This is something I came across last year, I can’t really remember how. But chances are I probably Googled or searched Pinterest for ‘dinosaur play ideas’ because believe it or not, my life REALLY is that exciting!!
Little did I know, I’d stumbled across an imagination invasion that was started by husband & wife team Refe and Susan Tuma, and now has 3 books, workshops, a Facebook page, and community of die hard dino fans dedicated to it. I am now completely immersed in this community and I’ve already started planning this year’s adventures. Hence the reason for this post, if you want to join in (and I wholeheartedly recommend that you do if you live with little dinosaur fans) then it does take a small amount of planning. And being as we’ve just crashed into October, I thought it was the perfect time…kind of like a one month reminder if you like?
So, what is Dinovember?
Brace yourselves people, things are about to get Jurassic!!
Our household will once again be taken over by mischievous dinosaurs for the whole month of November. I will dedicate each evening after bedtime to convince Stanley that his plastic dinosaurs come to life and have secret adventures while he sleeps (and possibly James too this year, but knowing him, he’ll probably be more interested in what’s for breakfast).
Before you scoff and think it’s far too much effort…Stanley fully believes in this!! It worked an absolute treat last year, and for his birthday this year he received a rather large T-Rex toy. He’s already expressed his concerns ‘Mummy, I’m a little bit worried that this big T-Rex will eat the little dinosaurs when they come alive again’. It’s a worry I share with him, as we found the carnivore’s cooking up a herbivore soup last year…goodness knows what they’ll get up to this time!!
Now, if you’re the kind of person who has a pristine house, cream or white furnishings, and a hatred of all types of messy play then this one’s really not for you!! There is a fair amount of clean up involved the following morning depending on just how wild Rexy and co got during the night.
And, if you follow me on social media and you aren’t a fan of dinosaurs then you might want to silence all notifications for a month come November. My feed will be full of Jurrasic style high jinks, and I’m not even slightly apologetic!!
Why bother doing all this crazy stuff?
Well, apart from the fact that you’ll probably find yourself giggling like a school girl (OK, maybe just me then?) as you set up the scenes, there is quite an important lesson behind it all. Also, if you’ve got young children, the wait between the ghoulish excitement of Halloween (Bonfire Night and Halloween are becoming increasingly combined events…something else that really gets my goat) and Christmas can be excruciating. November needs a bit of pepping up in my opinion especially as the weather tends to be wet, foggy, grey and cold here most years.
I read the following statement on the official Dinovember website and it summed up everything I believe in…
Because in the age of iPads and Netflix, we don’t want our kids to lose their sense of wonder and imagination. In a time when the answers to all the world’s questions are a web-search away, we want our kids to experience a little mystery. All it takes is some time and energy, creativity, and a few plastic dinosaurs.
Childhood is fleeting, so let’s make sure it’s fun while it lasts.
Now, I’m not claiming to be a perfect parent don’t get me wrong my kids love a bit of Netflix, and I ruddy love it!! My housework still needs to be done, I still need a quiet cuppa and my sanity still needs protecting…so Netflix and YouTube regularly step in to save the day.
But, I am passionate about kids being kids and exploring outdoors, wondering about the mysteries in life, and just believing in all things magical. Let’s face it, being a grown up is a bit rubbish most of the time (for example; nobody leaves me money under my pillow if I lose a tooth, I’m just hit with a dentist bill) so why rush our children into growing up?
That’s basically as much as I can tell you about Dinovember really…the rest is up to you and your creativity. All I know is that it’s been a huge hit in our house, as parents we’ve brainstormed, laughed and enjoyed taking part (I’m not denying that gin was consumed on more than one occasion). And, Stanley of course has loved it.
Last year we also managed to attend a couple of dinosaur themed events during November, and I’m still not sure if this was pure coincidence or whether the Dinovember movement is a lot bigger than I previously thought and dinosaurs are set to rule the world once again!!
And, if everything else I’ve said has failed to convince you, there’s nothing more life affirming than jumping out of bed at 3am when you realise you’ve forgotten to move the dinosaurs!!
Things I’m going to do this year:
- Start planning earlier (I’ve only added this to the list because I’ve already started and the control freak in me feels smug to be able to tick something off straight away)
- Search Pinterest for ideas and create a a Dinovember board to pin to. (Follow me and you’ll have it without doing the leg work) This will give me ideas to adapt for nights where my creativity takes second place to a takeaway and glass of something chilled.
- Actually getting round to printing off the Dinovember photo book I created last year that chronicled our naughty dinosaur escapades. (I know, I have no excuse…life just got in the way) I’m thinking it would make a nice parting ‘gift’ from the dinos on the last day this time round.
- Start looking for ‘props’ NOW
- Buy an educational dinosaur book/poster so we can learn about different types of dinosaurs as we go.
- Buy myself a T-Rex suit…no real reason for this apart from that I’ve seen some hilarious photos of people wearing these and I desperately want in!!
- And most importantly make sure friends and family know NOT to EVER buy the boys an Elf on the Shelf!! December already has a lot of magic going on as it is, and personally I think the elves are more than a little bit creepy!! Plus, two consecutive months…NO THANK YOU!!
So, go on get involved….I know you want to!! Have a nosey here for inspo:
All images are my own unless otherwise credited.
Dirt, Diggers and Dinosaurs 