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Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today I have a no sew dinosaur mat craft if your child is reading Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time. Be sure to grab more Geronimo Stilton Books ideas and crafts on my page.

Do you have an early to middle elementary kid who loves dinosaurs?

First, grab a copy of The Journey Through Time (Geronimo Stilton Special Edition) to go along with this fun and easy no sew dinosaur mat.

The Journey Through Time Travels into Prehistory, which is the large period of time before written records or human documentation.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

 In the first section, it is a trip right into the middle of the Prehistoric Period.

The book takes Geronimo through the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods to learn more about the dinosaurs that once roamed the earth.

With great little factoids about different species of dinosaurs, bright illustrations, and an engaging story and a theory on how they disappeared, it is a great read for your child.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

Use vocabulary words from the story, facts, and drawings to teach your child all about this time of prehistory.

 Add in a few more fun hands-on ideas and you have a wonderful unit.

How to Incorporate the No Sew Dinosaur Mat Into Your Homeschool Units

While the dinosaur mat may seem like just play, it can also be used to label different dinosaurs to work in some science as well as language arts.

Write the names of various species or even words like volcano, river, etc.. on small pieces of paper and have your child place them next to their match.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

Work on easy math problems, just add dice and work on simple addition and subtraction.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

Let toddlers and preschool children simply play while you read aloud from Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time.

 You will be pleasantly surprised how much they pick up through hearing new vocabulary words and passive listening.

More Dinosaur Learning Fun

Besides getting prehistoric history, this first volume in the series also covers Ancient Egypt and the Medieval Period.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

There are over 3 journeys in one book and they can be read as individual mini units or all at once.

Geronimo Stilton Book Activities

Next, look at these other crafts to go with the books.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

Finally, you will need only two things to make a no sew dinosaur mat yourself-felt and a hot glue gun.

It makes a great roll-and-go activity while waiting at restaurants or doctors’ offices as well as at home on the kitchen table.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time No Sew Dino Mat

You are only limited by your own creativity here, whatever you can dream of you can turn into a felt masterpiece.

 However, I am going to give you a few tips for recreating a few things.

You will need:

Use a by-the-yard piece of green felt for the base if you want a larger mat.

However, if you want to stick with the basic felt size you can attach 2 pieces side by side to make it larger.

And to secure them together and hide the seam, cut a wavy strip of blue to create water and glue the two pieces to the underside.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

Next, create grass and clumps of bushes by cutting green into ½” strips and cutting vertically not quite to the edge to make fringe. You can roll them up and hot glue the bottom to your base for bushes.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

Or leave it long, and glue along the bottom edge, depending on what you want to replicate.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

Cut white, tan, and gray felt into irregular circles for rock shapes and secure to the mat with hot glue.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

Finally, to create the centerpiece, the volcano, draw and cut out a cone shape with a flat top on beige fabric.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

Cut red, orange, and yellow stripes with an uneven edge for flames, and hot glue to the top of the volcano.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

Roll it, and secure down the edges with glue. Stuff with a little cotton filling or even just felt scraps.

Bend a small piece of the edge and secure it to the mat with glue, continue to fold and glue all the way around. Fan out the exploding lava.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

You can add other pieces like smaller ponds, quicksand, or whatever other features you would like on your mat.

Add small dinosaurs for play, counting, and more.

Geronimo Stilton The Journey Through Time Fun Easy No Sew Dinosaur Mat

American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I have a craft about folk hero Paul Bunyan if you’re learning about American frontier legends. Also, look at my Westward Ho Free Unit Study and lapbook.

What exactly are frontier legends?

They are the tales and ideas of people and places that exist at the edge of a civilization, particularly out west, during expansion.

American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

Many famous names make the list but we are going to especially focus on the Tale of John Bunyan and his blue ox Babe of Wisconsin.

June 28th marks Paul Bunyan Day and no wonder, his legend goes way back to the 18th century and has been told in over 1,000 books.

American Frontier Legends – Paul Bunyan

Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack of folk hero tales in America and Canada.

These stories involve his superhuman strength and work. 

Although Paul Bunyan wasn’t a real person, he was probably based on people and ideas of the time.

