A new provocation theme in the air,
keeping it a secret won’t be fair,
journey through our Toy Blocks Dino Park and you will see,
what fun exploring can be….

Our little paleontologists were in full swing to readily get their hands and feet on the dinosaur exploration and excavation. Created for diverse and meaningful play, activities were for children to explore and excavate together. The park was a completely immersive experience for the kids as they explored dino characteristics, habitat, lifecycle, nesting, hatching, food, lifestyle, movements, and physical characteristics, the sounds they made, the fossilization, and imprinting in historical terms as they explored the world of the extinct dinosaurs. They were transported and exposed to the prehistoric world of dinosaurs and their habitats.

Provocations are of various forms, they’re intended to evoke thoughts, ideas, and actions that aid to expand on a theme. An obvious yet important aspect of the Reggio Emilia approach to childcentric education. Provocations provide the freedom and invite children to experience the world for themselves through open-ended, hands-on activities with the guiding presence of the educator
or parent. They are created to encourage children to express their ideas and develop their interests through actions.

Dino Lays
Dinosaurs, the extinct animals, birthed through laying eggs. The dino lays station allowed children to explore the foiled eggs with hidden baby dinosaurs inside them. Placed inside nests, children were curious about these shiny eggs. They unfolded these textured eggs, focused on the sound of the crackling foil, and recognized the baby dinosaurs inside. The foil crumbled and they developed their fine motor skills, children hatched the dinosaurs in the grassland by opening up the laid eggs. The concept of the lifecycle was presented in its natural environment to enable the child to associate with the learning naturally and holistically.

Egg Hunt: Fizz, Melt, & Break
An extension to the lifecycle and sensorial eggs, the egg hunt activity involved searching and exploring different textured eggs. The exploration involved three more types of eggs for the children: Frozen Eggs, Fizzy Eggs, and Jelly Eggs. All of these taste-safe and child-friendly eggs allowed for different methods of exploration involving science concepts, inquisitiveness, and presence of mind.

The kids melted or broke the frozen eggs to discover the visually colorful dinosaur babies, allowing them to be curious about the other textures. Children used spray bottles to bubble up the green, fizzy eggs and experienced the sensorial fizz as they broke the gooey eggs to search for more dinosaurs. Exploring various mediums and scientific concepts through imaginative and visual hands-on experiences. The process of the hatching of eggs was explored further with translucent, taste-safe, pink, and soft jelly eggs that gave the children a glimpse of the dinos inside. The cues and associations allowed for a systematic understanding of cracking open and hatching eggs. Out of rushed curiosity, kids also used excavation tools to hatch the eggs and birth baby dinos. Adding an element of mystery, the idea to open up and hatch the textured eggs allowed for their imagination to be inspired. The intrigue and mystery of the experimentation and setup excited children to diligently hatch or rescue the colorful baby dinosaurs.

Enhancing their social experiences, children were observed interacting amongst each other as they joyfully communicated about what they discovered.

Child: “Oh look! I got a green Dino!”

The other child expressed his excitement on discovering a red dino from the other egg by grinning widely at the first one and handing the red discovery to him.

Dino Fossil Excavation
A make-believe Dino fossil park was created for the kids in the sandpit area. The idea of excavation was to explore the fossil park which was filled with hidden fossils, hidden eggs, dino bones, and dino body parts underneath the sand. As tools for digging and scavenging were spread around the area, kids dug through the sand and unwrapped all the hidden eggs. Discovering a way to their
own glory, kids made all the baby dinos meet their Mummas, and marched forward to paint some dino feet fossils, leaving a dino imprint on their hearts too!

Sliding into the fossil zone next!