Our wonderful Boxasaurus project was inspired by Bug. We are enjoying some child led, project based learning right now in our homeschooling, and we are learning so much about dinosaurs. We hope you are inspired by our Boxasaurus Dinosaur Project Based Learning Activity.
Dinosaur Project Based Learning Activity
Bug is totally getting into the whole “My Project” thing. We have recently moved into the world of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals. While pouring over some prehistoric ZooBook Magazines my mom lent him, Bug came up to me with a activity guide (which I didn’t know was in the set) saying, “This is what I’M doing next for my project.” He wanted to make a Boxasaurus. Sure, sounds like fun!
We spent several days collecting boxes of various sizes. We raided the garage, basement, recycling bin, etc. Once we had a decent collection it was time to start designing the dinosaur. Bug spent some time just stacking and sorting until he decided to make a T-Rex (not surprising).
I helped him assemble the boxes. He did the glue and I taped the pieces in place to help hold them until the glue set. At this point his Boxasaurus project serendipitously tied in with this week’s Unplugged Challenge theme Balance. The T-Rex was very front heavy and had to lean against the wall until we got the tail in place. What a great lesson in balance and a perfect hands on lesson as to one of the reasons why many animals have tails! He wanted a longer tail on his Boxasuarus but that in turn made him back heavy. In the end we found the perfect balance of tail length to support the head and arms.
Next came the whole family production (and I do mean PRODUCTION) of painting the Boxasaurus. Since painting outside was out of the question (neg 10 not factoring wind chill), we cleared the furniture from the kitchen, set down some plastic bags (lol) and set up shop to paint. Good fun was had by all. AND Thank goodness it was a weekend and Daddy was home to carry the kids directly up to the tub while I cleaned up. The floor was a showcase that would have done Pollock proud. Fortunately Bamaboo cleans up so well!
Once dry, eyes, teeth and glitter (hehe, a well dressed Boxasaurus) were added. We had so much fun with our Dinosaur Project Based Learning Activity Boxasaurus!
Comments brought over from Wee Folk Activities:
man, you are the best mom
Submitted by Lori (not verified) on Tue, 01/20/2009 – 22:16.
man, you are the best mom ever. :^)
Oh, I’m glad the floor
Submitted by Meg (not verified) on Tue, 01/20/2009 – 20:33.
Oh, I’m glad the floor cleaned up well…I scrolled through the pics before reading, and went, "Eek!"
my girls love dinosaurs!!
Submitted by This Girl Loves to Talk (not verified) on Tue, 01/20/2009 – 16:30.
my girls love dinosaurs!! they would love this project.. i throw out boxes though as our house is so small… maybe I might have to start keeping some 🙂
Lovely to see kids start and
Submitted by Melitsa (not verified) on Tue, 01/20/2009 – 11:07.
Lovely to see kids start and continue to the end of such a big project 🙂 What a lot of fun. Hope you have lots of pictures
LOL – I’m not sure what a
Submitted by Michelle (not verified) on Tue, 01/20/2009 – 08:41.
LOL – I’m not sure what a Boxasaurus eats for breakfast. The kids were feeding him packaging peanuts that we removed from one of the boxes.
He has been in the house for several days now and he has made me jump twice. The kids keep moving which room he is in and it is startling to have such a large object in a place you aren’t expecting. The Pixie girl refused to go into the dinning room yesterday once it was getting dark out due to the scary dino. I think he may be moving to the basement shortly. 😉
Kristen, had to laugh at the thought of my house being sooo clean. That is seldom how I think of it… although it doesn’t look too bad in the photos. Actually what stands out the most to me is our lack of moldings. We laid the floor two years ago and still haven’t gotten around to getting new moldings up.
What a memorable project!
Submitted by Yelli (not verified) on Tue, 01/20/2009 – 02:38.
What a memorable project!
Ooooh, I am LOVING that
Submitted by Christie (not verified) on Tue, 01/20/2009 – 02:33.
Ooooh, I am LOVING that project. Right up our alley. I am not sure I’d have the room to even make it but I may have to consider it when we do dinosaurs with our preschool group. Way cool!
Hmm…what exactly does a
Submitted by Gammy (not verified) on Mon, 01/19/2009 – 23:44.
Hmm…what exactly does a Boxasaurus eat for breakfast? Am I correct in assuming meat? Perhaps it could eventually become a giant pinata?
