Field Trip - The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

The only reason to bother bringing your camera to the Burke Museum is to take pictures of the cool totem poles on the building grounds.

And this time of year the cherry trees are in full bloom and the "quad" on the University of Washington campus is spectacularly beautiful.

There is actually some amazing stuff inside the museum but no photos are allowed flash or no flash.  For me that's really frustrating, not only because I like to share on my blog but I like to talk about them with my kids, they can use them to tell their dad things they learned and what highlights they saw. Since I'm on the subject of frustrating things there, parking is a problem. I would highly recommend the bus.  Not only is it hard to find a spot on campus but the pay structure is weird.  You pay $15 up front and they refund a portion of that when you leave, did I mention at least 15mins is required circling to find a parking spot? Lastly, I wouldn't take children to the bottom floor, besides being very formal there are some scary masks and things that could be the things nightmares are made of.

OK, now my frustrations with the place are out there, it does have merit.  Especially if you've got a dino lover.  My favourite exhibit for kids is permanent one - The Life and Times of Washington State. A lot of full-size dinosaur skeletons (stegosaurus, triceratops and more) and prehistoric skeletons (Woolly Mammoth/Mastodon, giant ground sloth, saber toothed tiger and more). There are also some real fossils that you can be hands on with and in the same room puzzles and activities related to dinosaurs.  Several years ago our playgroup organized a tour there and that was definitely the best way to see the museum and a docent helps the children stay interested in things.  There is a little section on volcanoes that has interesting back-lit pictures of lava, volcanic structure and world volcano locations.  My boys also loved a climb in replica of a cave, caused by a rhino being trapped in lava (found in Eastern WA).

A current fun traveling exhibit is called "Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway."  The kids liked the bright colours and style of the artist, they actually stood and looked at some paintings for several minutes.  Not just because of the cheeseburger hunt (count the number of hidden cheeseburgers in the exhibit). It did keep them occupied in an otherwise hand-off exhibit (something my boys always struggle with) and allowed me to really check out the art.

The museum has GREAT online resources! Field Guides, and a kids learning center with games and info.

Paper Mache part 2

Now that our creations are dry - usually overnight, unless the paper mache is really thick, these are about 3 layers of newspaper over the balloon. Oh and what did we make? Dinosaur eggs. You could also actually stuff the balloon with a toy dinosaur if you'd like it to "hatch" at some point.

A great paint tray is the plastic bubbles the apples come in at Costco, it washes out easily and can be reused over and over, plus has plenty of spots for colour mixing.

We also made volcanoes again, because you can never have enough volcanoes, right? They are easy - use a funnel underneath the paper mache as the volcano mold, a plastic one will be easy to pop out of the bottom. Make it as bumpy or smooth as you like, lava in the form of dripping paint looks great either way.

Diggin' up Bones

This activity I highly recommend, thank you Aunt Geigy and Grandma Jacobs for the Christmas gift that gave hours of entertainment. A block of sand packed with dinosaur bones, messy but cool and even comes with tools for the dig. Also nice was the easy assembly of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The mess was minimal because of the aporns and Jelly-roll pan.

puzzled

Is this really for ages 3 and up? I think you need to be a trained Paleontologist...can't really recommend it, although it does look cool half finished.

Dino Museum

So after you dig up some fossils, what do you do? Take them to a museum of course! So after yesterday's dig, E created his own, complete with guided tours :)

Digging for Dinos - again

This time we had the perfect archiological site at our post-construction house. The dollar store had these (all-one-piece-perfect for 4-yr-olds) dinosaur skeletons. I buried them and E and C uncovered them with their friends. Then they buried them again, then uncovered them again, and again and again. OK I admit kids and dirt go together like Saturday morning and pancakes, but this activity was a big success!

the boys have been really into volcanoes lately, they want to learn everything there is to know about them, sing about them, talk about them, act them out, hear stories about them (fiction and non-fiction), play about them. they love to run around, "the volcano is rumbling, it is about to explode, run for your lives!!" "the hot lava is coming, run for it." we even learned how to do a volcano in a yoga pose! (see below)

Easy craft:
supplies - brown/grey, orange/red, and black construction paper, chalk for smoke, dino stickers or cutouts (optional)
1st: rip triangle from brown for mountain, glue on black
2nd: rip shreds of red/orange for lava, glue on mountain
3rd: use chalk to add "smoke"
4th: add stickers/cutouts if wanted

great books:
VOLCANOS: Usborne Beginners, Stephanie Turnbull
Jump into Science: Volcano!: Ellen J. Prager and Nancy Woodman
When Sophie Gets Angry, Really, Really Angry: Molly Bang

yoga pose: (http://www.yogakids.com - love them)
When to use: When you feel like bursting or exploding, use the volcano to let off steam.

How to do: Sit in a chair or stand up. Place your palms together at your heart center (Namaste pose). Breathe in as you watch your hands rise up over your head. Breathe out as you explode your arms outward. Make big, blasting volcano noises. Lower your arms to your sides and return your hands to the Namaste position. Repeat the sequence several times, erupting like a volcano.

Benefits: Children learn they can manage and blow away anger, frustration and yucky feelings by exploding in this noisy pose. It provides a way for children to release anger in peaceful ways.

digging for dinos

some dino bones and dirt gave us over an hour of entertainment. i hide the "bones", gave each boy a shovel and the search was on.