We took the girls to the beach over the weekend for a dinosaur dig. Our kindergirl is learning about dinosaurs in school and was told that "dinosaurs lived a long time ago in Kuwait and are buried under the ground."
She wanted to try and dig some up and I thought that would be a great opportunity to scaffold what she is learning in school and extend it beyond the classroom to different environments and ideas.
So we took some buckets, shovels and other digging materials and her toy dinosaurs (for inspiration) and headed to the seaside. The beach in Salmiya off Balagat Street has some nice clean spots and plenty of parking. I had saved some chicken bones from a meal last week and when we got to the beach I buried them while she was distracted playing near the water. It then took me a bit of subtle suggesting to get her dig in the spot where I'd buried them but after a while, she finally dug up the bones.
She was so excited and happy to have found the 'baby dinosaur bones' and after we got home and cleaned up, we compared the bones with the different types of dinosaurs in her picture dictionary. She then drew pictures of dinosaurs, herself digging and the beach in her journal and wrote words to go along with the pictures (she's not quite yet able to write sentences).
Regarding learning outcomes, my only goal was to give her a chance to think about dinosaurs beyond school and to practice using the dictionary (she had to use the contents to find the section on dinosaurs) and to practice her drawing and writing. We got the added bonus of spending an hour plus outside in the fresh air. Her younger sister also enjoyed digging in the sand, playing on the edge of the water (still way too cold for swimming) and generally enjoying a day at the beach.
She wanted to try and dig some up and I thought that would be a great opportunity to scaffold what she is learning in school and extend it beyond the classroom to different environments and ideas.
So we took some buckets, shovels and other digging materials and her toy dinosaurs (for inspiration) and headed to the seaside. The beach in Salmiya off Balagat Street has some nice clean spots and plenty of parking. I had saved some chicken bones from a meal last week and when we got to the beach I buried them while she was distracted playing near the water. It then took me a bit of subtle suggesting to get her dig in the spot where I'd buried them but after a while, she finally dug up the bones.
She was so excited and happy to have found the 'baby dinosaur bones' and after we got home and cleaned up, we compared the bones with the different types of dinosaurs in her picture dictionary. She then drew pictures of dinosaurs, herself digging and the beach in her journal and wrote words to go along with the pictures (she's not quite yet able to write sentences).
Regarding learning outcomes, my only goal was to give her a chance to think about dinosaurs beyond school and to practice using the dictionary (she had to use the contents to find the section on dinosaurs) and to practice her drawing and writing. We got the added bonus of spending an hour plus outside in the fresh air. Her younger sister also enjoyed digging in the sand, playing on the edge of the water (still way too cold for swimming) and generally enjoying a day at the beach.
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