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Tag Archive: Heather Davis

  1. Brain Builders: Animal Scavenger Hunt

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    Looking for a new way to get up and moving as well as get kids minds active and learning?  Try a scavenger hunt! 

    For this scavenger hunt, I gathered some random plastic animals and hid them around the yard.  My assistants, Chloe and Carter, were eager to start the search, and even used their walkie talkies to alert one another to a discovery.  *Note: no plastic animals needed for this activity.  Printed or drawn pictures of animals work great!

    It took a while to find all the animals, and we talked about the word camouflage, since some of the animals were quite hidden.  Once all the animals were found, we talked about each one and discussed what kind of habitat the animal needed.  We categorized them by where they built their homes or where they spent their time: land, water, or air.  

    The animals that lived in mixed habitats were particularly interesting to discuss!

    This scavenger hunt and animal habitat game is a super Brain Builder!  The scavenger hunt encourages movement, observation skills, and persistence.  The categorizing of animals habitats promotes math and science concepts.  

    *Brain Builder bonus:  older children may only need a written list, but children who are still learning to read may need photos or pictures of the items.  Even very young children will like to make a match to their paper and the item–bonus literacy skills!  


  2. Brain Builders: Meltasaurus

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    by Heather Davis, MCM Early Learning Manager

    Looking for another way to keep cool this summer? Give “Meltasaurus” a try! Meltasaurus is one of our most popular activities for younger children at the museum and now you can try them at home!

    The setup: Grab some tiny plastic dinos, or LEGO’s, etc. Put the toys in some small containers (I had a bunch of mason jars hanging around), fill with water and freeze! 

    (If using glass, keep an eye on the containers and pull them out of the freezer once the water has just frozen. Water expands when it freezes so glass jars can break! If you want to prep this activities one or more days, before use plastic containers that can expand with your ice.)

    When you’re ready to play: Grab some squirt bottles or droppers, and fill ’em up with water.  I used a couple different kinds of bottles, including a small spray bottle and a pipette. 

    With my assistants, Ava and Beau (age 3), first we worked on getting the dinos out of the jars by squirting the water and melting the ice. 

    (For more experimentation, try filling the squirt bottles with different temperatures of water to see which frees the toys the fastest. For very little kids with short attention spans, or for bigger blocks of ice, use warm water.)

    We used a plastic bin, but sitting in a small pool to do this activity would be a great way to keep cool on a hot summer’s day!  

    As more of the ice was removed from the jars, Ava and Beau used their fine motor skills to squeeze the bottles and free the dinosaurs.  Every time they freed a dinosaur there was a great sense of accomplishment!  

    Why is this a Brain Builder? Activities like “meltasaurus” encourage children to use their fine motor skills, which helps with later tasks like zipping, tying shoes and writing.  It supports social and emotional development by encouraging persistence, and feeling a sense of accomplishment.  It’s also a first step at scientific inquiry by using observational skills:  why does the water melt the ice, which dinosaurs are the same color, or what happens if we spray the water on ourselves or on the slide?  

  3. Brain Builders: Marvelous Marble Mazes

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    by Heather Davis, MCM Early Learning Manager

    Is your child tired of all their toys already? Try making your own game! All you need is a paper plate, strips of paper, glue, and either a marble or a piece of aluminum foil. 


    Glue each end of the strips of paper to the plate making a tunnel. Count to 10 to make sure the glue sticks! You can also make loops or walls.

    When you’re all done making a maze of tunnels and decorating your game, try it out! Drop the marble of the aluminum foil ball and the plate and roll it around. Can you get your ball through each tunnel? Can you keep the ball on the plate without dropping it? Do you have to move fast or slow? 

    Not only will children feel proud creating their own fun game, but the mazes are also a first look at physics! Talk about a Brain Builder! How does the marble or the ball move? What happens when you tilt the plate too far? What happens if the ball gets stuck? How might you change your maze or make another one? 


    Brain Builders is part of MCM at Home. Follow us on social media for more tips, games, crafts, and ideas to learn through play at home.

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