Ice Berg ....Found Dinosaurs!

BabyBear has been very into dinosaurs this past while so I am always looking for  dinosaur related activities to do with her. I came across a post on Prudent Baby...please visit Jaime and Jacinda to catch up on all the latest, greatest in crafts, home decor, sewing and more. I promise you will not be disappointed.  Although their idea would be fun on any other day I chose to go with the dinosaur version I found via Pinterest that lead me to a blog called Naughty Secretary Club. Although I have not had much of a chance to read through Jennifer's posts, if this idea is any indication of her imagination then I encourage you to take some time and pay her a visit.

The following concept is simple and will require the following items to create your own ice berg Dino dig....

Container to hold the water - can be whatever size you like so long as it will fit in your freezer.
Food Colouring - to colour the water if you so choose
Mini Dinosaurs - these can be found for cheap at your local dollar store
Freezer - more importantly room in your freezer :D
Dig tools - shovel, spray bottle, toy hammer, golf tee, toy saw, pastry brush, metal rod are some we chose
Large Rubber Maid or Kiddie Pool


My recommendation is to freeze a few dinosaurs in small layers one at a time. If you put all the dinosaurs in  one layer they tend to float to the top defeating the purpose of digging through the ice to get them out. To help the time pass quickly, BabyBear and I put one layer of water and a few dinos in the freezer right at bedtime. Then the next morning when I got up bright and early I added another layer of water and dinos, this time colouring the water blue. That way when BabyBear got up for the day 3 hours later her ice berg was ready for excavating. She was so excited...and prepping this way eliminated the same question guaranteed to come up every five minutes ..."Is it done yet?"

To remove the ice berg from its container I ran a bit of hot tap water on the bottom of the frozen bin. The berg slid right out into the sink. BabyBear and I placed it in the Rubber Maid we use for all kinds of messy activities, got out our excavating tools and she got right to work. There was hammering, poking, sawing, spraying and even licking all in her efforts to gain access to those dinosaurs. After 20 minutes of going back and forth with her tools of choice she finally came to the conclusion that a spray bottle with warm water, brushing with a pastry brush and poking with MamaBears metal cake rod worked best.

Her first find was finally FREE...

FREEZE! For a moment of squeals and delight! I love when we hear that response from her...the best sound EVER!!!

 From here on out it was a combined effort of spraying, brushing and poking...Oh and I forgot to mention  the eating along the way. BabyBear enjoyed crunching on her little ice chips as she worked. Always sharing with MamaBear as she went.

We did this particular activity inside but plan to do our next one later today outside in the sunshine. If you don't have a large Rubbermaid or kiddie pool for your little one to dig in you could also do this project in your bath tub or shower. Nothing better than cheap, easy, clean summertime fun to be had year round!

Be a Kid and get put your excavating skills to the test.