I have to admit my least favorite time of every night is teeth brushing time. I’m tired and ready for the kids to be in bed and they are kind of crazy off the wall tired themselves. So we have to think of ways to get through the nightly teeth brushing ritual. But maybe you’re kids are old enough to brush their teeth themselves. Here are five tips to encourage your children with when it comes to teeth brushing time.

"5 Terrific T. Rex Teeth Tips" from your buddies at Dinosaur Train!

Just like Buddy loses his teeth on Dinosaur Train, kids lose primary teeth to make way for permanent teeth. Tyrannosaurus Rex replaced their teeth throughout their lives but you only get two sets so it is especially important to practice good dental care. Follow these helpful tips for strong teeth and a healthy smile!

1. Twice a day: Brush your teeth when you wake up and before you go to bed.

2. Take your time: Brush your teeth for 2 minutes and be sure to include your tongue!

3. Be kind to your gums: Brush with a soft bristle toothbrush.

4. Get the hard to reach places: Floss your teeth every day.

5. See your dentist twice a year!

And if you want to see Buddy learning about his teeth, please tune into Dinosaur Train on March 1 on PBS KIDS to watch the “T-Rex Teeth” episode (check your local listings) and visit LINK TO INTERSTITIAL to watch Dr. Scott, the host of Dinosaur Train, tell us all about the teeth of the Tyrannosaurus and other carnivores, like sharks.  Both sharks and Tyrannosaurus’ lose their teeth, but those teeth are always replaced by new teeth.  Humans only get two sets of teeth, so it’s important to take good care of them!

For more tips on how to “Rock Your Smile,” you might enjoy the FREE activity sheets for kids at the American Dental Association’s website, www.ada.org.

And now you have super clean teeth, you can “Rock Your Smile” as you hand out FREE Valentine’s Day Cards from Dinosaur Train.

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PBS KIDS’ popular show DINOSAUR TRAIN is launching its second season this week, and to kick it off, PBS KIDS is airing a one-hour DINOSAUR TRAIN movie special called Dinosaur Big City. Monday August 22^nd. That’s tomorrow people so find out what time your local airing will be because you do not want to miss Dinosaur Big City.

The premiere of Dinosaur Big City marks the start of season two of DINOSAUR TRAIN. From the world-renowned Jim Henson Company, the hit DINOSAUR TRAIN’s second season will focus on exploring the outdoors and natural phenomena, and will feature “Big Dinosaur Week” and a special based on the fan favorite “Dinosaurs A to Z” song. We were so excited to participate in a preview party for Dinosaur Train Big City. We had the opportunity to roll out the red carpet and enjoy some popcorn while watching our favorite dinosaurs. We even received cute little toys and party swag to help set the pre-historic party stage.

In Dinosaur Big City, kids join Buddy and his Pteranodon family as they journey on the Dinosaur Train with their theropod friends to the big Theropod Club Convention in Laramidia, the “Dinosaur Big City.” Along the way they meet Mayor Kosmoceratops and help King Cryolophosaurus overcome stage fright.Buddy and his Pteranodon family embark on a journey on the Dinosaur Train, gathering all their theropod friends together to travel to a really big Theropod Club Convention, which is being held in Laramidia, the “Dinosaur Big City.” Among the travelers is King Cryolophosaurus, a singing theropod who is more than a little nervous about giving a concert in front of his biggest audience ever in the Big City. Once the Dinosaur Train arrives in Laramidia, Buddy and the Pteranodon family explore the crowded “dinosaur metropolis.” At the Theropod Convention, the kids reunite with Annie Tyrannosaurus and her parents Delores and Boris, and they all meet the multi-horned mayor, Mayor Kosmoceratops. In the end, Buddy and Tiny help King Cryolophosaurus overcome his stage fright, and he wows a large dinosaur audience when he sings his new song, “Whole Lotta Theropods” at the Convention.

We love Dinosaur Train, I think all kids do. There is something that transcends time when it comes to watching and learning about dinosaurs. Just in case you do miss out on watching Dinosaur Big City on PBS you can buy it the next day. The movie will be released on DVD on August 23 by Paramount Home Entertainment. The DVD includes the Dinosaur Big City movie and four bonus episodes of DINOSAUR TRAIN, as well as interactive games, coloring pages, a dinosaur reference guide and information for parents. The DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $14.99 U.S./$15.99 Canada.

We received party supplies to have a Dinosaur Train Big City Viewing Party.

My kids love PBS Kids. We watch Word World and Dinosaur Train the most. So when it comes to planning a surprise for Father’s Day it wasn’t hard for me to get my children involved in the planning with a Dinosaur Train theme breakfast for dad!