What started out as an oral retelling of a folk hero for working-class loggers became tales of a man of mythical proportions.

American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

Look at some of the tall tales told about Paul Bunyan.

Tall Tales told about Paul Bunyan

  • He created the mighty Mississippi simply by dragging his ax behind him.
  • He and his trusty rusty bovine, Babe the Blue Ox, dug out the Great Lakes.
  • As a child, his parents needed 10 cows, 50 eggs, and 10 containers of potatoes every day to feed him.
  • Paul went out and found a baby ox trapped in the snow, he took him home and warmed him up by the fireplace, but his fur remained blue. Blue grew larger every day.
  • He had trouble removing trees from a winding road so he tied the road to Babe and had him pull it straight.
  • Some say Babe and Paul are responsible for creating Puget Sound in the western state of Washington.
  • Paul brought 7 more men who were each 6 ½” tall and 350 pounds to his work crew. They were known as the Seven Axe Men, each one was named Elmer so they all came running when he called.
American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

Also, look at more frontier legends to learn about.

More American Frontier Legends to Learn About

  • Lewis and Clark- Best known for their expedition, Corps of Discovery, from the Mississippi River to the West Coast and then back. Sacagawea is the most well known member of their traveling party. Look at my Lewis and Clark Unit Study and Lapbook.
  • Davy Crockett- “King of The Wild Frontier” was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. It is believed he died fighting a battle at the Alamo.
  • Christopher “Kit” Carson-American frontiersman, fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He fought a violent war against the Navajo that resulted in their removal from the Four Corners area to southeastern New Mexico.
  • Daniel Boone-American frontiersman and legendary hero who helped blaze a trail through Cumberland Gap. His family migrated to America to escape religious persecution. Look at my Daniel Boone North America Explorer Unit Study and Lapbook.
  • William “Buffalo” Bill Cody- Buffalo Bill was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He supported women’s rights and suffrage as well as civil liberties for Native Americans.
  • Also, look at my Pecos Bill copywork included in my Westward Ho Unit Study and Lapbook.
American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

Next, add some of these books and movies to your leraning day.

7 American Frontier Legends Books & Resources

Choose a favorite American frontier legends movie and book.

Finally, look at how to make this adorable blue ox craft.

How to Make A Blue Ox Paper Plate Craft

You will need:

  • 2 paper plates
  • Large googly eyes
  • Blue, black, tan, and white craft paint
  • Craft glue or glue gun
American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

You can make this entire blue ox out of just two paper plates. Set one aside for the head.

Using the 2nd paper plate cut out two long horns along the ruffled edge, and ears. You can cut them half on smooth and half on ridges if you like for some extra texture.

American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

Cut an oval muzzle and two ears from the smooth section.

American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

Then, cut a long curve on either side of the other plate to give a bit of shape to your ox head like this.

American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

Paint that plate with a coat of blue and set it aside to dry.

American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

While the first plate is drying, paint the muzzle and horns tan. Top the horns with a bit of black and finish off the muzzle with two long black nostrils. Allow it to dry.

American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

Add a little forelock to your oxes head with paint, it really gives him a little fun personality.

American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

Once everything has dried begin attaching all the pieces with glue, place the muzzle low, and add large googly eyes above it. Glue on ears and horns, let the glue dry.

American Frontier Legends and Hero Paul Bunyan Blue Ox Craft

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have some fun coral reef activities and play dough invitation to play. Also, grab more ideas on my Coral Reef page and Oceans Unit Study and Lapbook.

June 9th is all about celebrating Coral Triangle Day.

It’s a day to promote ocean conservation and protection, especially in the Coral Triangle.

To mark it, I have fun coral reef activities and a play dough invitation to play.

Additionally, the Coral Triangle includes the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and the Solomon Islands.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

While coral reefs everywhere are important, the coral triangle gains a lot of attention for its diversity within its waters.

Let’s dive into an ocean of learning about the beauty and diversity of coral reefs and the Coral Triangle.

I have books, hands-on activities, facts, and more.

Summer is the perfect time to learn more about the oceans that surround us and the unique coral reefs in them.

