We have all heard of the Easter Bunny. Did you know there were Easter Dinosaurs? Really! The EasTer Rex, the EasteRaptor, EasTerceratops and many other Eastersaurus. For some reason the Bunny is the only Easter animal people seem to remember. Hmmmm. Millions of years ago a group of Dinosaurs met to improve relationships with All Prehistoric Animals. Gifts were brought to share with All. This lead to an annual tradition for Celebrating Sharing & Friendship. The time of the year happens to be the same as when Humans celebrate Easter. Today Eastersaurs deliver Chocolate Eggs, Chocolate Dinosaurs and of course chocolate Bunnies. If you’re lucky their might be some See’s candies – milk & dark chocolate butter creams, caramels and Bordeaux my favorite – waiting for you Easter Morning. If you have been really good and their are Eastersaurs near you, you may be lucky enough to receive a visit by one this year.
At the Park, we are working on various crafts to prepare for Easter. Instead of coloring eggs with the kits that you can purchase at many craft and grocery stores (which can be very fun), I used foam Dinosaur stickers & Drew Dinosaurs on the eggs. It was great last year I decided to do it again this year.
I found some cool foam dinosaur stickers at Michaels Arts & Crafts. These are funtastic! Kids from 3 to 92 can easily attach them to eggs! And if they are really careful, you don’t have to hard-boil the eggs – NOT! I recommend using Jumbo large eggs based on the size of the stickers. However, I used just large eggs and they fit fine. The 4.5 oz. container has more than enough. You could pick-up a couple of packages, invite your kids friends & your friends and make it a Party Event. At $8.99 for such a large quantity – they’re a bargain. Many other Dinosaur stickers are available at Michaels.com including “The Good Dinosaur”. The foam stickers can be purchased in the stores. The two stores close to my home have them in stock. Check your local Michael’s Arts & Craft for availability. The stickers include Pterosaurs and Dimetrodons which are not Dinosaurs! Pterosaurs are a close relative but on a different part of the family tree. The Dimetrodons died out 60 million years before the dinosaurs appeared. Dimetrodons have more in common with you and I than a T-Rex. But that’s a Tale (Tail) for another time.
I purchased my Artist Pen at Michaels, as well. I drew dinosaurs on the eggs and use various colored Sharpies to color them. I love repurposing items or repairing them. I made a decoration for the inside of a large basket. On regular paper, I drew and colored Dinosaurs and Decorative Eggs, which I attached to an empty dog biscuit box. It worked very well, but after two years it’s time to make a new one. I purchased multi-colored cardstock that will be much more durable than regular paper. In addition, it gives me the opportunity to layer the colors for a different look. This will give the EasTer Rex & EasteRaptor fancier baskets to carry this year!
The “Dig It Up! Dinosaur Eggs” arrived! It was exciting excavating the little but very detailed dinosaur from the fossil like clay egg. Soaking time for the clay to soften is very short. I used a couple of paper towels and still got a little clay on the table. This is a good time to put that junk mail to use covering the table area. The dinosaurs are pretty sturdy plastic. However, encourage your young paleontologist(s) to take their time to avoid damaging the dinosaur inside the clay egg. Each Egg comes with a chisel making this a fun group activity. An Excavation Guide is included providing the names, pronunciation and some details about each Dinosaur or Pterosaur. Raphael the Raptor & George the Little Giganotosaurus supervised the excavation.
The Hatching Dinosaur Eggs in Water Hatched! Make sure the glasses you use for the Hatching Eggs are large enough for them to Grow. The Dinosaur glasses I used were only large enough for the eggs to crack open. I transferred them to a large glass bowl. I took them out for a couple of pictures. They were quickly returned to the water where they continue to grow!
The 3 Dinosaurs from Animal Planet have grown much larger then the dozen from Pampel (4 shown on Kevin’s lawn). Animal Planet indicates you can keep growing them for up to 3 weeks. Extended time for the Pampel Dinosaurs is mixed some keep growing while others reached their peak size at 4 to 5 days. Keeping your paleontologist patient for days after they hatch maybe more of a challenge and “big enough” might be the answer. Mine are in a punch bowl now! What next the bath tub!!! And then…
The accuracy or attention to detail varies between all the dinosaurs. I really like the Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Brontosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Pachycephalosaurus and Corythosaurus. Although many can’t stand on their own. Also, Pampel didn’t provide a Triceratops which was in the illustration. Actually 2 different colored ones were in the picture! Instead I received 3 T-Rexes, and 3 Brontosaurus (2 different styles & colors).
With Animal Planet you receive the Dinosaurs shown. I’ll provide follow-up pictures when (if) They Stop Growing! They are Great Fun to Watch Hatching & Growing, which is really what this experience is about.
We had some Visitors at the Park recently. Victor & Maria with their 3 boys pose with the Triceratops. They met all the Dinosaurs and Antonio the Pteranodon in a behind the scenes tour. May All Your Visitors be as Pleasant!
Happy Easter!
“Encouraging the Appreciation of Art and Education through the Inspiration of Dinosaurs”
Paul & Prehistoric Pals
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