Dinosaurs - Lesson 1: Long Ago
ACTIVITY: Thumbprint Dinosaurs

Objective
Students imagine and make dinosaur shapes and color them.

Materials

• One package of uncooked rice
  
• Blue, purple and yellow food coloring
  
• Heavy cardboard
  
• Three containers with lids, for rice
  
• One sheet of construction paper per student
  

Procedures

1. Make blue, purple and yellow-colored rice with food coloring: Put rice into three separate containers; put several drops of each of the different food colors into separate containers; mix the contents in each container separately to get the desired color.
   
2. Use heavy cardboard to make the dinosaur templates. Use any one of the dinosaur patterns in Appendix A - Dinosaur to make a template.
   
3. Make the dinosaurs thumbprints:
   
   • Lay the template on construction paper
     
   • Brush glue on the construction paper, inside the template
     
   • Choose colored rice for dinosaur's color
     
   • Pour rice within the template and let dry
     
   • Pour excess rice back into the appropriate rice container.
     
4. Students design different-colored patterns to give texture and color to the dinosaurs.