If your children want to make plans for their dad’s breakfast like we are, they will enjoy this clip from Gilbert, the Junior Conductor, in which the Pteranadon Family enjoys eating breakfast on the Dinosaur Train. For your budding paleontologist help them dig up a dino-rific breakfast with these suggestions:

*DINOSAUR EGGS – Let the kids prepare a pot with water. Moms you’ll need to get the stove top going and place the pot on top. Boil up the eggs (8 minute) and then dump them into a colander. Let your children run cold water over them until they are cool to the touch (2-5 minutes). For immediate serving, allow the children to crack the eggs a little by tapping them on the counter, like eggs in a pteranadon nest (if you want to make a nest boil some spaghetti noodles with the eggs and place the noodles as a bed on the plate to rest the eggs inside). For made-a-head, have your children draw cracks on the eggs with a black non-toxic black crayon.

*T.REX FOOTPRINT PANCAKES - Let the children assist you in making the batter for pancakes. Mom will cook up the patches and when their done allow the children to cut them into footprint shapes using a cookie cutter or a toddler knife such as the ones we own from our Gerber utensil set. You can also have the children use any dinosaur cookie cutters you own to shape dad’s pancakes.

*PALEONTOLOGIST WAFFLES – If your dad (or children) enjoy playing “hide-a-go-seek” than maybe mom would rather make waffles. Stack them as high as daddy like them and allow the children to hide yummies between the layers – such as slices of banana, apple, strawberries; chocolate chips; crushed pineapple; nutella or other nut/seed butter; or shredded coconut. Let them mix and match as they please. Mom can prepare the goodies by providing a ramekin of each use by the hiders. Then dad can seek out these “fossils” while digging into his waffles!

*CONDUCTOR CONCESSIONS – Before you enter the lunch “time tunnel”, top off dad’s breakfast with a colorful, healthy smoothie. Blend yogurt with dad’s favorite fruits. Your child can help wash and peel any fruits. Mom will need to prepare and operate the blender.

IMPORTANT: Before serving any of these dishes, make sure that no one is allergic to any of the ingredients, or should not eat particular foods because of a family dietary practice. Keep in mind your family members’ dietary desire to be herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore.

Before Father’s Day morning, mommy and children can write and design a menu to announce all the tasty foods to be served. Before preparing any food, have a discussion with all the cooks about safety in the kitchen. Talk about the jobs an adult should do and jobs a child can do in the kitchen.

After breakfast take Dr. Scott’s advice and, “Get outside, get into nature and make your own discoveries.”

Tell Mom Start your Dino-Dad breakfast plans.

About Summer:

Summer is the President of our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living while cooking up a storm.

Dinosaur Train was created by Craig Bartlett (Hey Arnold!). The show embraces and celebrates the fascination that preschoolers have with both dinosaurs and trains while encouraging basic scientific thinking and skills. It’s the perfect combination if you ask me. Each episode includes animated segments with live-action sequences featuring a paleontologist who brings to life the show’s natural science and natural history curriculum for preschoolers, giving specific facts about dinosaurs and comparing their features to animals of today.

In the spirit of the Easter egg hunt tradition, Dinosaur Train offers a new twist!  Kids can watch the characters from Dinosaur Train hatch from their eggs and grow 4x their size with Hatchers! It’s simple, easy fun…Just place the egg in water and wait for it to crack! The Hatchers would make a great addition to an Easter Basket!

Another Easter Gift Idea would be the Dinosaur Train Eggspress application, now for iPhone, iPod and iPad ($2.99). This application challenges your child to find and match dinosaur eggs and then reunite dinosaur families while progressing through three different time periods. Your child will discover real flora and fauna from the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous eras. Along the way, there will be learning moments as Buddy and the Conductor reveal mystery dinosaur hatchlings, fun dinosaur facts, and an adorable Dinosaur Baby Book.  All aboard! Check out this review from Geek Dad.

In addition to filling Easter baskets this year with chocolate Easter bunnies and yellow chicks from the store, why not get the entire family together to make homemade treats that everyone can enjoy! It’s even more fun when you can decorate them with your favorite Dinosaur Train characters! How about baking a cake in the shape of an Easter egg and decorate it with the Dinosaur Train Cake Decorating set or top yummy cupcakes with Dinosaur Train Cupcake Rings, featuring Buddy and Tiny, from DecoPac. You’ll also want to keep your eyes peeled, if everything goes right, these cute rings and cake decorations make make an appearance on our Tasty Treat Thursday posts!

Watch Dinosaur Train on PBS

Visit The Jim Henson Company to learn more other Jim Henson Productions. You can also keep up with Jim Henson Company on Facebook and follow Jim Henson Company on Twitter  The hit television series Dinosaur Train® airs daily on PBS KIDS® (check local listings).

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We love Tiny Shiny and Dawn, who doesn’t right? Do you even know what I’m talking about, it’s like the best new cartoon for kids, oh wait, it’s not new anymore, they are on their second season right?

Dinosaur Train, that’s what I’m talking about. PBS comes up with some of the best educational shows for kids. We love Dinosaur Train and Sid the Science Kid. I’ve written about both series on multiple occasions so I don’t want to bore everyone with duplicate content.

