J has become quite interested in dinosaurs lately, so I planned a bunch of dinosaur themed ideas for the boys to explore. I really wanted to incorporate dinosaurs into a math related activity since J is obsessed with all things number related. The end result was this dinosaur count and stamp activity.
Materials
- 10 paper plates
- Dinosaur stamps
- Stamp pad
- Permanent marker
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| The invitation to stamp and count dinosaurs. |
The Invitation to Play
I chose to set up this activity for J while K had his afternoon nap. The object is to practice counting (not that J needs any practice with that) while stamping the corresponding number of dinosaurs on the plate.
J excelled at this activity, as I knew he would. However, I found it extremely interesting how, as he progressed through the numbers, he would grab the corresponding number of alphabet blocks from his wooden ABC puzzle and lay them next to the plate. If you look closely in the pictures, you should be able to see what I am talking about.
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| A close up of two stamped dinosaurs. |
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| Getting ready to stamp. |
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| "Oooh, a pteranodon." Lately, J has been calling all dinosaurs (other than a T-Rex) a pteranodon. |
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| Looking closer at the dinosaur stamps. |
Once he was finished stamping, J engaged in some other types of play using the paper plates. First, he laid all the plates on the floor, saying the number names as he saw them.
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| Laying out the paper plates. |
Then he lined them up in numerical order.
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| Nice line! |
Then he saw a block from a cube puzzle and started rolling it onto the plate. He was really hilarious to listen to at this point. He kept cheering himself on and saying things like, "Aw, I missed it. Try again." It was a delight to watch.
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| "I got it, mom!" |
Finally, he lined up the plates to form a hopscotch (he does love hopscotch!) and placed a block from the cube puzzle on each plate.
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| Hopscotch formation. |
This activity lasted way longer than I could have possibly anticipated. And I plan on recycling the paper plates for a craft in the future.