Hatching Dinosaur Egg in Nest: Project #9 of 300 Crafts for Kids in 2011

KIDS CRAFTS PROJECT #9: Hatching Dinosaur Egg in Nest

Crafts for all abilities!

for Ages 3 Years and Up

♥ An Impressive Craft for Preschool Children! They will be so proud! ♥

Supplies Needed:

• Tin Foil - aluminum foil
• White glue
• Newsprint paper, drawing paper or construction paper
• Clay or play doh (we used Crayola Model Magic)
• Egg carton (cardboard or Styrofoam)
• Paint brushes
• Poster paint
• Newspaper (to keep work area neat)

Time Needed:
30-45 Minutes plus paint drying time in between

What To Do:

To Make The Dinosaur Egg:

1. Cut out 2 egg cups from your egg carton. These will be the top and bottom of your dinosaur egg.
   
   
   
   
2. Paint the inside and outside of the dinosaur egg in any color(s) you want! Use your imagination! Hint: we used different kinds of brushes (foam, textured, rope) to have some fun with this. We also used the top of the egg carton as our paint cup.
   

   

   Using the top of the egg carton as our paint cups

   

   We used a variety of different paint brushes.

3. Once painted inside and out allow to completely dry. If you used a Styrofoam egg carton, you will notice that some of the paint will chip off. That's fine. We saved the paint that fell off and put it in our nest. We thought it looked like crumbled leaves.
   
   

To Make the Baby Dinosaur:

1.  Create the shapes as shown below & attach the pieces to create the baby dinosaur. Many young children will be able to make the basic forms. You can reshape them slightly if necessary!
   
   • Head: make a circle and reshape into an oval.
   • Eyes: 2 small ball shapes. Add googly eyes if desired.
   • Body: large oval
   • Tail: roll a hot dog shape and then pinch and lift the end upward
   • Arms & Legs: roll 2 very short hot dog shape
   • Hands & Feet: make a small ball and then press down with thumb to flatten. Pinch 3 times with fingertips to create the 3 claws on each foot/hand.
   Hint: Use clay or play doh that you don't mind letting dry. We used the Crayola Model Magic but it took a long time to dry and cracked anyway!
2. Allow to dry completely: about 24 hours.
   

   

   We used Crayola Model Magic in green and blue.

   

   We used this TRex as a model.

   

   Follow these shapes.

   
   

   

   Completed baby dinosaur.

   
   

   

   Two Completed Baby Dinosaurs. We added a nose and smiley mouth.

    
   To Make the Dinosaur Nest:
   

   1. Tear off a piece of tin foil approx 1 foot long.
   2. Crinkle up the ends carelessly all the way around by just grabbing a few inches to the edge and closing your hand into a fist.
      
      
      
      
   3. Reshape slightly to make it look round.
   4. Pull off 2 feet of tin foil and fold in half (shiny side up).
      
      
      
      
   5. Place over your beginning nest with nest centered underneath.
   6. Press down with your fingertips in the center and press down into the round nest shape underneath.
      
      
      
      
   7. Fold remaining tin foil underneath the nest.
      

      

      One of our dinosaur nests.

      
      
   8. Repeat steps 4-7 one or two times until you like the size of your dinosaur nest.
   
   
   To Fill the Dinosaur Nest:
   

   1. Using the paper of your choice (and color of your choice) cut into long strips. They can be uneven, thin, wide, whatever!
      

      

      Paper strips we used.

      
      
   2. Liberally apply white glue (Elmer's Type) back and forth, up and down, inside the nest.
      

      

      Application of glue to interior of dinosaur nest.

      
      
   3. Apply the paper strips to the inside of the nest, one at a time. These should not be overly neat looking!
      

      

      Application of glue over paper strips.

      
      
   4. Apply glue over the paper and add another layer of paper strips to the inside of the nest. If any pieces hang over too much just tear them.
      

      

      Nest with paper filling.

To Complete:

1. Place your two egg pieces inside the egg. Glue them down when you've decided on the location.
   
   
   
   
2. Place the baby dinosaur inside the nest.
   
   
   
   
3. Glue any additional paper strips inside the nest to fill.
4. Let dry and enjoy this amazing accomplishment!
   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   We also covered a lemon play food toy with the Model Magic to create this egg. We also added a giant TRex footprint, just for fun!

For Older Children: An older child can further enjoy this project by creating the dinosaur completely on his own, trying to copy a picture or model of a specific dinosaur. An older child can also use some modeling tools to shape the facial features and even create the looks of scales on the dinosaur.

For Children with Special Needs: Assist your child as much as needed - but allow it to be his project.  Art projects are great for fine motor exercise, and using creativity.

If you child needs assistance making the dinosaur shapes you can cover his hands with yours and show him the motion to use. You can also have him cover your hands with his so he can feel what you are doing to create the shapes.

If your child can not tolerate messy painting, you can just cover an object with the clay like we did for one of ours (shown above).

If your child is not able to cut the strips of paper they can also be torn instead. The nest will look great this way too!

This opportunity for hands-on learning with no wrong choices is ideal to foster self esteem as well.

Why We Love Crafts for Kids: Art develops creative thinking, provides means of communication and self expression, increases self understanding, strengthens self concepts and confidence, serves as an emotional release, provides decision-making opportunities, develops appreciation for the individuality of others, aids physical coordination, develops work habits and a sense of responsibility, heightens aesthetic awareness and sensitivity, and generates joy!

Associated Educational Activities:

• Talk about eggs. What comes out of eggs? What does it mean to hatch? How does the baby animal get out of the egg?
  
  
• Read your child a book about eggs. How about "What's In The Egg?" by Innovative Kids
  
  
• Learn about & see actual dinosaur egg fossils
  
  
• Learn how dinosaurs took care of their eggs and their babies.
  
  
• Use these dinosaur coloring pages to learn the names of dinosaurs.
  
  

PLEASE POST IN COMMENTS your opinion of this kids craft, if you enjoyed it, other ideas that may be similar and PLEASE Post any photos of your finished project to our Facebook Page!

Related Links:
3oo Crafts for Kids
Kids Crafts: Crafts for Preschoolers
Kids Art Supplies

Dinosaurs
What's in the Egg Science Book
My First Painting Set

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