- 20 - 30 mins
- Imagination, open-ended experience, loose part play.
- Semi messy
This dinosaur terrain is a great addition to your outdoor play environment. Your children will enjoy being part of the creative process inventing and constructing the terrain, whilst enjoying extended periods of time playing with their new play activity once complete.
Interactive play areas like this one are great for developing and extending upon children’s imagination. It is through imaginative play that children make meaning, reenact experiences, express and explore feelings and make sense of the world.
This dinosaur terrain is an open-ended experience allowing the children to explore ideas using creativity, imagination and play in whichever way they desire.
It also encourages “loose part” play; loose parts are those that can moved, redesigned, taken apart, and used in a variety of ways. Loose parts encourage creative expression, invention, problem-solving and thinking outside the box.
So what have you got to lose? Let’s get started!
What you will need
- Large container
- Mulch or dirt (your preference)
- Dinosaur play kit (Kmart)
- Blue fishpond stones
- Variety of natural stones
- Spade or Shovel
Activity steps
Set up
- Using your spade, fill your container with mulch or dirt. Fill to about three quarters of the way to the top to allow enough room to play with your objects.
- Now get creative! Using your stones and dinosaur play kit, design your own terrain. My son found a bridge in the play kit and decided we needed a river, hence the blue stones were used. Remember that these items are “loose parts” so it can be changed at any time. There is no right or wrong, its all about creative expression.
- Once your child is happy with their design, put your container in an accessible and sun safe place and let your child play till their hearts content.
Variations:
- Why not try a different theme? You could try a fairy garden, an under the sea theme, a zoo safari; the sky is the limit! Try to think about what might interest your child- what do they really love at the moment?
- Try exploring with materials- Try finding what you have at home to repurpose. Maybe you have some fake flowers, or some doll house furniture or perhaps you have some succulents you’ve been meaning to plant that you’ve never got around too. Again, anything is possible!
Note: If you don’t have anything at home to repurpose, Kmart and many dollar stores has some great loose parts and play kits that are inexpensive and fun to create with. Anything is able to be used, be creative and have fun, don’t forget to leave us a comment below with what your terrain looks like!
Learning Outcomes
- Imagination
- Creative expression
- Hand-eye coordination
- Problem solving
- Abstract thinking
- Social and emotional development
Reference sites
We would like to acknowledge these amazing sites that have inspired us to create this activity. Thank you!