately for them, no couch cushion or bar stool could save them.
I guarantee that if you play “The Floor is Lava” song before doing this activity, you’ll build a core memory for your littles, so just go ahead and do it.
The object of this dinosaur STEM challenge is simple: save the dinosaurs from the lava using only six cups and six popsicle sticks. How many dinosaurs can you save?
Materials:
Making Dinosaur Fossils
Dinosaur Fine Motor Activities
You’ll never guess what the secret ingredient in these salt dough fossils is.
Nope, it’s not sand.
Drumroll, please! It’s coffee grounds.
Make the salt dough recipe below during school to get those hand muscles kneading away!
Then, roll your sandy salt dough and press your plastic dinosaur skeletons to make your own fossils.
Warning: When dry, very fragile.
Materials:
- 1 cup of used coffee grounds
- 1/2 cup cold coffee
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup salt
- plastic dinosaur skeletons
- wax paper
Fizzy dinosaur Eggs
Dinosaur Fine Motor Activities
For this next dinosaur activity, you’ll want to grab that massive box of baking soda (the one that makes you wonder what on Earth someone would need that much baking soda for).
Fill your cupcake tins about one-third full of water and stir in vibrant food dye. Then, stir in the baking soda (this is the part where you need the mega box). Finally, smush those plastic dinosaurs inside and freeze your cupcake tin.
Each student will only need one fizzy dinosaur egg because releasing their dinosaur takes quite some time (and quite a lot of pipette squeezing).
The fizzing, the freeing of the dinosaurs, the fine motor skills – what more could you ask for in your dinosaur fine motor activities?
Materials:
- muffin tin
- water
- food coloring
- baking soda (big box)
- plastic dinosaurs
- pipettes
- vinegar
- freezer
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