Welcome to the jurassic park of kids activities!
Where we explore awesome dinosaur activities that inspire your child’s imagination tree to grow and flourish.
In this article we present a myriad of fun dinosaur activities that revolve around a captivating dinosaur theme, fostering the growth and development of motor skills in kids.
From dinosaur crafts that let them recreate their own dinosaur fossils to interactive dinosaur activities for kids, we’ve curated a collection of games and tasks designed to make learning fun.
Dinosaur fossils, dinosaur bones dinosaur craft, dinosaur books & even dinosaur theme movements are an amazingly wonderful interactive way to engage your kids in developmental play and activities. Also, it’s super duper fun!
With our activities, children can tap into their creative side and replicate the past by crafting their own dinosaur fossils or imagining the creatures that once roamed the Earth. Watch their eyes light up as they engage with these dinosaur ideas and a simple dinosaur activity.
Whether you’re in search of some creative ideas for an educational yet fun dinosaur activity or a comprehensive guide to hosting a dinosaur-themed party, our guide is chock-full of ideas that will pique your child’s interest and keep them entertained.
Dinosaur Gross Motor Activities
Involving your child in several gross motor activities and games is important as it increases the strength of large muscle groups in their body and encourages them to get their whole body moving. Let us look at some of the interesting dinosaur-themed activities that you can easily set up at your home, in a classroom, or in a session of therapy –
Dinosaur Walks
A simple and fun activity where you ask your children to pretend they are either Tyrannosaurus Rex., Triceratops, Stegosaurus, or Velociraptors. Each and every species of dinosaur has a different pattern of walking and a distinct style of movement.
So, you can show your children how they move through the forest, how they climb down the hill, how they walk on the river, and ask them to emulate those movements. You will be surprised to see how much fun this simple game can give to your child as they will march forward, jump around, walk on their knees, crawl on their bellies and backs, and skip their ways to reach their destination.
You can definitely make the game more interesting for them by giving them different orders as in whether to look for an attack or be a little cautious and look behind. You can ask them to walk on their tiptoes, fly across the forest, walk forward and backward in a stomping manner, or even take large steps and flap their arms as they move from one corner to another. The possibilities are immense with this one simple game!
Dinosaur Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt is a classic game that excites every young child as it smells of adventure. Now, if you add dinosaurs to the game, the fun and excitement just shoot off the roof.
All you need to do is hide different dinosaur pieces around the room and ask your child to find them. you can always make the game more interesting to play by asking your child to move exactly like the species of dinosaur that they have discovered and then continue for the next piece as if your child is on a hunting mission in a deep jungle.
Always remember, the more simple plot points you add to a game, the more catchy and intriguing the game will become for your child. So, you can also make the hunt quite interesting by giving them certain orders such as from left to right they need to fly, or as they approach another piece, there is a river in between, where the dinosaur has to take big steps to cross it.
All these small things will compel your child to think and act differently which will not just help them strengthen their muscles but also, will encourage them to think creatively. As interesting as a game of scavenger hunt is, if you add some obstacles in the middle, it will doubly increase the fun.
Obstacle Course
Speaking of obstacles, a dinosaur-themed obstacle course is a great game to help your child work on the improvement of their gross motor skills.
Obstacle courses are games where you as a parent can let your imagination run wild and create a fun game for your child to play. Anything and everything can be used in the house to create such a course which includes ribbons, masking tapes, kids’ play tunnels, cushions, chairs, bean bags, carpet, stools, etc.
The cool part of this activity is the more challenging you make it for your children, the more fun they will get by playing the game. At first, we recommend you keep the course simple yet intriguing just by asking your child to crawl under a section of tape, jump over the cushions, stomp on a couple of bean bags, go through a tunnel and pick a dinosaur piece that is right at the end of it. Finally, your child has to roar like the species of dinosaur that they have discovered.
Later as your child picks up the game, you can increase the level of difficulty by asking him to pick different dinosaur puzzle pieces crossing all the obstacles, and then building the puzzle from scratch. No matter what you do or which new thing you add to this fun dinosaur activity though, the game never loses its charm.
Dress up as Dinosaurs
Another simple game like Dinosaur Move is equally fun and exciting! If you do not want to make this game elaborate, simply give your child some oversized clothes and that will work just as fine.
Ask your child to be the shortest dinosaur and then grow up to be the tallest one. Dressed as a dinosaur, you can also ask your child to have a dance-like happy dinosaur and move their entire body in fast, slow, and free motions.
