Kids Dinosaur Activities

From LoveToKnow Kids

Kids dinosaur activities provide a great way for kids to explore the past and learn about these larger than life reptiles that once roamed the earth.

Dinosaur bones are a fascinating window into the past.

Finding Kids Dinosaur Activities

If you want to choose good activities to teach about dinosaurs, you need to think about your purposes and the types of things your student(s) enjoy. There is so much available that it can be hard to choose so deciding what your goals are first is very important.

Dinosaur Activities: Just the Basics

What child doesn't love dinosaurs? They are fun and fascinating, and because no one has actually seen a real live dinosaur, there are lots left to the imagination. If you're teaching about dinosaurs, you can start with answering some very basic questions:

  • What does dinosaur mean?

The word dinosaur actually means terrible lizard. Interestingly, most dinosaurs were herbivores and not really so terrible. However, they were generally huge, which is how they earned the moniker. Another fascinating fact--reptiles never really stop growing throughout their lives.

  • What is a fossil?

A fossil is generally any evidence of anything that once lived, that is preserved in the earth's crust.

  • What is a living fossil?

A living fossil is an animal that was once believed to be extinct or was only previously known through fossil records. Iguanodons, okapis and coelacanths are examples of living fossils.

  • How big were dinosaurs?

Dinosaurs came in all different shapes and sizes. Some could grow as much as 100 ft. tall while others were about the size of a modern chicken. Most dinosaurs were somewhere in between.

Zoom Dinosaurs is an excellent online reference for looking up even more information about dinosaurs.

Dinosaur Arts and Crafts

If you have an artistic child who is looking for kids dinosaur activities to express his or her knowledge about dinosaurs creatively, try some of these activities:

  • Create a diorama that shows what type of climate and area dinosaurs must've lived in. Remember to research what kinds of conditions had to be present to support dinosaur life.
  • Make a paper mache dinosaur egg by applying paper mache around a small blown up balloon. Then when it dries, you can paint it and "hatch" it.
  • Work on some dinosaur themed coloring pages.

Dinosaur Science

There are a variety of kids dinosaur activities depending on the ages of the children you're teaching:

  • Make your own fossil- While kids are making their fossils, talk about how fossils are usually discovered and what we can learn from them.
  • Go on an archaeological dig using owl pellets-While kids are dissecting owl pellets, talk about the need to clean bones carefully (owl pellet bones can break easily), the difficulties in reconstructing a whole skeleton, and the necessity of documenting and charting your students' finds.
  • Learn how archaeologists find and document fossils-Bury some toys in a large sand area. Help students grid the area and give them matching grids to teach them how to document their findings.
  • Create a fun dinosaur lesson-Assign each student a dinosaur or compile a list of dinosaurs, listing basic characteristics including how large they were, where they were found, and what they ate.

Dinosaur Geography

Where are dinosaurs generally found? All over the world! Enlarge a world map and do some research to find out about major fossil discoveries. You can label the map with pictures of the dinosaurs that were discovered there.

Dinosaur Field Trips

There is no shortage of field trips you can take that will help you discover the world of dinosaurs. If you happen to live on the east coast, there are three museums that are particularly notable for dinosaur viewing: The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale, The American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and the National Museum of Natural History. If you are on the west coast, don't miss the Ruth Hall Museum of Paleontology.

If none of those museums are convenient for you, don't despair. Try one of these options that is held at several venues throughout the year:

  • See if you can get tickets to see Dinosaurs Alive-an 3-D Imax adventure into the past.

Resources for Studying Dinosaurs

Because dinosaurs are such a popular topic-there are ample resources available:

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