Crafty Corner: Dinosaur Roar!

Each month, we change our classroom around...new arrangement of furniture and different toys. We have at least 3 different dramatic play sets each round- I was in the mood for some dinosaurs and all we had were a bucket of plastic dinos and 2 hats like this (not sure where we got them, but they were definitely not sufficient enough for all the Tods to be patient and wait their turn):

Cute idea, but we needed more. Hmmmmm...it's been awhile since I busted out the old hot glue gun and this project seemed just about right for such things.

I found some super cheap winter hats at Wal-mart (like under a dollar each) and scored some stretchy toddler sized cheapy mittens at Joann in a clearance bin as well. (Stock up on these when they are in season, lots of fun things to use them for but they are super hard to find once winter gets underway).

I modeled my new hats after the ones that we already had. I first cut out a few parts...eyes and nostrils:

I carefully glued them on (no burns yet....I most often incur an injury or 2 in process of hot gluing things) and then cut out some jagged teeth. I flipped the front brim of the hat up and glued the teeth to the inside:

Roar (and still injury free):

Next up were some Dino scales/spikes for the top of the head. I cut 2 pieces the same and hot glued them together (leaving about 1/2 inch along the bottom open...for gluing to the hat):

I found it best to bend my knee and place the hat over it for the gluing process...it kept the hat taut enough for me to get the piece glued on straight and flat. (I was in the home stretch now...still no owies to speak of). At the last minute I decided to cut out some circles to glue to the sides for extra flair...this is the point at which I burned my finger like it was nobody's business. Baaaahhhh so close. Also, Yowwwwwwie. Burning glue stuck to baby pinky finger= instant blister. Totally worth it....for the children.

Grrrrrrrrreat. Moving onto Dino claws....

The kids love them and dress up many times in the day to be Dinosaurs who enjoy eating teachers and prowling with clawed hands outstretched. For an added bonus, I also cut out some 'Dino Bones' and just used thick foam board from the craft store. Pretty durable (aside from a few toddler teeth marks here and there). I would call this little project Dino-riffic!