Buy power-ups and become a mighty dinosaur!
Spark your child’s imagination with this fun dinosaur-themed activity! Using a limited amount of money, children will use addition and subtraction to decide which powers they’d like to buy to add to their dinosaur. Then, they’ll be rewarded by getting to reenact the characteristics that they purchased, transforming into the unique dinosaur that they created all by themselves!
📚 Books to explore: How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen, Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems, and Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs! by Sandra Boynton.
🖌️ Be as creative as you’d like! Feel free to let your kiddo really get into the character by dressing up or even painting their faces!
📷 Document as you go. Grab your camera for the acting out portion of the activity for some guaranteed adorable moments!
Materials
For this activity you will need:
Printable dinosaur powers
Printable money
Scissors
Learning Outcomes
Domain
Cognition
Skills
Completing simple number operations
Indicators:
Adding and subtracting one from a set
Instructions
Step 1:
Print out the two printable sheets and cut the money out.
Step 2:
Show the dinosaur powers sheet to your child and explain the different options.
Step 3:
Have the child count the money that they have. Then, ask which one power they would like to purchase that they are able to afford.
Step 4:
After a power has been chosen, have the child purchase it from you by counting out the money and handing it to you.
Step 5:
Encourage the child to act out the new power that they just purchased.
Step 6:
Repeat steps 3-5 until the child cannot afford any more powers.
⬆️ For older kiddos: Have the child start with less money so they have to really think through which powers they would like. You can also have them purchase all of the powers at once instead of one by one for a harder math challenge.
⬇️ For younger kiddos: Help your child with the math portion of the activity and place more emphasis on the power selection and performance.
Playful Questions
How much money do you have left?
What noise does a dinosaur make?
How many types of dinosaurs can you name?
Which power should you get next?
How big is a dinosaur?