Coral Reef Activities Facts

  • The Coral Triangle is also known as the Amazon of the Seas.
  • Here, in the triangle, live 6 out of the world’s 7 species of marine turtles.
  • It is one of the eight major coral reef zones throughout the world, and it is recognized as a very important place of marine biodiversity and a major priority for conservation.
  • Over 600 different species of reef-building coral make their home in the triangle.
  • 76% of all the world’s coral species are found in the Coral Triangle. The area boasts the highest coral diversity in the world.
  • Researchers believe that the Coral Triangle may be where all Coral Reefs once began.
  • The most endangered species in the area are Yellowfin, Tuna Skipjack, and Bigeye Tuna.

Also, look at some of these fun coral reef books and resources.

Coral Reef Unit Study Resources

Add some of these coral reef unit study resources to your unit study.

Also, look at these hands on ideas to study about the ocean and coral reef.

More Coral Reef Activities and Resources

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Moreover, look at my huge Ocean Unit Study and Sea Turtle Unit Study.

Coral Reef Activities Play Dough Invitation

You will need:

  • 1 cup Flour
  • ½ cup table salt
  • 1 cup of Water
  • 1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil (or vegetable oil)
  • 1 tsp. Cream of tartar
  • Food coloring
  • Optional-essential oils

Also, you will need:

  • Small bowls, cups, or a divided tray
  • Shells
  • Plastic ocean creatures
  • Beads
  • Toothpicks
  • Aquarium pebbles
  • Chenille stems

First, combine flour, salt, water, coconut oil, and cream of tartar in a medium pot over medium-high heat.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Stir constantly until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and is no longer sticky.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Quickly remove from heat and put the dough onto a smooth surface.

When it cools enough to touch, knead it for a few minutes and add food coloring and essential oil mixing well.

This is the perfect time to mix in a fun beachy scented essential oil like coconut or pineapple.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Now that your playdough is ready to go you can begin building your coral reef Hands-on invitation to play.

Grab some small clear cups or use a divided tray to place all your items out in an inviting way.

Cut colorful pipe cleaners down into different lengths.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Put playdough in one bowl, beads and toothpicks in another, chenille stems, toys, shells, and any other little items you have each in their own bowl.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Encourage your child to build an ocean base with the playdough, press chenille stems into it, poke in toothpicks and stack pony beads on them, Add fish and other ocean toys.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Your child can build and rebuild unique coral reefs as they learn about their beauty and importance.

Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play

Daniel Boone Explorer Facts And Make a Fun Birchbark Canoe Craft

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I have some Daniel Boone explorer facts and how to make a Shawnee birchbark canoe craft. Look at more ideas on my page Daniel Boone – North American Explorer.

Boone Day is celebrated on June 7th to highlight the life and contributions of the famous frontiersman Daniel Boone.

Many know him as the man who blazed a trail westward through the Cumberland Gap but there were many adventures throughout his life.

Daniel Boone Explorer Facts And Make a Fun Birchbark Canoe Craft

Too, America was still a young growing country which was heavily populated by Native American Tribes that were being pushed westward.

Boone explorer had many dealings with them.

First in Pennsylvania as a child he interacted with the Delaware tribe.

Before Europeans settled, Pennsylvania had many native tribes, including the Erie, Honniasont, Huron, Iroquois, Leni Lenape, Munsee, Shawnee, and Susquehannock, as well as others.

Daniel Boone Explorer Facts

Then as a teen, he befriended and was taught hunting, tracking, trapping, and survival by the Delaware, Cherokee, and Shawnee tribes when his family moved to North Carolina.

He became a legend at a young age in his area for his prowess as a hunter.

Later, while traveling in Kentucky along the Licking River he was captured by a group of Shawnees.

They took him to their village in Ohio and he was adopted by the Shawnee Chief Blackfish to take the place of one of his own sons who had been killed.

Boone was given the name Sheltowee, or Big Turtle, and was treated relatively well during his 4-month captivity before he returned home to his family.

Afterward, he helped to successfully defend Boonesborough against a 10-day siege led by Blackfish.

