Dinosaur Science Playlife magazine photographs

Dinosaur Science Play - Sensory Fun toddler, preschool, elementary

As part of our 6 week Dinosaur Unit we dived into some sensory science fun! It was such a huge hit with all my kiddos – ages 2, 5, and 7. It combined play, fun, sensory, science, and our exploration of dinosaurs . . .

The Sensory Bin

The bin itself was a large plastic storage tote (about 3 feet wide, 1.5 feet deep, and 1 foot tall). I filled the surface with baking soda. You can get it very inexpensively at Wal-Mart for about $0.50 a box! I used 2-3 boxes. This was the sand for the dinosaurs. I also added dinosaurs, an erupting volcano, and an interactive pond.

Erupting Volcano

The volcano was a small water bottle that I filled with warm water and a couple drops of red food coloring until only 2” were empty. Then I added 4-5 drops dish detergent. I put the lid on and placed it in the baking soda and surrounded it with a batch of homemade playdough (here is my recipe).

Note: If I had planned ahead more we might have covered it with paper mache or clay so it would have been a harder surface and we would have painted it darker as a contrast, but this worked. I actually sprinkled it with some spices to add some green and a nice smell.

When the kids were ready to make the volcano erupt I removed the lid and added 2-3 tab baking powder and 2 TAB vinegar. The kids were able to make the volcano erupt about 7 times – they loved this part!

Interactive Pond

I added a small plastic container filled with vinegar, blue food coloring, and peppermint extract (to mask the vinegar smell) to make the pond. The reason this was so interactive was that when the kids had the dinosaurs go in the pond they got vinegar on their feet which would cause a bubbling scientific reaction when the dinosaurs stood back on the baking soda!

The footprints were pretty cool too!

My kids were thoroughly enthralled with the chemical reactions first – wanting to see the volcano erupt over and over and giving each dinosaur extensive baths!

Then they actually began had more involved play with dinosaurs having families and running from the volcano. It was over 60 minutes of interactive FUN!

By the end of their playtime they had created some beautiful rivers and some lovely purple from the mixing of the blue pond and red volcano. I guess we got a lesson in color mixing too!

I recommend playing in play clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. My kiddos hands were slightly blue after their hour+ of play time, but they were back to normal by the next day. Their clothes also came clean, but again, I recommend play clothes or playing with the bin in the bath time in swimsuits.