Great project, but what I
Submitted by kristen (not verified) on Mon, 01/19/2009 – 22:37.
Great project, but what I like best is that your house is sooo clean and you let your kids do a messy activity in it. Good for you!!
Awesome!
Submitted by JoAnn (not verified) on Mon, 01/19/2009 – 14:02.
Awesome!
Wow, what a project! I love
Submitted by Mom Unplugged (not verified) on Mon, 01/19/2009 – 11:51.
Wow, what a project! I love the balance lesson about tails that came into it too. You are very brave for painting something of this scale in your house, but I agree, bamboo floors are marvelous! Great project!
Wow I love your huge
Submitted by Naomi (not verified) on Mon, 01/19/2009 – 11:37.
Wow I love your huge boxosaurus! Have to admit the space issue occurred to me too, then I felt really mean! I take pictures of stuff as well so I don’t feel so bad when things get a bit…umm…in the way. And you’re right, they often have a way of finding their own way into the recycling bin. We once had a huge box that was a car for way too long, but eventually wasn’t loved any more.
THIS IS GREAT!!!! I love that
Submitted by Dayna (not verified) on Mon, 01/19/2009 – 11:20.
THIS IS GREAT!!!! I love that you son picked the project and then the great lesson of balance came up. That is a bit of science I bet he will never forget. What a super mom for letting the kids explore and learn on their own terms. So fun! I want a dino to feed 🙂
That’s fantastic!
Submitted by Lisa (not verified) on Mon, 01/19/2009 – 10:34.
That’s fantastic!
Sherry… LOL isn’t that
Submitted by Michelle (not verified) on Sun, 01/18/2009 – 19:59.
Sherry… LOL isn’t that always an issue? What to do with all the stuff.
A lot of the stuff we make we put up for a time and replace it with the seasons. This is mainly the paper crafts. The kids seem to be ok with this. Right now the windows are covered with snowflakes that replaced the leaves from the fall. Since I change other decor around the house at the same time it makes sense to them. I clear out the nature table seasonally too.
I try to have the kids make some permanent stuff like ornaments, doll clothes, quilt squares that are keep sakes. I think this is a big thing for them. They are used to using some materials that make more permanent things (fabric, yarn, etc). Most of the paper, cutting, gluing, painting is about the process and they are happy to move one thing off the fridge to make room for the new one.
Other stuff like the Dino (we seldom do stuff on this big of a scale) will be a play thing. They were feeding him today but before long they will probably be less careful and they will turn him into a slide, mountain, etc. He will eventually make into the recycle bin having served more than one purpose.
For my sake… because let’s face it, we will look back more than they ever will, I take photos of everything. I even have photos of stuff the kids drew on their magnadoodles (Bug wrote his name for the first time on a Magnadoodle). Aren’t digital cameras great! I also have some binders that I use to keep some special drawings.
Cool Dino! My son never
Submitted by Sherry (not verified) on Sun, 01/18/2009 – 16:19.
Cool Dino!
My son never wants to throw away ANYTHING that he makes. How have you handled display/storage of the art accumulation over time? …especially of large items like the dinosaur?
WOW. My kids will love this project. We will start saving boxes. BTW, I love the looks of your floor. How do you like bamboo? We’ve been considering it.
Hmm… I get asked about my bamboo floors a lot (which we have in three rooms)…
After 3.5 years here are some of my observations of my bamboo floors.
PROS…
-LOVE the LOOK!!! They truely are amazing looking.
-ECO-friendly (I try my best here… when I can)
-Cheap!!! That was a biggie… we were remodeling on a very, very tight budget.
-Easy to clean.
CONS…
-Slippery… more so than any other hardwood I’ve ever been on. My poor dog hurt his hip when we first installed the floors.
-Dents/scratches very easily. Fotunately the floors are the same color all the way through so you don’t really see the scratches like in a traditionally finished hardwood BUT when the light catches it from an angle it is a criss/crossed mess. The dog nails are a problem (he never hurt our old oak floors).
-KEEP away from water (ie it was a bad idea to put in our kitchen). They warp very quickly (we’ve had to replace several boards) and even though they are supposed to be mildew resistant… I don’t believe that now… so I guess this put bamboo on par with other hardwood.
HTH
seriously awesome. my boys would love to make one of these.