Dinosaur Nests! Exploring Science and Nature

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Dinosaur Nests: Exploring how Dinosaurs raised and cared for their babies with a fun and messy sensory science activity!

This science activity for kids is a great way to get outdoors and connect with nature while exploring how and why dinosaurs built their nests the way that they did.

Dinosaur Nests! Exploring Science and Nature

This is also a fabulous activity for introducing the concept that dinosaurs laid eggs — it’s so easy to forget that those giant creatures started as babies too!

Items Needed for Dinosaur Nests:

  • Buckets
  • Mud
  • Items from a Nature Hunt (grass, sticks, leaves, etc)

We did this activity in junction with our exploding dinosaur eggs, so we also added in toy dinosaurs and our eggs to create a fun small world!

Dinosaur Nests! Items Needed to Create Your Nests and Small Worlds!

How To Make Dinosaur Nests:

To start out we talked about what a nest is and the two different styles of nests that Dinosaurs are known to have made (holes burrowed into the ground or raised mud nests). One thing I love about this project is that it really requires the child to stop and think like a dinosaur would as they decide what type of nest they want to build and why. 

Dinosaur Nests - Collecting Grass

Ask your child how they think a dinosaur went about building their nests. You will love the answers!

Dinosaur Nests - Collecting Grass

For our nests the kids decided to build raised mud dinosaur nests instead of burrowing holes into the ground (that made mama extremely happy)! For this we collected grass and a bowl of mud.

Dinosaur Nests are Made of Mud

One thing that amazes me is that when we do activities like our Dino Dirt, which happen inside, Meatball is super hesitant about getting his hands dirty. Step outside though and show that boy dirt…and there is no prompting twice!

Dinosaur Nests Mixing Mud

Maybe it helps for him to see how much fun all the other kids are having with it…mud pies…simple fun that can last hours!

Dinosaur Nests Mixing Mud and Grass

Before it came time to add in the grass and other items from our nature hunt we did take a brief {ok very brief} moment to sort through what we had found and discuss why or why not such items would work well for a nest. Then it is time to mix, mold, and find a safe place for your Dinosaur nests to call home!

Dinosaur Nests! Exploring Science and Nature

My kids voted on a notch at the base of a tree. Personally I think it was the perfect choice!

Dinosaur Nests! Exploring Science and Nature

We had an absolute blast not only creating our Dinosaur Nests, but incorporating them into some small world play.

KEEP READING!

Looking for kid activity posts similar to this one? Then be sure to click through the below links or head over to our Facebook fan page to continue the discussion!

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