Dinosaurumpus!

This book is so great for classes that are getting into a rut.  I love it because boys and girls both enjoy the story, you can throw in technique as you go, and have a big creative portion at the end, right along side the book!

Dinosaurumpus! by Tony Mitton is my “grand finale” of a dinosaurs themed class.  First, I’ll put up pictures of six dinosaurs, printable here.  Then, I have cut out some leaves and flowers out of green and orange poster board.  I cover up each dinosaur picture with a large leaf or flower.  Written on the back of the flowers and leaves are different parts of our warm-up and technique portions of class.  These could include: warm-up, stretch, kicks, movement rhyme, barre, etc.  When students arrive, I tell them that we have come to the jungle today!  There is something hiding behind all those flowers, but I don’t know what it is.  Have students take turns removing the flowers and leaves and doing the activity on the back.  Slowly, they’ll uncover all the dinosaurs.  Then, we get to pick dinosaurs!

This is Deinonychus.  She loves to run super duper fast!  How fast can you run?  Kick?  Gallop?  Chasse?  Let’s do fastland/slowland.  Line up some cones, mats, or a piece of tape across the middle of the room.  One one half of the room, do movements as quickly as you can.  You can dance any way you want (kick, wiggle, jump, roll, big, small, etc.) as long as it is fast!  On the other half of the room, move as slowly as you can.  Can you slow motion walk?  Kick?  Balance?  (This idea is from Anne Greene Gilbert’s Creative Dance for All Ages).

Sometimes, instead of Fastland/Slowland, we’ll do animal races instead.  Details here.

Pteranodon swoops and swirls in a loop.  A loop is like a circle.  Can you run run leap in a big circle around the room?  Hold hands and make a circle.  Let’s chasse together in a circle.  Can you squish together little circle?  Pull out big circle?

Apatosaurus swings his tail with a thwack, thwack, thwack.  Today I have a ribbon tail for everyone!  Give a ribbon to each child.  Dance with your ribbon.  Draw a rainbow overhead.  Turn and make a circle around your body with your ribbon.  Run and let your ribbon fly behind you!  Throw and catch your ribbon.  Shake and wiggle your ribbon.  Put your ribbon on the floor and jump over it!  Show me your favorite way to dance with a ribbon!  Then, smash your ribbon into a little ball inside your hand.  Put the ribbon back in my bag.

Stegosaurus loves to clatter her bony back plates.  Everyone come get a shaker (maraca, plastic jar with beads inside, bells, etc.).  Let’s shake to the beat of the music.  Can you march and shake?  Shake up high.  Down low.  Let’s make a shaker parade.  Everybody follow me this way!  Give each student a turn to be the leader.

T-Rex loves to dance in his very own way!  Everyone close your eyes and think in your head, what is your favorite way to dance?  Don’t tell me!  Just think it inside your head.  Do you like to jump?  Turn?  Crawl?  Explode?  When I turn on the music, show me your best way to dance!

For older students (4 and up…ish) make a dance that goes from this wall to the mirror (or this corner to the speakers, etc.) that has your two (or 3) favorite ways to dance in it.  Add a beginning and ending shape.  Practice it lots of times until it’s perfect!  Take turns sharing your dances with a partner or the class.

Triceratops has three horns on his head.  He likes to do dinosaur hops!  Let’s do dinosaur hops going one foot, one foot, two feet!  (Or, front, front back, or two feet, two feet, turn around, etc.)  Do a hop sequence that your class is capable of.

Finally, read the story: Dinosaurumpus!  As you go through the story, review the steps that you did for each individual dinosaur as you found them in the jungle.   As time permits, create a class dance that puts all the dinosaur steps together.  This will be your class “dinosaurumpus!”  Maybe you will go, march in a parade, dinosaur hops, leap in a circle, run to the side, pick up your ribbon, and do your own dance across the floor.

Then, the dinosaurs are so tired, they all fall asleep.  Everyone lay down.  Do either Late Last Night or The Goldfish Song (click for details) as your goodbye dance.

And if you still have time (or want to send them home with the kids), here are some dinosaur coloring pages.