Preschool Dinosaur Crafts, Activities, and Printables

Dinosaur Crafts, Dinosaur Activities, Games, and Printables

Dinosaurs Preschool and Kindergarten Learning Centers

The Dinosaurs 

The dinosaurs lived long ago,
when life on earth began.
Some were tall (Stretch high).
Some were small (Make yourself small).
Some liked water (Pretend to be swimming).
Some liked land (Pretend to walk). 
Pteranadons had leathery wings (Pretend to fly). 
Brontausaurs, long necks (Pretend to make a long neck).
But the meanest dinosaur of all (Makea mean face).
Was Tyranosaurus Rex (Stomp).

Dinosaurs

Some dinosaurs were very tall (Stretch arms up high) 
Some dinosaurs were very small (Crouch down) 
Some dinosaurs flew through the air (Arms out like wings) 
Now they are all gone. (Shake head no) 
We don't know where. (Shrug shoulders)

Dinosaurs Science

Discuss with children the eating habits of the dinosaurs. Explain that all dinosaurs belonged to one of the following groups:

Herbivores: Plant eaters (Plant eating dinosaurs had to eat large amounts of plants to fuel their large bodies.)
Carnivores: Meat eaters (Meat eating dinosaurs ate everything that moved, including other dinosaurs, insects, and birds.)
Omnivores: Plant and meat eaters.

Let children sort dinosaurs pictures or toy dinosaurs in the different groups. Share the following facts with them as they work together:

Meat eaters often had short, powerful necks, and big heads.
Plant eaters often had long necks to reach the tree tops.
There were more herbivores than carnivores.
Most carnivores walked on their back legs, leaving their front limbs free for catching and holding prey.

Preschool Activities: 

Media Root

Snack Idea:
Let children taste both a piece of celery and some smoked sausage. Ask children what they like best and what type of dinosaurs they would have liked to be. 

Dinosaur Colors

Nobody really knows what colors the dinosaurs where. Some dinosaurs may have been green or gray. Some maybe were as colorful as insects with stripes and dots. Let children color and decorate a dinosaur cut out with colorful paper and paint. 

Dinosaurs Activities and Games

Dinosaur Bones
Spray paint a number of small dog bones white. Place them in a shallow rectangular baking dish and cover with sand or clean dirt. Tell your child to pretend that he/she is a paleontologist and that he/she will be digging for dinosaur fossils. Because dinosaurs are now extinct, he/she must examine and study these fossils to understand the history of this fascinating group of animals. Explain that the bones and the ground around the dinosaurs let us know when the dinosaurs died and what the climate was like when they lived. Just digging up the fossils could take years! Provide children with digging tools such as small toy shovels, paintbrushes, sticks, etc.

Herbivores: Food Hunt
Explain to children that plant eating dinosaurs (herbivores) had to eat and find a lot of food to fuel their large bodies. Cut several leaf shapes or collect leaves from outside and spread the leaves around your classroom. Encourage children to pretend to be plant eating dinosaurs searching for their food. Let children gather the leaves and place them inside a basket. Variation: Write some target letters on the leaves and let children search for a specific type of leave (letter d, etc.)

Sing the following song as the children look for the food:

Eat, Eat, Eat Your Plants
(Tune: "Row, Row, Row Your Boat")

Eat, eat, eat your plants little dinosaur
Hurry up and eat your plants, then you find some more. 

Dinosaur Concentration
Make two identical sets of dinosaur pictures. (You can find great dinosaur templates on our site or in coloring books.) Place the pictures face down on a table or on the floor and mix them up. Have your child turn over a picture. Then have him/her turn over another picture to try to find its match. If the two pictures don?t match, have your child turn the pictures over and try again. Play until all the pictures are matched.

Dinosaur Eggs
Dinosaurs layed eggs of different shapes and sizes. Use plastic easter eggs to make a sorting game. 

Digging for Dinosaurs:
Use a dinosaur puzzle or laminate a dinosaur picture and cut in to pieces. Place the puzzle pieces in your sensory table or on a cookie sheet pan and cover with sand. Allow the children to dig for the puzzle pieces as if they were digging for dinosaur bones using their small brushes to find them. As they find the pieces they can put together the puzzles.

Dinosaur Circle Games and Movement

Dinosaur Dancing
Discuss different ways the dinosaurs moved. Walk slowly like a triceratops, run fast like a compsognathus, etc. Play some instrumental music and let your child move or dance around like a dinosaur.

There Was a Dinosaur That I Once Knew
There was a little dinosaur that I once knew,
Who crept around the whole day through,
He moved so softly, not a single sound.
You never could tell when he was around. (say the verse softly and tiptoe around.)

There was a big dinosaur that I once knew.
Who stomped around the whole day through.
She shook the earth as the walked about.
When she was around, there was no doubt! (say the verse loudly and stomp around.)

Dino, Dino, Who Has Your Bone? Have your child close his/her eyes. Hide the dino bone. (A dog's chew toy bone makes a good dino bone.) Say, ?Dino, Dino, who has your bone, somebody stole it from your home. Guess who!? Have your child try to find the bone.

Dinosaur Felt Story and Activities (Patterns, and activities available inside our KidsSoup member site)

Preschool Activities: 

Media Root

I'm a Mean Old Dinosaur 
(Tune: I'm A Little Teapot)

I'm a mean old dinosaur (Make a mean frown) 
Big and tall.  (Stretch arms high and wide) 
Here is my tail,  (Point to imaginary tail) 
And here is my claw. (Curl fingers on one hand) 
When I get all hungry,  (Rub tummy) 
I just growl. (Growl the word "growl" with hands round mouth) 
Look out kids . . . (Reach out arms) 
I'm on the prowl. (Lunge left and right)

Dinosaurs Free Printables and Coloring Pages

Dinosaur Writing Worksheet	Dinosaur Different Worksheet	Dinosaur Coloring Page

Dinosaurs Snack Ideas

Dinosaur Salad Explain that many dinosaurs were plant eaters. Discuss with your child that fruits and vegetables are parts of plants. Provide a variety of fruits and vegetables. Peel and slice the fruits/vegetables and place in a bowl. Mix together. Serve on a paper plate. Ask your child to eat his/her fruit or vegetable salad just as dinosaurs might have?without hands. Some suggested fruits and vegetables: bananas, apples, grapes, oranges, cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries, lettuce, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Dinosaur Crafts

Fossils Have children make imprints in playdough using pennies or leaves. Explain how this is very similar to how dinosaur fossils were made. Bones made imprints in the mud. This mud hardened and became a rock or stone. When this rock or stone is broken the imprint is still in place. Explain that we can learn about dinosaurs through fossils.

Dinosaur Egg In a shallow bowl mix some flour and water until you get a runny paste. Tear some newspaper into small strips. Place an inflated balloon on top of a cup or a small container so that it doesn't tip over. Dip and soak newspaper strips in the paste and remove excess paste. Place strips on the balloon. Overlap strips until the whole balloon is completely covered. Apply three of four layers and let dry. When strips are completely dry, let your child paint the egg.

Play Dough Dinosaurs

Let children create dinosaurs or use cookie cutters.

Other Great Dinosaur Activities and Resources:

DinoDon.com
The Dinosauria
Discovery Channel Dinosaur Page