Here’s an idea to get your students excited about playing outside on an icy day and maybe even awaken the inner oologist in them!
Some children are happy to play outside on a cold day. Others need a bit more encouragement. To help everyone have a great time, I like to create a little mystery and excitement. One of my favorite icy day provocations is to make dinosaur “eggs”.
To make the eggs, stuff small plastic dinosaurs into balloons. I’ve used water balloons and regular balloons. Water balloons are designed to pop easier so sometimes the expansion of the water during freezing causes them to pop. That’s usually not a big problem. I always make more than I need. Be sure to make enough so you have at least one egg for every child. Don’t fill the balloons with too much water. Keep them small so they are sure to freeze overnight.
Since the weather forecast predicted freezing temperatures over the weekend, we made the eggs on Friday after the children had left and carefully arranged half of them in our rock box. The first group of children to go outside on Monday morning got a huge surprise!
Half of the eggs I had left on the picnic table over the weekend to freeze. Some of the balloons had popped during freezing. I didn’t use those balloons at first because I wanted the children to wonder what kind of eggs they were. I hid these eggs from the first group of children in our storage shed. Before the second group of children came outside, I very carefully arranged these eggs in the rock box for them to discover.
When the children came outside, I said, “I’ve found eggs in our garden!”
“Where?” they asked.
“Come with me, I’ll show you!”
The children were very excited to see the eggs in the rock box. They wanted to know how they got there and what kind of eggs they were. Success! The inquiries had begun! One child said they were Easter eggs because they were brightly colored. One child said they were balloons, not eggs. One boy said, “You laid those eggs, Ms. Breedlove!” You just can’t fool some children for long.
They scrambled into the rock box and began picking up the eggs. Just by touching them, some of the balloons broke open.
“They’re hatching!” I exclaimed.
“They’re DINOSAUR eggs!”
The children could see the little dinosaurs inside.It’s always interesting to see which children carry their eggs around gently, protecting them, and which children want that dinosaur out immediately. In both cases, the children were engaged and happy in their play.
If you have a long stretch of freezing temperatures, you could invite the children to suggest what other kinds of eggs they would like to have. If you are brave and don’t mind getting wet, you could even let the children help you make some eggs. Happy egg laying!