As your child gets dressed as a particular dinosaur, ask them to act like that one as well. For example, if a dinosaur jumps the highest, ask your child to jump as high as possible, or if a dinosaur moves quite stealthily, ask your child to move slowly, walk on their knees, and gradually stand up to their feet.
Again, the possibilities are huge and therefore, you will never find your child getting bored playing this dinosaur-themed gross motor activity game.
Dinosaur Fine Motor Activities
Fine motor skills are important for your child to learn as they involve the functioning and coordination of small muscle groups in the body which facilitate activities like writing, opening boxes, tying shoelaces, etc.
Now, let us look at some of the exciting and awesome dinosaur activities and themed activities for your children that will improve their fine motor skills –
Create Dinosaur Origami
A simple activity that not only puts the small muscle groups of your children to work but also encourages them to think creatively and bring their imagination to life.
We recommend that you first ask your child to create a simple dinosaur or you can first show them how to create one using paper, a pencil, and a pair of scissors. The only thing that you need to be careful about is the cutting or splicing instrument which is the scissors in this case. However, there are many kid-friendly scissors available in the market that are sharp enough to cut through a piece of paper but not that dangerous to cut through their young skin.
It’s fair to say that traditional origami does not involve any use of scissors and it is only the craft of folding and handling a piece of paper. Since all modern origami toolkits come with scissors in them, you just have to be a little careful with them. You can always replace the scissors or the splicing tool with a metallic scale that serves the same purpose but eliminates the risk of getting a cut in the process.
Nevertheless, if your child picks up the fun of creating a lively dinosaur from a single piece of paper, the amount of fun they can derive from the activity is immense.
Creating LEGO Dinosaurs
Think about the pre-historic savage beasts of Jurassic Park and how excited your children were to see those animals rampaging across the wild! Now, think about the fun that your children will get if they find a game or an activity by which they can create these beats on their own.
Dinosaur LEGO games are extremely helpful fine motor skill activities for your children where they use their hands and their innocent intellect to create a figure from their imagination. You can always inspire your children to go wild with their imagination and create a dinosaur from their own minds and make them as spiky and ferocious as they want.
If your child is really interested in the game, you can ask them to build a Jurassic Park of their own with a family of dinosaurs and everything else. The best thing about LEGO is no matter what age you are it will intrigue you at some level to try your hands out and therefore, you can always join your kids to create an amusement park full of massive, strong, and tall dinosaurs.
Dinosaur Coloring Activities
A great game to not just improve the fine motor skills of your children but also strengthen their learning and recognition abilities!
There are an extraordinary number of dinosaur printables available in both online and offline markets that you can get for your children. A lot of coloring books are also available and you can take a pick according to your child’s choice. The best part about a coloring game with free printables is that you do not need any additional equipment except the coloring book and a bunch of pastels, or crayons.
In the beginning, we recommend that you let your kids have all the fun and not give them your ideas or orders as to what color they should choose and how systematically they should put the color, by making sure they stay inside the borders. First, let them have a free run and allow them the excitement.
Then as they progress, you can come in with your tidbits. If your child really likes this activity, it will strengthen their hand muscles and also improve their creative thinking. You will be amazed to see hours passing by with your kids having fun coloring the monstrous dinosaurs.
Pegging Dinosaur Spikes onto a Paper Craft Dinosaur
All kids love most activities where any form of creation, imagination, and curiosity is involved. Pegging dinosaur spikes onto a papercraft dinosaur using clips or clothespins is such an activity that kids just love to play.
Simply tell your children that the deadly carnivore “Spinosaurus” has lost all its spikes and thorns and now it’s their responsibility to make them battle-ready and send them for their hunting campaigns. The premise itself will intrigue your kids and you will see how quickly they jump into the action.
This activity helps children work on their fine motor skills and also strengthens their recognition and counting ability. One of the great things about this activity is that it is full of learning. For example, you can incorporate origami papers into it for creating the spikes, or you can ask your children to make the spikes from a cardboard box, or you can give them colorful clothespins or straws.
No matter what you do, the fun that your kids will have playing this game is exceptional.
Dinosaur Sensory Activities
Now let us shift our focus to some of the dinosaur-themed sensory activities for your children that will help them improve and strengthen their senses of touch, vision, hearing, taste, and smell.
So, let’s jump into these dinosaur activities for kids!
Finding Dinosaurs in Goop and then Washing Them
A kind of scavenger hunt with an extra level to it that adds to the fun and excitement of your children! However, it is fair to say that outdoor space is ideal for this game as your children will have to walk a lot to find the dinosaurs but you can create the same excitement indoors as well using a small plastic bathtub.
