Dino rescue

Dino rescue is a sweet little project that can keep kids busy for a while and help them learn that water is able to take many forms but is still water. Our boys played this rescue game at one birthday party when they had to rescue dolphins using water guns. After that, they wanted to play palaeontologists and set free some dinos. But the question was -what do we need to make ice? 

Materials:

  • ice
  • dinos
  • clear plastic container
  • freezer
  • paintbrushes, hammers, and/or water guns
  • safety glasses (if you go with a hammer)

 

Step 1. 

I prepared a few cubes of ice, and we talked about the cycle of water. Here are some of the questions we discussed:

Describe the ice. What does it look like? Feel like? 

What is the ice made of? How do you know? What will happen if we leave it out on the table?

How is ice made?

 

Then we left the ice for some fifteen minutes. When we got back, it was almost completely melted. 

It was time for another set of questions:

What happened to the ice? Why?

What is in the cup?

Describe the water. What does it look like? Feel like?

 

When we learned that water turns into ice and vice versa, the boys got the idea about how to make their dino rescue.

Step 2.

Choose the dinos for the rescue. 

Step 3. 

Put the dinos in a container filled with water, and place it all in a freezer overnight. Doing this activity outside during wintertime makes it even more educational because children can observe what happens with water in nature. 

Step 4. 

Take the block of ice out of the container, and the play can begin. I would recommend rescuing the dinos somewhere outside. If not, use whatever you have to protect your floors from getting wet.

For a prolonged activity, paintbrushes and some warm water might be a good idea. It took our boys ages to set the dinos free using these. 

On the other hand, hammers are much more fun. It is essential to have the kids wear protective glasses in this case. We used our skiing goggles. 

This project can be a great introduction into a discussion about global warming and the ice caps. I think I can smell a new project :)