Journey Through Colorado History {Booking Across the USA}

I am very excited to be part of the Booking Across the USA project hosted by Growing Book by Book.  Today I am joining over 50 other bloggers in sharing a children's book and activity for my state.  The Rocky Mountains always come to mind when people think of Colorado, but I wanted to cover a different aspect of the state.  I was happy to find a new picture book called Dreaming of Colorado: A Children's Bedtime Story, written by Grant Collier and illustrated by Stephanie Lowman.  The book takes its characters through a magical canoe ride backwards in time through Colorado's history.  So the girls hopped into their own magic canoe (laundry basket) and we set off on our own historical adventure...

The first stop in Dreaming of Colorado is ancient Colorado where dinosaurs roamed the state.  We talked a little bit about fossils and how paleontologists learn about dinosaurs.  E was excited to learn that the first stegosaurus skeleton was found in Colorado and that it is the state dinosaur (stegosaurus is her favorite!). 

I showed the kids photos of Dinosaur Ridge where you can see dinosaur footprints on the side of the hill right next to the road.  We talked about some of the things that dinosaur footprints can tell us about dinosaurs like whether they walk on two feet or four, how large they were, whether they traveled in groups, etc...

With a bit of paint and the kids' collection of plastic dinosaur figures, we made some of our own dinosaur footprints and made observations about them like telling the difference between the theropods and sauropods.

The next stop for the magic canoe in our book was a time period where sequoia trees grew in Colorado and volcanoes were active.

We looked at pictures of sequoia trees online. Then we made our own 'volcano' using aluminum foil.  The girls were mesmerized when I made it 'erupt' using baking soda and vinegar.  This is the first time we've done this, so the level of excitement was pretty high.

 I showed them some pictures of the petrified sequoia trees that were preserved by volcanic ash in the Florissant Fossil Beds in Colorado.  I'll have to add it to our list of places to visit this summer.

The story then takes us to the plains where we meet an Arapahoe Indian hunter on a horse chasing a herd of bison.

I know that making a Native American feather headdress is pretty cliche, but the girls had so much fun with it.  I also researched the Arapaho Indians and found that they played an interesting Hoop and Pole game that is similar to darts, but with a rolling target.

L sewed us a hoop by threading yarn through holes in a plastic ring from another game (you might also be able to do this with a paper plate).

Our version of this Native American game involved me rolling the hoop across the ground and the girls catching it with their feathers.

The fourth aspect of Colorado history in the book was meeting a prospector who was looking for gold.  So we decided to do a little gold panning of our own...

E created a sifter for us by punching holes in an aluminum pie tin using a skewer (yes it was sharp, but I was supervising the whole time).

I buried chocolate chips underneath some corn starch and the girls took turns sifting.  Then they enjoyed eating their treasures. 

The book Deaming of Colorado was a fun launching point to start teaching my kids about their home state.  Obviously all four topics we covered through our introduction to Colorado history can be entire units themselves, but the little activities we did were just right to spark my Preschoolers' curiosity.

To see what the other bloggers in Booking Across the USA did for their states, visit the links below:

All 50 States for Booking Across the USA Blog Hop
Booking Across the USA Host:  Growing Book by Book	AlabamaAlabama Blog Post by Everyday Snapshots Blog	AlaskaAlaska Blog Post by Little Wonders' Days Blog
Arkansas Arkansas Blog Post by Homeschooling in Arkansas	ArizonaArizona Blog Post by Simply Kinder	CaliforniaCalifornia Blog Post by Juggling with Kids
ColoradoColorado blog Post by Learners in Bloom Colorado Blog Post by Living Montessori Now	ConnecticutConnecticut Blog Post By Teacher Park Blog	DelawareDelaware Blog Post by Mama Miss
FloridaFlorida Blog Post by the Teaching Stars Blog	GeorgiaGeorgia Blog Post by Fabulously First Blog	HawaiiHawaii Blog Post by Teaching with Style
Idaho Idaho post by True Aim Education Blog	IllinoisIllinois State Post by Growing Book by Book	IndianaIndiana State Post by Teach Pre-School Blog
IowaIowa Blog Post by Surviving a Teacher Salary Blog	KansasKansas Blog Post by KCEdventures	KentuckyKentucky Blog Post by Chicken Babies
LouisianaLouisiana Blog Post by Your Child's Next Book and Project Blog	MaineMaine Blog Post by Country Fun	MarylandMaryland Blog Post by Picture Books and Piourettes
MassachusettsMassachusetts Blog Post by Mama Smiles Blog	Michigan Michigan Blog Post by Play Dr. Mom	MinnesotaMinnesota Post by the Wise Owl Factory Book a Day Blog
MississippiMississippi Blog Post by Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk	MissouriMissouri Blog Post by Ready, Set, Read Blog	MontanaMontana Blog Post by The Honey Bunch
Nebraska Nebraska Blog Post by The Good Long Road	Nevada Nevada Blog Post by Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy Crafts Blog	New Hampshire New Hampshire Blog Post by Elementary Matters
New Jersey New Jersey Blog Post by The Pleasantest Thing	New Mexico New Mexico Blog Post by The Enchanted Homeschooling Mom Blog	New York New York Blog Post by What Do We Do All Day Blog
North CarolinaNorth Carolina Post by the Realistic Teacher Blog	North DakotaNorth Dakota Post by ND Health Works	Ohio Ohio Blog Post by the Smart Chick Teacher Blog
Oklahoma Oklahoma Blog Post by Herding Kats in Kindergarten	Oregon Oregon State Post by Journey of a Substitute Teacher Blog	Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Blog Post by the Land of Once Upon a Time
Rhode Island Rhode Island Blog Post by Smiling in Second	South Carolina South Carolina Blog Post by Cookies and Kiddos	South DakotaSouth Dakota Blog Post by Wise Owl Factory Book a Day
Tennessee Tennessee Blog Post by No Monkey Business	Texas Texas Blog Post by Curls and a Smile Texas Blog Post by Kid World Citizen	Utah Utah Blog Post by Teach Beside Me Blog
Vermont Vermont Blog Post by Vermont Moms Blog	Virginia Virginia Blog Post by Once Upon a Story Blog Virginia Post by the Freckled Homeschooler Blog	Washington Washington Blog Post by Home Learning Journey
West Virginia West Virginia Blog Post by Great Peace Academy Blog	Wisconsin Wisconsin Blog Post by Reading Confetti	Wyoming Wyoming Blog Post by No Twiddle Twaddle
USA USA Blog Post by the Corner on Character Blog

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