All you need to do is hide the small pieces of dinosaurs in mud or goop and ask your child to find them and wash them properly after they are found. To double your child’s excitement, you can make the mission interesting by asking them to rescue the dinosaurs as they are stuck in the mud. As your child will wash the pieces thoroughly, it will help greatly in improving their sensory skills in them.
Making Dinosaur Footprints Using Playdough
Playdough and dinosaurs are a perfect combination to keep your child occupied with a fun game while the activity works as an effective tool for improving their sensory skills in them.
All kids love to create with playdough and when you add the beasts of their fantasy in them, automatically the fun doubles. Use as many colorful playdoughs as possible and ask your child to create dinosaurs on their own from the tallest to the shortest, the fastest, to the slowest, and the spikiest to the thorn-less!
Dig for Dinosaur Fossils
Another great but simple activity is to create a dinosaur sensory bin. Sensory bins engage your child in sensory play, which is such an important part of their development!
Simply tell your child that it’s their task to dig up a dinosaur fossil or skeleton just like in the movie Jurassic Park and give them a name according to their choice. Or you can work on the learning ability of your child as well through this sensory game by asking them to dig for the fossil and name the dinosaur correctly that they have found.
You can mix it up by putting different things in your sensory bin for example mud, sand, dirt, flour, rice, or even water!
Dinosaur Handprint Activity
This dinosaur theme activity is an excellent dinosaur-themed activity, with super fun ideas especially for toddlers!
Just like all other dinosaur-themed art and craft games, the dinosaur handprint activity is an exciting game with a lot of fun. All you need to do is give a pot of colors to your child and ask them to make a dinosaur using their handprint.
They can use their fingerprints to create the spikes, their palms to create the body, and their thumbs to create the shape of a head. This activity engages their senses and improves them at all levels.
Dinosaur Activities for Older Primary School Students
Before we conclude preschool dinosaur activities, let’s touch upon a couple of dinosaur-themed activities for older students –
Creating a 3-D Dinosaur
This activity does not involve high-tech computer graphics software but only cardboard, origami, and if needed LEGO pieces as well. In fact, a lot of small tools like tape, glue, colors, clothespin, board-pin, etc. can be used to create a dinosaur in a 3-D space.
When your child is a little bit mature, this game is perfect for them. And if your child is interested in arts and crafts, you do not even need to give them the idea of this game for they will make this game their own and have wild fun with them.
Imagine entering your child’s room and finding a 3-D Jurassic Park with all the dinosaur species – even the sight intrigues a lot of excitement!
Another cool idea is to substitute the crafts for kids with something more edible! Try getting them to make 3-D Dinosaur snacks out of cookie dough.
Creating a Volcanic Explosion
This is a bit complicated activity for the simple matter that requires some specific materials like warm water, dish soap, white vinegar, soda bottles, red food coloring, and baking soda.
All you need to do is mix the soap, water, vinegar, and red color together and then add to it a slurry mixture of baking soda (made with half water and half soda). Once you carefully add the two mixtures to the soda bottles, you will see the red volcanic explosion right in front of your eyes.
Conclusion
Dinosaur activities are an excellent way to keep your children both entertained and engaged in their senses. And as mentioned earlier, these dinosaur activities can help in improving the sensory skills, fine motor skills, and gross motor skills of your child to a great level.
So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and try out these dinosaur activities for kids, with your kids right away!
References
19 Fun Dinosaur Crafts & Activities. Bright Star Kids. (2022, February 17). Retrieved May 24, 2022, from https://www.brightstarkids.com.au/blog/dinosaur-activities/
Dinosaur-themed activities for 3-5 Year Olds. Scholastic. (n.d.). Retrieved May 24, 2022, from https://www.scholastic.com/parents/kids-activities-and-printables/activities-for-kids/dinosaur-themed-activities-3-5-year-olds.html
Jodie @ Growing Book by Book says, Says, P., & says, N.- M. (2022, February 10). Dinosaur Gross Motor Activities. No Stress Homeschooling. Retrieved May 24, 2022, from https://nostresshomeschooling.com/dinosaur-fine-and-gross-motor-skills/
Beck, C. (2020, April 28). Super Fun Dinosaur Game Kids. The OT Toolbox. Retrieved May 24, 2022, from https://www.theottoolbox.com/dinosaur-gross-motor-movement-game-kids/
