When my daughter was in Kindergarten, she decided that she was going to be a Paleontologist. Her kindergarten teacher was amazed that she knew the word, let alone what it meant. Although my daughter changed her mind about her life’s vocation and is now a concert violinist, she still has a love for dinosaurs. And I think, on some level, most kids have that same interest in those big prehistoric beings.

Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp by Carol Diggery Shields

dinosaur

This book takes learning about dinos to a whole new level and facts about them are interwoven into a funny story about how they all get together on Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp. I don’t actually sing this book but I do a rhythmic chant and have the kids help by keeping the beat, either patting knees or stomping feet. Toward the end of the book, the dinos all arrive at the party and the band starts up – the song is “doo-bop-a-loo-bop” and the beat is “booma-lacka-booma-lacka-whack-whack-whack”. I usually stop at this part and we repeat each of those phrases 4 times. Then at the end of the book I divide the group in half and turn this part into a rhythm weave for extra fun with older kids.

I had a teacher tell me that she tried to do this story for her class on a day that I was absent. She said “I heard you do it so many times, I thought it would be easy!” So take the hint and make sure you practice this one!

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