Dinosaur Monthly Theme

We're already a full month into 2024, when will I stop having to rethink what year it is when I write it out? My little guy likes dinosaurs and we have lots of dinosaur things. I packed up all his dinosaur stuff after Christmas to prepare for a Dinosaur month. Well, it got switched out for new Christmas presents. So when they came back out they would be like new and some things are new. We didn't open all the Christmas presents he got or the house would have been overrun even more than it already is with toys.

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Holidays for February

1st Cakepop day

3rd Feed the Birds Day

7th Send a card to a Friend day

14th Valentines Day

20th Muffin day

Activities for the Holidays

Cake pop Day- Cake pop Day falls on a workday and our first attempt at making cake pops didn't go well. They were so dense, too sweet, and didn't stay on the sticks. I'll be real, we're running up to Starbucks for a cake pop. We'll also do some pretend play making cake pops with rolling Play-Doh into balls. We still have some sticks, so we'll have our pretend cake pops.

Feed the Birds Day- We have a clear bird feeder that sticks to the window and we love to watch the birds come and go. The squirrels get in there too. We're also going to try making these DIY Cereal Bird Feeders. It's good for fine motor skills stringing the cereal on the pupe cleaner. It's easier to string onto pipe cleaners too. You can count the cereal and make shapes. The kids will love watching the birds come to eat it too.

Send a card to a Friend day- It'll make someone happy to get a card. For little ones, they can just draw a picture or do stickers. For older kids, they can work on their writing skills. We'll probably just send a card to the neighbor boy and to friends that we do playdates with.

Valentine's Day- I saw the cutest Valentine sensory bin online. Of course, I ran over to Hobby Lobby to get some of the Valentine themed items. I also tried my hand at dying rice. We'll probably play with this sensory bin for the first half of the month. We'll also be sending the Grandparents Valentine's cards and pictures. There will be some Valentine's crafts going on. Follow me over on Instagram.

Muffin Day- We like muffins and we like to get in the kitchen. So yes, we will be making muffins. A box mix would probably be an easy choice. I like to have everything measured out ahead of time so it's easier to just dump into the bowl and mix. This will work on following directions Choose any flavor you wish.

Other Themed Activities

Dino Sensory bin- I got split peas and green lentils for this bin. I used the Dinosaurs and tree from this Animal Tubes Set. I got a new box from Hobby Lobby that I love because it has a tray on the top to put the scoops and items in. I'll post it on Instagram. We can play with the dinosaurs, count the dinosaurs, and scoop the peas and lentils. We'll be switching between this and the Valentine's Day bin this month.

Dinosaur Playdoh toys- Playdoh is great a sensory activity and helps build hand muscles. We have some cute Dinosaur Play-doh toys. We have a Play-doh Crunch T-Rex that eats the Play-Doh, you can see it in his belly and then it comes out the back end. Boys will love the pooping the dinosaur. Our other Playdoh Mini T-Rex makes a Play-doh tongue. With each one you can follow directions and narrate their play. You can work on the action words "push, eat, open." With any Play-Doh activity, you can work on colors and making choices.

Dino Prints- We'll use the dinosaurs from the sensory bin to make footprints with paint. We love to paint so using our Dinosaurs just made sense. We'll work on colors like we usually do with painting. Also for little ones you can work on action words "Stomp, walk, jump."

Dino Stomp- I know my little guy likes to stomp like a dino. I saw this cute little rhyme and I love it because it works on following directions and action words. You can add whatever you would like your little Dinosaur to do as well. Dinosaur, Dinosaur pick up your blocks.

Dinosaur Toys- I will be taking out the dinosaur toys we have. We have a Melissa and Doug wooden Chunky Piece Puzzle, a Snap and Learn matching Dinos, and just some dinosaurs to play with. We'll work on identifying colors, matching, following directions, and action words while playing with our Dinosaur toys. We can also count them. My little guy is too little to really work on dinosaur names but for older kids it's fun to try to say all those long names. I know my oldest loved to know what dinosaurs' names were.

Dinosaur Books- We have several dinosaur books as well. Many with dinosaur names in it. Some also go over colors. A few of my favorites include the Touch and Feel books Never Touch A Dinosaur, Baby Dinosaur and Go, Go, Go Dinosaur. I have found that touch-and-feel books can help engage little ones who might not be interested in books. The sensory spots pull them in. The First Felt Flaps Dinosaurs book is also engaging with the felt flaps they lift. Sometimes with little ones they need something to touch or play with to get them engaged in a book. They need more than just the words and pictures. I'm a fan of the How Do Dinosaurs series as well. We have How Do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies? and How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? The How Do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies? book also has a cookie recipe in it. You know I love to get my little one to cook. So we will also be making cookies and eating like dinosaurs of course.

Dinosaur Color Matching printable- My little one did well with the penguin color-matching printable from TotSchooling. So I made a Dinosaur Color Matching printable on Canva you can find the link for it here. You match the Dinosaur and the footprints. You can put the pieces in the sensory bin to change things up a little too. It can work on not only matching but also identifying colors and counting dinosaurs.

I post on Instagram and Facebook both under Sassy Speechy. Both activities listed here and extras that come along.

Skills we will work on based on the Rossetti.

12-15 months

Says or imitates eight to ten words spontaneously

Names objects frequently

Imitates new words spontaneously

Combines vocalization and gesture to obtain a desired object

Sings independently

Takes turns vocalizing with children

Expresses early developing modifiers

Follow one-step commands during play

Responds to requests to say words

Maintains attention to pictures

Enjoys rhymes and finger plays

Responds to "give me" command

Points to two action words in pictures

Understands some prepositions

Understands new words

15-18 months

Says 15 meaningful words

Uses consonant sounds, such as /t,d,n,h/

Talks rather than uses gestures

Imitates words overheard in conversation

Asks "What's that?"

Asks for "more"

Names five to seven familiar objects upon request

Finds familiar objects upon request

Identifies objects by category

Understands 50 words

18-21 months

Uses single words frequently

Uses sentence-like intonational patterns

Imitates environmental noises

Verbalizes two different needs

Uses two-word phrases occasionally

Understands the commands "sit down" and "come here"

Chooses five familiar objects upon request

Understands the meaning of action words

Identifies pictures when named

21-24 months

Uses two-word phrases frequently

Uses 50 different words

Uses new words regularly

Relates personal experiences

Uses three-word phrases occasionally

Uses early pronouns occasionally

Chooses one object from a group of five upon verbal request

Follows novel commands

Follows a two-step related directions

Understands new words rapidly

24-27 months

Imitates two numbers or unrelated words upon request

Uses three-word phrases frequently

Asks for assistance with personal needs

Uses action words

Points to four words in pictures

Recognizes family member's

names

Understands the concept of one

Understands size concepts

27-30 months

Names one color

Uses two sentence types

Uses negation

Responds to simple questions

Identifies four objects by function

Understands location phrases

30-33 months

Answers questions with "yes" or "no'

Imitates a series of three numbers or unrelated words

Uses plurals

Uses prepositions

Understand five common action words

Follow two-step unrelated commands

Understands the concepts one and all

Answers yes and no questions correctly

33-36 months

Relates recent experiences through verbalization

Uses verb forms

Expresses physical states

Converses in sentences

Counts to three

Shows interest in why and how things work

Follows a three-step unrelated command

Identifies parts of an object

Responds to wh- questions

Follows commands with two familiar attributes