The Great Dinosaur Excavation

Ace is a busy boy and busy boys need things to do, and tv all the time just isn't going to cut it and playing in the water (while super fun) just is a bit too wild ALL THE TIME... so more concentrated activities are being sought out to keep Ace entertained, educated and exploring! I've been on the hunt for fun things for him to do and I happened upon Counting Coconuts and came across a post about excavating dinosaurs. I knew that would be a great activity for Ace and so I got to work freezing dinosaurs in layers.

Today was the day! I set Ace down outside at his table after his nap and he was very excited... as you can see. He didn't know what we were going to do and he was wiggly with anticipation when I brought out the frozen bowl of dinosaurs. We talked about the tools we had and how warm water melts ice and how salt can help. I had two kinds of salt to let him experiment to see which worked better. He had a blast.

It was a family affair and we all got in on the fun 'brushing' away the ice and working to get the dinosaurs out. While he was excavating, to keep his attention we read his Curious George book about the Dinosaur Museum. He was so thrilled when he finally could get that first one out, and the excitement didn't wear off. He was a tad concerned and voiced that he didn't want the dinosaur to bite him when he was unleashed from his frozen grip... hehe we had a good time imagining, learning about dinosaurs, learning about ice melting and just having fun! He overall had a great time playing and excavating his dinosaurs for well over an hour.





After they were all lined up, Ace came inside and read another dinosaur book with his dad. He asked when he could do it again, so I believe that we can call this activity a success! And it cost me? Nothing! :)