(Hopefully you already know all about the show Dinosaur Train)

Let you children enjoy Dinosaur Train for Valentine’s Day with these free Valentine’s! PBS.org is offering free downloadable Dinosaur Train Valentine’s.

And for more Valentine’s Day fun, check out the new Flying with Buddy game that reinforces counting skills as Buddy collects seashells. Players use the mouse to control the flight of Buddy, Don and Tiny. Move the mouse UP and Buddy raises his legs, and Don and Tiny fly higher. Move the mouse DOWN and Don and Tiny fly lower, and Buddy reaches to grab the shells on the ground. After one minute of gameplay the characters return to their nest to count the treasures they collected.

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Dinosaur Train Make A Match Game!

In the Dinosaur Train Make A Match game, Buddy and his friends sharpen children’s memory skills in this special matching game that features a Buddy figure! To begin play, 48 game cards featuring favorite Dinosaurs from Dinosaur Train are shuffled and laid face down in 6 rows of 8 cards each. Players take turns turning over any two cards—so all players can see them—to find a matching pair. The game features “Take Buddy” cards, “Wild Cards” and “Lose a Pair” cards to add to the excitement. Players count their matching card sets at the end and add extra points for the player holding Buddy to determine who wins. The Dinosaur Train Make A Match Game is for 2 to 4 players, ages 3 to 6, and is available at Toys “R” Us stores nationwide for just $9.99.

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PBS Kids has quite a few shows that entertain and educate my children. We like Sid the Science Kid, Dragon Tales and Dinosaur Train. Dinosaur Train is one of my favorites personally, I love the catchy song. “Dinosaur Train, Dinosaur Train, gonna riiiiiiiide, the Dinosaur Train. I’d love to ride it myself except for a royal fear of dinosaurs.

On May 24, PBS KIDS will bring the series back with four new episodes. Dinosaur train is a CG-animated preschool series created by The Jim Henson Company. The Pteranodon family is going on world tour learning about all the dinosaurs around the globe and your kids are invited to tag along. The Pteranodon family have an adopted son named Buddy and he’s a T-rex with lots of hypothesizes on his mind.

We’ve been lucky enough to receive a screener copy of the four episodes and it must be partly my excitement but we’ve moved on from watching The Princess and the Frog to Dinosaur Train every morning. We have watched as The Pteranadon family travels the globe journeying to Asia, Europe and Africa with a new character Gilbert, the conductor’s young nephew. These new summer-themed vacation episodes, are just the spirit for those going on summer vacations and families doing their own exploring with kids.  

In addition, two new games will be featured on the Parents’ Choice Award-winning website, PBSKIDS.org/dinosaurtrain.  The All Aboard game (launching in May) will give kids control of the Dinosaur Train as a junior conductor, helping to seat different types of dinosaurs as the train moves from station to station.  And in Dinosaur Tracks (available now) Buddy and his friends are making tracks in the mud, kids can help them figure out which footprint comes next.

One of the episodes is about a bird, the Confusiousornos and it looks a little bit like a peacock, at the end of the episode when the paleontologist is talking about peacocks, Zoe just lights up. We took a trip to the zoo last week and her favorite animal was the peacock. So she just loves it. I love to see my kids get excited about learning. Each episode takes everyone on a journey like this one and ties in with a lesson about that species of dinosaur at the end.

“Dinosaur Train”

“Dinosaur Train”

“We’re going to ride”

“The Dinosaur Train”

Finally my daughter is asking for something other than My Friends Tigger and Pooh. PBS Kids, sent us a preview copy of Dinosaur Train. We have been watching it at least once every day since we got it.

Site Sneak Peek: July 2009
Full Site Launch: mid-August 2009

Dinosaur train is a new CGI animated series by Jim Henson’s. It is 15 minutes long with cute musical songs to teach children about dinosaurs. Buddy doesn’t belong in the family of Ptederons but they accept him and make him part of the family. He happens to be a T-Rex. His Siblings are Tiny, Shiny, and Don. They all ride the Dinosaur Train, to learn new things. Each episode is summarized at the end by Scott D. Sampson, PH.D. – Paleontologist.  This preview disk had two different episodes. One was about Herbivores and the other was about working together. You can watch both episodes yourself on-line.

Tiny Loves Fish

and

Triceratops for Lunch

The Jim Henson Company, who brought us "Sid the Science Kid", has announced another PBS project called "Dinosaur Train" that is set to air for the first time on Monday, September 7, 2009.

They contacted me and asked me to tell all of my readers about it.

About Dinosaur Train:

An adopted preschool-age Tyrannosaurus Rex named Buddy is the star of the show. He and his Pteranodon siblings ride the Dinosaur Train to learn all about various dinosaurs as they go on their adventures. My kids love dinosaurs. There is something about going “RWWWAHHHHHHH” really loud that appeals to my son.