I don't need to tell you that children love everything 'dinosaur'. These giant, prehistoric creatures that once roamed freely are mysterious and fascinating to their little, curious minds.
If your child has shown an interest in dinosaurs, I have the perfect set of tried and true, hands-on activities for them. We will learn more about these fantastic beats through learning activities, sensory play, puzzles, STEM, a FREE RESOURCE and more!
So, let's get right to it!
Build Dinosaur Nests.
One of the best ways to learn about dinosaurs is to recreate where they lived! Travel back in time and create a home for your dinosaurs that is safe enough for them to lay their eggs and sleep at night without being threatened by predators.
This magna tile set is one of our most used toys in our house. We love building homes for our dinosaurs and my daughter will sit and play with it for hours at a time. Dino World Magna-Tiles XL This set comes with 6 magnetic dinosaurs, a palm tree set, and several large, medium and small tiles that create the perfect tropical scene for prehistoric dinosaurs.
Extended Learning:
- Talk about the dangers a mother dinosaur would face when she had to leave her vulnerable eggs to go hunt for food for herself.
- Discuss how dinosaurs might conceal their eggs to hide them from predators.
- Role Play a mother staying by her eggs to protect them as a larger, scarier dinosaur comes into the area looking for easy prey.
2. Paleontologist Sensory Bin
Have your child become a real paleontologist with this super simple hands on activity. Dig for dinosaur fossils using simple tools and identify the dinosaur remains as you find them! I promise this activity will be a hit in your home!
Materials:
kinetic sand
small dinosaurs (we love these)
paint brush or tooth brush
tweezers
a bin to hold it all in!
Extended Learning
- Discuss with your child that paleontology is a real job. Describe what paleontologist do and how difficult, but important of a job it is.
- Ask your child if they know how fossils are preserved. (The Magic School Bus has a wonderful episode about it on Netflix if your child is interested in this topic!)
3. "I Spy a Dinosaur"
This activity doesn't look like much, so I am sure you have skipped right past it! BUT, if you decided to stay and read about what I am talking about, this might become one of your favorite activities too!
"I spy a dinosaur" is a game that I play with my daughter often. I found these cards in the dollar spot at Target I am sure, and noticed we had matching dinosaur toys! So, I created a game- here is how you play.
I will shuffle the cards and hold them in my hands (my daughter cannot see these). I line up the toys that match the cards I am holding for my daughter to see. Then, I look at the card in my hand and describe what I am seeing.
For example:
If I am holding the Velociraptor card I would say, "I am looking for a dinosaur that likes to eat meat. He is very fast and has sharp claws. He stands on two feet and often stays in a pack. What dinosaur am I looking for?"
Extended Learning:
I love this form of teaching because it makes learning facts memorable and fun! We learned that a velociraptor is a carnivore, and hangs out in packs. We also learned that they run fast and use their sharp claws to catch prey. My daughter can identify the dinosaur by the physical characteristics I described, but learned so much more than if I were to just say, "I am looking for a brown dinosaur".
She wants to play this game over and over again.
Materials:
A pack of dinosaur cards (any you can find will work I am sure)
A variety of basic dinosaurs. (This is a great set)
4. Big, Medium, Small Sorting Activity
I am a big fan of sorting activities! This is a simple way to teach your child similarities and differences between objects and they pick up on it quickly! This was our first time sorting objects by size and it was SOOOO much fun! Children ages 2-5 were successful in this activity and enjoyed doing it!
The best part- You really don't need anything special in order to do it!
Materials:
Poster board- If you don't have a poster board you can use a cardboard box, or just painters tape! You just need defined spaces for big, medium and small dinosaurs
Big, Medium and Small Dinosaurs! We love these Jumbo Dinosaurs from Amazon.
Extended Learning:
This activity is great on its own because your child is able to discover the differences between the dinosaurs on their own. You provided the space for them, but they are doing all of the thinking on their own! But, I am all for more learning, so if you so choose-
- Ask your child to identify the dinosaurs as they are putting them into the correct categories.
- Ask your child what the difference is between two dinosaurs. For example, a Spinosaurus and Stegosaurus. A spinosaurus has a sail like fin on their back, they can walk on two feet and four feet. They have sharp teeth because they hunt for fish. A Stegosaurus has Pentagon/Triangle shaped plates on its back in two rows and only walks on two feet. His teeth are not as sharp because it is a herbivore.
5. Play Doh Imprints
This activity is as simple as they come. Simply pull out some play doh for your child, and hand them a dinosaur and see what they make!
Material:
Play Doh
Dinosaurs
Extended Learning:
- Pull up pictures of real life dinosaur foot prints people can go visit. Discuss their size and how they are preserved.
- Have your child role play a dinosaur getting stuck in the play doh, "mud". Explain that dinosaurs really did get stuck in tar/mud when they lived on the earth and that is how some of the fossils we see today were preserved.
6. Measure the Dinosaur
This STEM activity is perfect for toddlers. Measure the dinosaurs using a ruler, magnetic tiles and math manipulatives. This is a great way to introduce measurement to preschoolers and record real numbers like a scientist!
My daughter has been fascinated with numbers lately and wants to measure everything with our tape measure. So, we added dinosaur measurement to our learning unit!
Materials:
Dinosaurs of different sizes
Tape Measure
Magnetic Tiles
Small toy- we love these counting dinosaurs but you can use links, coins, paperclips, wooden beads, etc.
Extended Learning
- Discuss how your dinosaur doesn't change sized, but by using different tools you get different numbers that describe the size of your dinosaur. That is why it is important to "label" what you are measuring with.
7. Dinosaur Floor Puzzle
I had to include this puzzle because it is too cute not to share. I love that the puzzle itself is a dinosaur and it has several dinosaurs in the picture!
I also love that this we have to use our brains a little bit more to create the dinosaur shape instead of the typical rectangle puzzle we always see.
8. Dinosaur Workbook Activity (FREE RESOURCE)
As a thank you for making it this far, I wanted to provide you with a free resource you can print out and complete with your toddler.
Download free printable here.
I so appreciate your time and I hope you have fun completing these activities with your kiddos too!
Please email me at survivingtoddlerhood23@gmail.com with any questions you may have!
Comments