If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll know that Princess Nagger is into dinosaurs. Big time. She wants to be a Paleontologist when she grows up. I secretly hope she continues to think along those lines – then when hubby and I get old and frail, she can take care of us in the life to which we could easily become accustomed to.
The wonderful Jenners (who is taking a bloggy break to spend quality time with her mom – HUGZ Jenners!) alerted me to the fact that there are these really cool things for kids that love dinosaurs… The “I Dig Dinosaurs” kits that they can spend hours of enjoyment pretending to be a Paleontologist and dig out dinosaur bones from a block of something. They can then put the skeleton form together and paint it and have a wonderful keepsake.
Since they didn’t happen to have either of Princess Naggers two favorites, the Pteranodon or the Pterodactyl, I bought her third favorite, the Velociraptor:
When she opened this gift after spending the day at the Dinosaur Museum, she shrieked and proclaimed me the best Mom ever. So thanks, Jenners, for helping me achieve that title. I owe you one.
She wanted to start digging immediately, so she got all ready for her big dig:
Of course Travis and Rolex had to oversee the project. She donned the included safety glasses and positioned her Halloween pumpkin to be the bone collection container and got to work:
Finally, she discovered some bones:
She kept tapping away with the little mallet and chisel (recruiting hubby and myself when her arm got tired) and finally uncovered what looks like a spine but identified (correctly by her) as the tail:
Time to gently remove it to continue the dig:
After she removed the tail, there were a few pieces she was able to retrieve before it got too dark and she reluctantly had to wait until the next day to continue:
After school on Monday she protested about having to do her homework first, but once she was done, she got to work digging out the rest of the skeleton. She commented: “It’s not really hours of fun, but days of fun…like two days.” And only because it got too late (and dark) to finish it in one day.
Once she had all the bones dug out, she recruited me to put the skeleton together – some of the pieces were stubborn and kept slipping apart, so I glued a few together just to keep it sturdy for her paint job:
Wild skeleton bones, aren’t they? Travis was showing great interest in the dinosaur skeleton, too:
Too much interest – he almost knocked it over with his paw…see the blur?
At least he didn’t grab it and run off with it in a game of keep-away:
I have a feeling that Santa will be bringing another one of these kits since she loved it so much and wants to get them all for a ‘collection’. I’ll keep you posted. A Happy Nagger makes a Happy Mama.
It is very interesting for me to read the article. Thank you for it. I like such themes and everything that is connected to them. I definitely want to read more on that blog soon.
Very cool kit. And the title of Best Mama EVER! You rock! 🙂
she looked so intense while she was digging up bones…very cool;)
I so want one of those kits, awesome.
peace
Wow – I love love that dinosaur kit! I think my husband may want one for himself.
Wow now that is one cool toy. I would even play with that!
Wow, what a project!
What a wonderfully focused, patient child. I'd have dropped that thing onto the sidewalk from a second story window after two minutes of tap tap tapping with the chisel.
Very cool! Where did you find those? Andrew would love it.
Makes me want to see Jurassic Park again.
Wow! That brought back a huge memory for me!!! They used to have this thing that made you think that you were a sculptor. You would chip all of the soft material away, ending up with some sort of item like a head or an animal. I had forgotten all about those!
Great job! Tara loved those when she was younger! Hours of fun!!
I'm glad she liked that so well. I think my son had something similar once. She painted her dragon in such fierce colors!
Not dragon, dino!
What fun! I'll have to get one of those for my daughter. She had a smaller kit but there was no paint. She'd like this kit a lot more.
Great idea!
When mine was into dinosaurs … she thought she WAS one. Made for some interesting times. 🙂
That is SO cool! And yes – you ARE the best mom ever!
What a cool toy! My kids would love it.
How cool is that!?!
Love the eye protection!!
Cool! My son would dig it (insert groan!). Sorry, I had to ;P
Now that is a really cool toy! I think that my son might love it and it sounds like the best part is that it will keep him busy for hours. Score! 😉
Love the glasses and of course, the official dog inspection.
Have a great WW.
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That is a really neat kit! I'll have to keep that in mind when I start my christmas shopping!
Those are so cool! I've never seen them before.
THAT is pretty cool!!!
that is amazingly cool! will have to check those out for Santa this year for the boys. she did a great job on painting as well. love toys that perk kids imagination and fuel their creativity. big smiles. thanks for taking us on the expedition!
What a cool toy!
I think you gave me a Christmas idea…
I love the play by play photos.
That is so cool…why didn't they have these fun things when we were little??
Awesome! I love velociraptors….
My boys got these sets from one of their aunts and they just LOVED it! What a fun thing for the Princess!
Blessings!
Love the dinosaur kit, and the safety glasses are adorable:)
Yup Santa needs to bring one of those, and do you think he could send one to me whilst we are at it?
How adorable! My oldest son would love that.
Those are fun. The dudes have gotten them before and they really love them too.
Oh how fun! I love that you nurture her passions so much. It looks like she enjoyed that a lot.
What a great gift, especially for an aspiring dinosaur hunter. Don't hold out hope for her supporting you in the style to which you would like to become accustomed as a paleontologist. I don't think they earn huge money. Maybe she could be a paleontologist/attorney.
Now that is the coolest thing ever! I can't believe you found something to match her interests so well!
Way to go Best Mom Ever!
Good gift, and good idea for a toy/project- at many levels!
That gift was made for your daughter!
Happy Wednesday!
so cool! I actually found a similar yet ,much smaller version at the doller store…or tree…my kids loved it too!
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Oh my gosh that is such a cool gift! When I was younger I thought I wanted to Paleontologist(courtesy of Nancy Drew LOL), maybe if I would have had a gift like this it would have made it seem more real. Love it!
Happy WW!
these are so very awesome. AJ has Neanderthal Man. He read this post with me and he's uncovering it now. He got it 2yrs ago but the "I hate messes" in me wanted it done outside. He's still not outside. I'vegot the vacuum at the ready.
Way cool photos of the young Paleontologist on her current dig.
Way to go, best mom ever!
She is such a cute little paleontologist. I remember going through this stage with my kids and doing these kids. Always great to do outside. : )
That is so cool!!! My kids would love something like that!
So very cool. How wonderful that you encourage her passions like this! She'll remember this, and maybe will find the missing link someday!
My son loved these, also the 3D dinosaur puzzles that are huge and need parental help to assemble. Awesomeness!
That is cool! It looks like a lot of fun!
That looks too cool! I may have to pick that up for my nieces for Christmas!!!
That is SO cool! Maybe they should offer that kind of thing for Princesses. Although I could just bury some of her figurines in the backyard and create my own cheap version…