To learn a little more about Boone and the Native Americans he encountered, you can also have your child do a little research to help them retain what they learn better than just hearing it read to them, and research is such an important life skill.

Also, look at these books about the life of Daniel Boone.

10 Resources for A Daniel Boone Unit Study

Whether you want to add a hands-on unit study or are looking for a few resources, you'll love one of these.

Then, add some of these ideas for learning about the Native Americans Daniel Boone interacted with.

5 Activities to Learn More about Boone’s Life

  • Locate Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, and Ohio River Valley on a map.
  • Research what language the Shawnee spoke (Algonquian).
  • List 10 Tribes that would have been in the Northeast.
  • Find out what the primary crop of Native Americans was. (Corn)
  • Discover what Daniel Boone wore as a woodsman. (hint: it was not a coonskin cap)
  • Name the most famous Shawnee leader. (Tecumseh)
Daniel Boone Explorer Facts And Make a Fun Birchbark Canoe Craft

Then, here are a few more ideas for learning about the native Americans during the time Daniel Boone lived.

Native American Activities

Facts About Native Americans

  • Native Americans primarily used bull-boats, rafts, kayaks, and American Indian canoes for fishing and as their water transportation for short and long distances.
  • Shawnee comes from the Algonquian word-shawum which means southerner.
  • In the early 1600s, Shawnees were spread throughout southern Ohio, West Virginia, and western Pennsylvania.
  • The Shawnees didn’t live in tepees, rather they lived in small round dwellings called wicks, or wigwams.
  • Native Americans cultivated many of the world’s most important crops like corn, beans, squash, potatoes, and tomatoes.
  • Native Americans were forcibly displaced from their homelands by the Indian Relocation Act in 1830.

Native Americans spoke more than 300 languages and maybe upwards of 500 but many have died out from years of assimilation.

More Daniel Boone Explorer Activities

Next, look at these Daniel Boone explorer resources.

Daniel Boone Explorer Facts And Make a Fun Birchbark Canoe Craft

Finally, look at how to make this fun Shawnee birchbark canoe craft.

How to Make a Shawnee Birchbark Canoe Craft

While Native Americans used several boats for water travel and fishing the birchbark canoe is often the one most shown.

Also, it’s not only a great activity to keep hands busy while you watch a video or read a book about Daniel Boone or the Native Americans, but it is also a great activity for building fine motor skills and learning a new life skill with a simple stitch.

You will need:

Daniel Boone Explorer Facts And Make a Fun Birchbark Canoe Craft

Fold craft foam in half and crease.

Daniel Boone Explorer Facts And Make a Fun Birchbark Canoe Craft

Draw a rough canoe shape on the folded half and cut it out.

Daniel Boone Explorer Facts And Make a Fun Birchbark Canoe Craft

Thread a length of embroidery thread through the blunt needle and make sure it is enough for at least one side of your canoe.

Daniel Boone Explorer Facts And Make a Fun Birchbark Canoe Craft

Sew up each end using the blunt needle using a whipstitch.

This is the stitch that goes over the edge of the fabric instead of parallel along the edge like seen here.

Daniel Boone Explorer Facts And Make a Fun Birchbark Canoe Craft

Use markers to make short lines to recreate the birchbark look and draw your own unique symbol much like Native Americans may have decorated their boats to show what tribe they belonged to if you like.

To make the bottom of your canoe a little flatter you can heat up the bottom with a blow dryer for a minute or two then use your hands to press it flat until it cools.

You might have to do this a couple of times to get it molded just as you like. Fun!

Daniel Boone Explorer Facts And Make a Fun Birchbark Canoe Craft

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

It’s National Prairie Day and I have a popsicle stick wagon craft. Also, look at my Westward Ho unit study and lapbook page.

Since June 3rd is National Prairie Day, it’s the perfect time to bring out a simple craft that celebrates one of the greatest periods of growth in our nation.

Brave families drove covered wagons westward through the prairies looking for adventure, wide open spaces, and new lives. 

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

North American prairies are a wild and beautiful ecosystem that is spread over a dozen American states and throughout several Canadian Provinces.

What once covered 40% of the United States is now reduced to just 1% of that.

