Last month’s pin-puppets wetted my appetite for more fun paper crafts, plus I needed one more interactive activity for the library storytime coming in July…

One of the short stories I will be reading for library story hour is “Playtime With Nessie,” and our activity will be all about dino diets. What better way to show it than to make little puppets that the kids can chomp on paper ferns, fish, and steaks? I found some ideas for clothespin puppets, and I just had to make my own. At the event I will just have one of each critter already made for our activity, with sheets available to take home so they can make their own.

I had a blast making these. Like the pin-puppets, I think I’ll have to make one for all the critters in the shop! My kids absolutely love these, especially the goofy Camarasaurus and very toothy Pliosaurus. Which one is your favorite?

And the Critter of the Month is…

How did plesiosaurs swim? It’s been something that always fascinated me, just like pterosaur flight, and there are so many different theories behind how it worked. Did they row their flippers at the same time, alternate front and back flippers, or swim more like penguins and turtles?

Lucky for me there are some truly amazing paleontologists out there with the creative thinking and use of technology to try and find out this sort of thing. Because we really don’t have any modern animals to help us figure this out. Turtles are the first thing to come to mind, but their back flippers are so much smaller than their front flippers that plesiosaurs were definitely doing something different.

I found the video below absolutely fascinating. Of course, robot parts will not have the fluidity and intelligent movement of an animal’s limb. So keep in mind the way a turtle or whale’s fin will flex and make subtle changes in its angle or rotation as it moves through the water.

Oh, and in the video he refers to both pliosaurs and plesiosaurs as plesiosaurs, which is correct, but can be mildly confusing. Plesiosauroidea and Pliosauroidea are the technical terms for the different groups, but we tend to shorten the names into general terms to make it simpler to talk about. Just like the difference between dolphins and whales. Dolphins are technically whales, but specialized to a point that we usually don’t call them whales, while the larger, more stereotypical whales are simply called whales.

Now that Nessie is all nice and shiny she is ready for adoption! Just click on the picture below or CLICK HERE to go to Redbubble and take a look at her.

See you July 1st for the next Critter of the Month!

This swimmer just wants a friend. 🙂

Share your guess in the comments! He’ll be one of the critters over on the critter page. 🙂