Shake Shake Shudder
Near the sludgy old swamp
The dinosaurs are coming
Get ready to romp!
This week we had a playdate
With a special friend
A friend who loves the book
Bumpus Jumpus Dinosaurumpus
A book that we love too
We decided to add some bookish play
To our date
First I challenged the children to
Free the frozen dinosaurs
And then asked them to use
Things they could find in the garden
To create a swamp for them
The children had great fun
Taking on their challenges
They worked together
Creating scenes and stories
Inspired by Bumpus Jumpus Dinosaurumpus
And some of our other favourite dinosaur books
To start this sensory messy playdate
I froze some of our dinosaur toys in a large jelly bowl
I added some green food colouring
And a little washing up liquid to the water
If I do say so myself
It looked super cool
And the squeals of delight from the children
Means I know that they think so too
They all chose their weapons
(Toddler cutlery)
And started to attack the ice
They chopped and sawed
They chiselled and dug
They hacked and hammered at that ice
They worked together and broke the ice
To set their dinosaurs free
As the ice broke apart
The dinosaurs came loose
And the water in the water table
Turned a glorious swampy green
The dinosaurs started swimming in the swampy waters
And our ideas for creating a dinosaur swamp
For our dinosaur romp
Started to take shape
Shake Shake Shudder
Near the sludgy old swamp
The dinosaurs are coming
Get ready to romp!
Esther was the main creator of the swamp
She was so excited to add rocks and grass
And lots of mud to the water
To create the marvellous muddy swamp
And once created
She played with it for hours
Acting out stories with the dinosaurs
Sometimes with friends
Sometimes alone
Always talking
Often singing
Creating characters
Voices
Telling tales
Setting scenes
I love watching Esther play
She is so good at it!
Bea and Edie enjoyed the swamp too
They loved the sensory elements
Swishing the weeds in the water
Hiding and searching for the dinosaurs
Splashing and sploshing in the water
They had the most magical messy time
Edie loved making roaring noises
And saying ‘all gone’ when she dropped the dinosaurs in the water
She is super cute in her play at the moment
Once the dinosaur romp was over
It was time to wash the dinosaurs
Everybody get on the floor
Everybody wash a dinosaur …
So much scented soapy fun
A great way to play
On a hot summers day
While also cleaning all the toys!!
What a wonderful way to play
With dinosaurs
Follow the links for other dinosaur play ideas
Dinosaur Lands: Small World Play