RANDOMNESS - While it is fresh on my mind, I wanted to share something with y'all.
When I have a Nana B Job, depending on the month, I do specific activities.
For example, April is Bug Month, Plant Month and Dinosaur Month.
Tonight I want to share a very inexpensive, fun Dinosaur Day you can plan with your kiddos and their friends.
First, this is a movie day, so you can watch The Good Dinosaur or any other dinosaur movie your children will enjoy.
While the movie is playing, you can prepare their Dino-licious Lunch!
You will need the following:
Dinosaur plates from Walmart ($.97)
Dinosaur napkins from Walmart ($.97)
Dinosaur cups from Walmart ($.97)
Hamburger buns
Peanut butter
Syrup or honey
Shredded lettuce
Ranch dressing
Dinosaur fruit snacks
Green Hawaiian Fruit Punch
Basically, I make a dinosaur footprint sandwich...
Or as I like to call it, Dino Drool Sandwich. Just a swipe of peanut butter and a drizzle of syrup (that's the drool part) on a hamburger bun and you're good to go.
I place the sandwich in the middle of the plate, surround it with shredded lettuce and a couple of squirts of Ranch dressing here and there on top of the lettuce.
The dinosaur-shaped fruit snacks make perfect dinosaur toes.
For some reason, the Dino Juice doesn't have to be explained. The kids accept that it is bright green...
As it should be.
Interrupt the movie when you finish preparing lunch, and call them to the table.
Oh...
For the record, this is a herbivore-friendly lunch. Carnivores are not welcome.
Plus, it helps hold down the cost. Peanut butter versus dinosaur-shaped chicken tenders.
You do the math.
I know what you're thinking.
"That isn't a dinosaur plate."
That is correct. I set this up tonight, and I used all of my dinosaur plates last week.
Please use your imagination.
You're also probably thinking, "Those dinosaur-shaped fruit snacks look like Gummy Fiber Supplements."
Again, I used what I had at the house tonight. Dinosaur-shaped fruit snacks are very popular with my clients...
And me.
I may or may not have eaten several of them on the way home from jobs.
Please don't judge.
After lunch, they can return to the movie while you clean up lunch and set up the rest of the activities.
You can choose two or three from the following:
Foil Dinosaur Painting - Tear a sheet of foil, gently wrinkle it and spread it out. Let the kids paint volcanos, dinosaurs, trees, etc. on the foil. Use inexpensive poster paints from Walmart or The Dollar Tree.
Make Fossils - I buy the Party Bag of Play-Doh and use one container per child. On a piece of wax paper, write the child's name and let them mash the mound of Play-Doh into a circle.
Have two or three plastic dinosaurs nearby. Let the kids press the dinosaur feet into the Play-Doh, but NOT all the way through to the wax paper. Step lightly!
Later that afternoon, place the wax paper and Play-Doh on a cookie sheet and bake it for three or four hours at 200 degrees. I know that's a long time, but you've already served them a very nutritious lunch...
So you do NOT have to cook dinner!
It's a win-win!
You can give them their fossils the next morning at breakfast.
NOTE - This particular activity takes all of 30 seconds to complete, but they enjoy it very much.
Dinosaur Caves - This is the same thing as making a fort using blankets and pillows, except it's a huge cave. They will want to leave the cave in the middle of your den for several days. It will be up to you how long the cave remains.
Find Dinosaur Eggs - Get those plastic Easter Eggs out of the closet. In each egg, put a strip of paper which has a question or a dinosaur behavior for the kids to answer or follow. Hide the eggs in the yard, let the kids find them and take turns opening them one by one.
Here are a few examples:
1. Roar like a T-Rex three times.
2. Stomp like a dinosaur ten times.
3. Run to the tree like a dinosaur. (They have to run holding their arms to their sides. It's harder than it looks.)
4. Name three different types of dinosaur.
5. What is a carnivore?
6. What is a herbivore?
7. Go to the nearest tree and gather ten leaves.
8. What is the name of a flying dinosaur?
9. Fly around the backyard like a Pterodactyl.
All of the kids can participate in the behaviors. It doesn't have to be just the one who found the egg.
Okay.
That's it.
These activities have all been kid-approved and when you throw in lunch AND a movie, the children are ready for a much-needed nap and you can have two hours to yourself.
And that's good, because you deserve it!
Take care, and I'll talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
The Enchanting Belinda
P.S. Here are a few pics from this past week...
Sweet Judith.
Mike had an out-of-town business meeting Tuesday through Friday, and I tagged along.
Can you guess where we went?
I'll post more about the trip next week.
Austin and Melia.
A childhood friend of Austin's got married in Huntsville today, and I was able to attend.
Beautiful day.
Beautiful wedding.
Congratulations, Zac and Ashley!
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