CARIBOU, Maine — The Nylander’s parking lot was full on Wednesday afternoon, as the Caribou museum held its popular “Dino Days” event during February vacation.
The dinosaur-themed event was also held last year. This year’s iteration of Dino Days has steadily brought between 50 and 60 people to the museum each day.
Activities are fun and educational, including a dino dig where young guests can dig through a box of gravel to find their own fossil. Aspiring archeologists then carefully hammer away at the fossil to find their dinosaur.
The Nylander Museum in Caribou was packed on Wednesday as young guests participated in a variety of dinosaur themed activities during the museum’s week-long “Dino Days” event. (Chris Bouchard | Aroostook Republican)
Additionally, the event featured dinosaur ornament making, where kids could use a cookie cutter and modeling clay to create their very own dinosaur ornament which could be hung on the museum’s “dino-tree” or taken home.
The week-long event also featured dinosaur selfies, a selection of dinosaur books, dinosaur gliders, a dinosaur memory matching game and dot-to-dot dinosaur themed mazes.
Junior volunteer Timber Parks helped parents and kids throughout the day, and said he has been a member of the museum’s volunteer program for about two years.
The museum is currently looking for more volunteers, or kids from the ages of 11 to 14, who would be interested in joining up. The position includes assisting with opening the museum, organizing materials, helping to come up with ideas for future events and activities and creating scavenger hunts for visitors.
Parks said he enjoyed helping out with the event and explained the process of fossil molding.
“You take some playdough and place in a dinosaur-shaped mold, then you push down on it and get special designs,” he said.
Throughout his time helping with the event, Parks said he learned about the timeline of dinosaurs and just how long ago they existed.
He said his favorite dinosaur is the T-Rex, and that he would like to volunteer for future events at the museum.
Anyone interested in joining the volunteer program can message the museum at facebook.com/nylandermuseum or fill out an application at 657 Main Street in Caribou.
