Hobbies And Interests
Pin The Claw
A dinosaur themed spin on the old party classic Pin the Tail on the Donkey will keep children entertained through a birthday party. To create the raptor, use an overhead projector to project a transparency of a raptor onto a piece of large butcher block paper taped to a wall; try to use a picture that shows the raptor's foot in the air so that the claw is at a reasonable height. Trace the image with a dark marker and color in specific parts like eyes and teeth. Cut out several curved 6-inch pieces of cardboard and paint them gray to represent raptor claws. Place a piece of sticky putty to the back of each claw. During the game, blindfold the participant and hand him a claw; for older children, spin the child around a few times before sending him to pin the claw. The child who is closest wins a small plastic raptor or other dinosaur related prize.
Dig Site
Set up an archaeological race in your own back yard. Set up enough dig sites so that each team of four participants can have their own site. A dig site consists of a small sandbox or large sand bucket filled with buried raptor fossils. You can create raptor bones by using plaster of paris molds from a velociraptor bone mold set. You can also create artificial bones by tracing a print out of various raptor bones onto a sheet of medium density fiber board and then using a precision saw to cut out each bone before painting them gray. Create enough bones so that each dig site has major bones including a skull, tooth and claw. Bury the bones in the sand prior to the game. Set each team up at a dig site with shovels, sifters and brushes. Each team then races to recover each major bone from their site and lay them out in the correct pattern; for younger kids, supply an outline that they can lay the bones into. The team with the fastest bone recovery wins a raptor t-shirt.
Raptor Hunt
Many leading paleontologists, including Dr. Jacques Gauthier, believe that many species of birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs. In fact, bird of prey are frequently referred to as raptors because of the structural similarities of their bodies. Host a modern-day raptor hunt in the form of a birds of prey bingo game. Create bingo cards with the names or pictures of various birds of prey you might find or hear on a nature walk in your area; birds of prey include hawks, eagles, falcons and owls. Ask a local professional bird watcher, naturalist or game warden to lead a group of participants on a nature hike. As the leader identifies birds or bird calls, group members mark the place on their bingo card. The first player to receive five in a row wins a prize such as a stuffed raptor animal. If you do not live in an area with access to a nature walk, set your own by printing several images of birds of prey onto pieces of paper; cut out the images and glue them to pieces of sturdy cardboard. Nail them to trees, fences or other outdoor objects in your yard. When players find them, they are to mark off the square and indicate where they saw the bird to prevent cheating.