It is sobering to think of all the flora and fauna that have been chased away or have completely vanished from their home.

National Prairie Day Facts

First, look at some of these facts about prairies.

  • A prairie is a type of habitat that is mostly grass but may also have flowering plants and the occasional shrub or tree.
  • Prairies are important because they provide an irreplaceable home for many plant and animal species, and they are made of exceptionally fertile soil we need for agriculture and ranching.
  • 60 million bison once grazed on the plains and prairies of North America at the time European explorers first settled there and by 1885 there were less than 600 left.
  • Prairie fires were important to the growth of the tallgrass prairie because they kept the prairie from becoming a forest. These fires didn’t completely kill the grasses which grew from the stem up rather than the tip of the blade. So, they grew back quickly.
  • North American Prairies are divided into 3 types: short grass, tall grass, and mixed grass.
National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Here are a few books that you might enjoy adding to your craft as you learn about the American Prairie then and now.

Books about the American Prairie

Resources for Learning About Prairies

 Add some of these fun books and resources to your study of the North American prairies.

Also, look at more ways to learn about prairies.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

You can celebrate National Prairie Day by learning about the many different aspects of the prairie like:

  • The 3 types of prairies.
  • Prairie Animals.
  • Prairie Vegetation.
  • Westward Expansion.
  • Little House on The Prairie.
  • Life on the prairie now.
  • Hunting on the Prairie then and now.

More Westward Ho and Prairie Life Resources

Additionally, look at more popsicle wagon crafts and about life on the prairie resources.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Finally, look how to make this fun popsicle stick wagon craft.

How to Make a Popsicle Stick Wagon – Covered Wagon

This is a great opportunity to talk about how hard travel was back when moving west to unsettled lands, where much of the prairie was.

Covered wagons were not comfortable or roomy transportation.

But also imagine the wide-open skies over your campfire at night as you prepare dinner next to your wagon filled with all your worldly possessions.

You will need:

  • 2 wooden skewers
  • Paper or plastic straw
  • 35 jumbo craft sticks
  • Hot glue gun/sticks
  • White cardstock
  • Straight edge blade
  • Cardboard
  • Mason jar lid
National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Create a base for your wagon by hot gluing 4 wooden craft sticks into a square like this.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Continue adding sticks across the top to create a solid platform.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Next, we are going to build the “box”. To do this you want to cut some craft sticks slightly longer than the width of 3 sticks.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Attach to either end of 3 sticks, repeat this so that you have 3 sides.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Glue each in place around the sides and back of the wagon.

You will need to trim just a bit of your ends on the back to make it fit.

Run glue along the bottom edge of each piece, press firmly into place, and hold until the glue sets.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

For the front of the wagon, you will cut your short sticks the same length but only build the side 2 craft sticks high.

Again, trim the ends of your sticks so they fit inside the two long sides. Glue into place.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Run a bead of hot glue up each corner to secure everything well.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

If you wish to add a buckboard to the front, trim two pieces of craft sticks to be as long as the width of two craft sticks.

Trim off the ends of craft sticks so they fit inside the front. To help support the seat, glue a couple of stacked scrap pieces of wood underneath, and then glue the seat into place.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Once all glue has hardened, flip the wagon over. Cut your straw in half and glue it at either end of the wagon to allow the axles to turn.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

 Put them close to each end, I did wind up pulling mine off and re-gluing further apart to be sure the wheels had plenty of space to turn.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Trim skewers so they just stick out about 1/8” on each side and run them through the straw.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Trace 4 large circles onto cardboard and cut them out. I used a wide-mouth mason jar lid but you can use whatever you have on hand like a large cup or a bowl.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Draw the outline of the wheel and spokes with a brown marker.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Poke a hole through the center large enough for the skewers to fit through.

Place each wagon wheel onto a skewer and secure it on both sides with hot glue, be sure not to glue it to the wagon so that they move freely.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft

Flip the wagon back over and glue 4 craft sticks upright inside each of the 4 corners of the wagon box.

You can either use white cardstock or fabric to stretch up and over the wagon frame to make your covered wagon top.

National Prairie Day Easy Popsicle Stick Wagon Craft