As part of a small discovery area, designed for children 3-8 years in
the Children's Museum, Museum of Victoria we constructed a pictorial
ruler for children to measure their height against that of some
dinosaurs.

Alongside the numerical height measurements were images of dinosaurs and
other animals children are familiar with to give them a point of
reference and comparison, ultimately addressing the notion that not all
dinosaurs were huge creatures, but that they themselves were are
actually taller (bigger) than some dinosaurs were.

In an earlier reply, Janelle mentioned the idea of providing children
with a image or mural they could poke their head through and have a
photo taken. This is an idea used often, but few use mirrors to allow
children to see themselves with their new identity. If you are going use
this approach, it would be great to also include a mirror. If floor
space is limited, I have also seen mirrors used for this purpose
suspended from the ceiling, so that you could look up and see yourself
looking like a dinosaur while keeping the mirror off the floor, keeping
valuable floor space free.

Hope this helps.

Scott Killeen
Project Officer
Children's Museum
Museum Victoria
PO Box 666E
Melbourne Vic 3001
email: [log in to unmask]

> ----------
> From:         Joanne Kluessendorf[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Saturday, 20 December 1997 1:31 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      interactive dino ideas needed
>
> Janelle,
>
> Things I have done myself and seen elsewhere include:
>
> Simple bones that form sideview of dino skeleton cut out of foamcore
> with
> velcro on the back which can be arranged on a carpted portion of wall
>
> paint dinos of appropriate proportion with holes cut out where heads
> would
> be and let children poke theur heads through the holes to be
> photographed.
> Or have a T. rex head like this with mouth agape that lets the child
> poke
> his head out of its mouth, looking like he/she was about to be
> swallowed-you can get great theatrics from children in this situation
>
> Make fossils using the really inexpensive clear plastic plant drip
> pans
> (can be re-used), pour in thin layer of plaster of paris (colored if
> you
> wish) and have children impress leaves bones, etc. in it.  This has to
> be
> allowed to dry before popping out of the planter but works well if you
> have
> a 2-3 hour dino program.
>
> Using air-dry home-made Play-Dough-like clay, roll clay like you were
> going
> to make cookies, cut out dino shapes with cookie cutters (have these
> done
> or let kids do) and then let kids paint them with water-based paints
> the
> way they think dinos might have looked in real life
>
> Have sheets of paper with simple Mesozoic landscape line drawing drawn
> on
> them and let kids use dino rubber stamps to add dinos to the scene
>
> Also, check with the dino-robot supplier.  Sometimes they have an
> education
> division that can give you suggestions and even supply items.
>
> Joanne
>
> Dr. Joanne Kluessendorf
> Dept. of Geology, University of Illinois
> 1301 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801  USA
> phone: (217) 367-5916; fax: (217) 244-4996; e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>