Dinosaur Science
If there is a theme that captures kids imagination whether they are boy or girl it’s Dinosaurs and for Storybook Summer 2015 we’re kicking off with the theme The Land before time exploring dinosaur books and bringing them alive with fun activities and crafts for kids. Today I welcome Carla from Preschool Powol Packets to share some science fun for the book Dinosaur A-Z: For kids who really love dinosaurs! [affiliate link] by Simon Mugford and Robert Priddy. Now over to Carla…
I am super excited to be joining the Story Book Summer series with an incredibly fun dinosaur book and science activity! Not only does this experiment demonstrate some cool physical science, but it also uses large muscles, coordination, and problem solving!

Let’s start out with our storybook! We have had a ton of fun this week with Dinosaur A-Z: For kids who really love dinosaurs! [affiliate link] by Simon Mugford. It has a page for 26 dinosaurs (one for each letter of the alphabet) with fun facts about each highlighted dinosaur. Each page also includes pronunciation instructions! You can read it straight through (the text is perfect for preschoolers, but engaging for other ages), or focus on individual animals.
This experiment is all about Euoplocephalus (pronounced YOU-oh-plo-SEF-ah-lus)! Like Ankylosaurus, an adult Euoplocephalus had a huge “club” on the end of its tail. This club was strong enough to break bones on a Tyrannosaurus! We wanted to see how adding a big boney ball to the end of a tail could change how well it worked as a weapon.
Materials Needed
toy dinosaurs,
an 8-foot long piece of yarn,
and a ball (preferably with spikes!).

First we pulled out all the dinosaur toys and lined up the “meat-eaters” against Euoplocephalus. This sorting activity engages preschoolers’ analytical and reasoning skills as they sort out which dinosaurs were carnivores and which were herbivores. Alternatively, if you do not have a big pile of dinosaurs, you could make a block tower to represent your predators.
I explained that Euoplocephalus had a tail that was eight feet long, so we were going to use an 8-foot long piece of yarn to represent the tail. Each kiddo took turns trying to defeat the “attacking” dinosaurs with the yarn.

It was not very successful.
We brainstormed ways that we could experiment with a swinging tail better. The kids quickly realized that their tail was missing a club! So we attached the bony club to the tail.

Everyone was excited to try knocking down the carnivores again! It actually took them a little more effort than they expected, but each of the children (2-8 years old!) managed to save the Euoplocephalus!


Check out their success in action:
They loved swinging their giant tail into the meat-eating dinosaurs. They also loved swinging their giant tail throughout the house at anything they were allowed!
Of course, there were a few times when they did get a little tied up!

Throughout the day, they also brought toy dinosaurs back to the book to match up as many as they could

Do your kiddos love dinosaurs? Be sure to check out our
Be sure to check out our Fizzing Dinosaur Eggs, Salt Dough Dinosaur Coprolites, and our {FREE} Dinosaur Matching Activity Packet!
We absolutely love dinosaurs, and hope you have a blast trying out our dinosaur science experiment! Enjoy the rest of the Story Book Summer! And thanks again for having me over, Rainy Day Mum!
Happy Educating!!

Carla is a science teacher turned homeschooling mom who blogs at Preschool Powol Packets. She loves learning new things and exploring new places with her kiddos!
You can follow her and get more great ideas for young children on Facebook, Pinterest, Instag
Thanks again for having me over! This is a fantastic series, and we loved participating in it!
What a great way to make dinosaurs come alive! We love a good paleontology lesson here in our home. Thanks so much for sharing this creative idea with us.