Q-tip skeleton, noodle dinosaur bone craft, salt dough dino bones, spooky bone treats, and more!
The B O N E S theme came from my son wondering about dinosaur bones, and the human skeleton, and was perpetuated after an annual doctor’s visit when our lovely primary care physician lent us a book on human anatomy. If you choose to pursue this topic, ask your child(ren) what they already know about bones, what we call parts of our bodies that have bones (spine, shins) or where bones connect (elbows, knees). As always with the thematic programming at home, it’s great to start with some discussion questions to think about through the week (or weekend, or month, or however long you choose to focus on said topic), and head to the library to check out as many books on the theme as you can get your hands on. Another great way to plan for your theme is to search the keyword on Pinterest, or check my page for ideas. Start with these Human Body Activities for Kids, an awesome post by blogger I Can Teach My Child that includes tons of resources including art and STEM activities that relate to our theme.
Discussion questions (use these to start, and see what other questions your kiddos have on their minds):
- What types of animals have bones? Which ones do not?
- Why do we need bones? What do they do for our bodies?
- What happens if I break a bone?
- What do different types of bones look like?
- What is an archaeologist? Anthropologist? Paleontologist? What do they do?
R E A D I N G
Children’s books about bones (Amazon links. Really anything you can find after searching your topic at the library will work wonderfully):
- Bones In The Human Body! Anatomy Book for Kids by Baby Professor: Did you know that the body in your body have names too? This book is a collection of interesting facts that kids would find easy to learn. The key to influencing a child to study is to use interactive resource materials that will call and retain the attention.
- Jake’s Bones by Jake McGowan-Lowe: Jake McGowan-Lowe is a boy with a very unusual hobby. Since the age of 7, he has been photographing and blogging about his incredible finds and now has a worldwide following, including 100,000 visitors from the US and Canada.
- Bones: Skeletons and How They Work by Steve Jenkins: Caldecott Honor winner Steve Jenkins presents a fascinating look at the bones of the human body as compared to the bones of animals, and shows them off!
A R T
We found all kinds of fun bones art projects to explore, with a variety of media that connects to sensory stimulation as well (like ground coffee beans and dried noodles). Many tapped into kids’ innate excitement around dinosaurs! Check ‘em out:
- Dinosaur Craft by Loving My Nest: Needing to get rid of all those extra coffee grounds? Me neither. But this project is worth sacrificing a few. You child will use penne paste to build a dinosaur skeleton, and every excavated dinosaur skeleton needs dirt…
- Q-Tip Skeleton by Busy Bee Kids Crafts: This is such an easy craft, and super educational if you label all of the bones. Since this project addresses the whole human skeleton, I recommend simple parts for the youngsters, and older children can get more specific (radius, cranium, humerus, etc.).
- Easy Q-Tip Handprint Skeleton Craft by Crafty Morning: Another easy Q-tip craft. Just add white washable paint, like tempera. The difference between this and the above option is that this one asks you to trace you child’s own hand and arm, and focuses on specific bones in the arm.
S E N S O R Y & S T E M (science. technology. engineering. math.)
So many opportunities for sensory when you can incorporate touching bones (most likely pretend, but still…)
- DIY Dino Fossil Kit by Mom Always Finds Out: If you have as many plastic dinosaur toys laying around your house as I do, this one will be a breeze. This link gives a recipe for homemade chocolate playdough, but we just used the store-bought playdough we already had. Just know that playdough doesn’t air-dry well, so this is more of a “temporary art” kind of activity, and is really about the development of fine motor skills.
- Digging for Salt Dough Dinosaur Bones by Frugal Fun for Boys & Girls: I was torn about putting this one under “cooking,” or even “STEM,” but the point is, it covers many areas of learning. A simple salt dough recipe allows for kids to shape and form their own dino bones, and then you or them can construct a bone hunt in the back yard! Invite the neighbors over to join in the fun, hide, re-hide, repeat. The fun will last for hours!
C O O K I N G
While doing my usual Pinterest-hunt to find activities that suit the theme, I realized that there are lots of fun Halloween activities that tie well into this theme. If you stay home with your littles, that could be a great time of year to try these projects. I encourage you to search for other Halloween/”bone” recipes and comment below if you find anything great!
- Spooky Bone Treats by Simply Designing: This one is easy and just requires pretzels, marshmallows, and melting chocolate. And fixing the marshmallows to the ends of the pretzel sticks is great motor skills practice. Little ones love to get messy and help in the kitchen!
- 20 Super Cute Halloween Party Snacks by Woman’s Day Magazine: There are a ton of easy-prep ideas here, although most are Halloween-geared. My favorite is the veggie tray depicting a giant human skeleton- what a great opportunity to use different veggies to represent and discuss with your child many of the human bones, and it goes hand-in-hand (no pun intended) with a healthy snack!
F I E L D T R I P S
I’m still working on providing field trip ideas that are accessible by a variety of locations, but for now, the focus for my kids and therefore this blog is local, so if you’re in the Seattle area, you’re in luck! For Bone Week last summer, we were lucky enough to visit the Burke Museum near the University of Washington to see all kinds of amazing dinosaur bones. The museum is super kid-friendly, and has art areas, hands-on activities, and a very friendly staff that is always willing to answer questions. The best part? On the first Thursday of each month, admission is FREE and open until 8pm! So, plan Bone Week around that, for sure! They also have a Dino Weekend every March, where kids can dig for fossils in a dirt pit, dress up like dinos, make dino art, and touch real fossils and bones! It sells out fast, so get your tickets early.
If you’re outside of the Seattle area, here is a Reader’s Digest List of the Best Dinosaur Museums in the U.S. to get you started. I mean, if kids are learning about bones, obviously the coolest types of skeletons to see are those that belong to the dinos! It’s also a great introduction to professions like anthropologists, archaeologists, and paleontologists and how they make their living.
I admit, I wasn’t sure where the bone theme would take us when we first started…I think this was the very first DIY summer camp that we tried…but it was really fun and interesting! One thing that my oldest, Ronan, still refers to is the Jake’s Bones book and how that boy collected so many different, amazing skeletons from different creatures! As I’ve said, Pinterest is my life-line when it comes to planning these themed weeks, and I encourage you to start with some ideas listed in this post, and then find your own! And please let me know what you discover. I’d love to share it here!
Bonus! Check out this fantastic episode of Brains On! Bones from the inside out!
See also: Dinosaur themed activities for kids!
