Hi Janelle

I'm afraid I don't work in a Natural History Museum. At the Science Museum
in London I'm more used to trying to come up with ideas about forces and
motion, but I DO have lots of ideas for working with children generally and
under 7s in particular, so, untried though they are, below a few ideas:

*       how about measuring: kids love to measure. Young kids start with
non standard measures and comparing things, so what about things that are
shorter than a thigh bone, things that are longer than whatever other bones
dinosaurs have! Older kids might like to actually measure some of the bones
and measure each other. Really smart kids may be able to cope with some
simple "scale" activities.

*       how about some design activities: These could be silly things like
designing a poster for a dinosaur dig (bony writing etc) or a  dinosaur
trap, or could be more serious like designing a tool that allows you to dig
for bones without damaging them

*      Have dinosaur prints ever been found/preserved? You could try making
plaster of paris foot prints.(Very messy!) How can you preserve animal
tracks? How can you tell which creatures made which tracks? (matching game,
less messy!) You can use playdough without too much hassle.

*       Dinosaur poems are good if you want adult led events.

*       Don't know what your loss rate is but some construction kits could
be good for dinosaurs. Would K'NEX give you a whole bucket full of kit?
They do a lot of exhibitions in museums and seem OK about the product
dispersing!

I've been offf the list over Xmas so you may have been inundated with ideas
already but hope this helps.

Jo

Jo Graham
Audience Advocate (Early Years)
Wellcome Wing Exhibition Development Team
Science Museum
Exhibition Road
LONDON SW7 2DD
Tel: 0171 938 8128
Fax: 0171 938 8079