Activities
to do with Children
Places to visit
Links
Young
children have a lot of fun digging in dirt or sand and enjoy
their finds. What a great way to encourage and teach them
about dinosaurs, fossils, rocks, and gems.
Fun
activities to do with children
Go
rock collecting! Visit a beach or a park and don’t
forget the shovel and bucket to hold any findings.
Make
muffins, a cake, or even jello. Add raisins, chocolate
chips, or dried fruit to the batter and cook. Dig in for
a real treat!
Visit
Enchanted
Learning for great dinosaur crafts children would
love to make.
Visit
Enchanted
Learning for great pebble and rock crafts too!
Top
Places
to visit to learn about dinosaurs, fossils, rocks, and gems
New
Haven County:
Yale
Peabody Museum,
170 Whitney Ave, (203) 432-5050 The Great Hall of Dinosaurs
features a giant mural depicting the history of dinosaurs.
See skeleton’s of many favorites, including the Tyrannosaurus
Rex, Apatosaurus, Stegosaurus and more. Also there are exhibits
on the cultures of Ancient Egypt, Native Americans, minerals,
meteorites, and birds of CT. Visit the new gift shop. Visit
their website for Hours and Admission.
Free Admission on Thursday afternoons from 2 to 5pm.
Hartford
County:
Dinosaur
State Park, 400 West St., Rocky Hill, (860) 529-8423
Jurassic-period dinosaur tracks, 80 foot long diorama depicting
the setting in which the park’s tracks were made,
make plaster casts of tracks (casting materials not supplied
you need to bring ¼ cup cooking oil, cloth rags and
paper towels, a 5-gallon plastic bucket and 10 pounds of
plaster of paris, no substitutions), nature trails, and
picnic area. Visit their website for Hours and Admission.
Old
New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine, Newgate Rd., East
Granby, (860) 653-3563 America’s first chartered copper
mine, Connecticut’s first colonial prison. Exhibits,
mine tours, spectacular view, hiking trails and picnic area.
Putnam
County:
River
Bend Mining & Gemstone Panning and Wildlife Exhibit,
41 Pond St. Rte. 14A, Oneco (860) 564-3440 Guided by the
light of your miner’s helmet, prospectors enter an
authentic designed mine. Mine for gems, fossils, minerals,
and shells, gemstone panning. Fluorescent rock exhibit,
and wildlife exhibit. Call for hours of operation and admission.
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Links
Connecticut's
State Parks are an exciting place to learn about the
geology of the state. Descriptions that explain the interesting
geologic features and identify the many rocks and minerals
that you will see along the trails are available for many
of our parks. Print a copy of the description and carry
it with you when you visit a park to gain insight into the
complex geologic history of Connecticut.
Log on to National
Geographic to learn about dinosaurs.
To learn about fossils
visit Enchanted
Learning.
The
Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom provides a complete guide
to rocks, minerals and gemstones.
American
Library Association has a list of great dinosaur sites
to visit.
Log onto American
Library Association for a list of Geology sites to visit.
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to Places to go, things to do main page.
Yale School of Medicine