The Dinosaurs Themed Activities were a hit with everyone involved! The children loved learning about fossils and making their own salt dough dinosaur bones. They also really enjoyed making dinosaur silhouettes in Art, learning some fun facts about 6 dinosaurs, building dinosaurs with toothpicks and straws and taking part in some fun Math centers.
Dinosaurs Themed Activities
Creative Space
Play dough, stamps, scissors, lacing beads and cards, puzzles and blocks are set out for the children to choose from, and get creative during this 30 minute period.
Dinosaurs Themed Circle Time
Every day during Circle Time we do the morning routine, which includes the Calendar and ‘Number, Color, Shape and Letter of the week’. We then read a story, sing a few songs and do a group activity.
On every Monday we change the ‘Classroom Helpers’ Classroom Jobs. Each child has a name card on a popsicle stick, and they get to choose their job of the week.
Dinosaurs Themed Circle Time Activities
Activity 1: Weekend News
Every Monday morning each child gets a chance to talk about their weekend and what they did. The children then draw a picture in the ‘weekend news’ journal, and the teacher writes down what they have said.
Activity 2: Dinosaur Exercise for Kids
Activity 3: Tiny the T-Rex Yoga Adventure
Activity 4: Bingo
We did this activity as a whole class. The children sat in a circle and the teacher picked up the Bingo cards and said the word out loud. We continued playing until everyone had Bingo’d!
Activity 5: StoryBots Dinosaur Songs (20 min)
Dinosaurs Themed Songs
Fifteen action songs and rhymes all about Dinosaurs to get those bodies moving and grooving. Click on the image to head over to the post.
Dinosaurs Themed Books
Twenty-three of the best story picture books that are perfect for a theme all about Dinosaurs. Click on the image below to read what these books are about.
Dinosaurs Themed Math & Literacy Activities
Activity 1: Dinosaur Fun Facts
Click on the images below to download the fun facts
What you need:
- Dinosaur Fun Facts printed out and laminated
- Blu-tac
How to complete the activity:
Laminate the dinosaur posters for re-use. Stick the posters on the board, or on big construction paper. Brainstorm all the fast facts around the posters.
Activity 2: Dinosaurs Diet Sort
What you need:
- Pictures of dinosaurs
- A whiteboard/ construction paper
How to complete the activity:
Explain the meaning of herbivores (plant eaters) and carnivores (meat eaters). Write carnivores and herbivores on the board. Write the names of the dinosaurs underneath each heading.
Activity 3: Measuring Dinosaurs!
What you need:
- Pre-cut T-Rex foot template (same as the actual size)
- Children’s shoes
How to complete the activity:
Take the children outside and show them how long a T-Rex was by measuring 12 meters. Let them lie head to toe in a line to see how many of them can fit into the 12 meters. When you get back to class, talk about the T-Rex foot size {3.3 feet (1 m) long and 1.55 feet (46 cm) wide}. Have the size pre-cut out of construction paper beforehand. Now ask all the children to put their shoes on the pre-cut foot to see if it all fits.
Activity 4: My Book of Dinosaurs
Print out and assemble the books. Hand out the books and talk about all the dinosaurs in it. Children color the pictures and copy the words onto the lines provided.
Math center 1: Dinosaur Grid Game
Each child gets a grid game card. Children take turns throwing a dice (in clockwise direction). They cover the number of dinosaurs that’s on the dice, starting from the top left. The first child to have covered all the dinosaurs on their sheet wins.
Math center 2: Spin & Race to the Top
Play this game in pairs. Each child can use only one color pencil or marker. Children take turns spinning (by placing a pencil inside a paper clip to hold it and spinning the paper clip). The child colors whichever dinosaur the spinner lands on in their color. When the time is over, count the different colored dinosaurs. The child with the most dinosaurs wins.
Math center 3: Dino Graph
Cut out and assemble the dice. Each child in the group gets a ‘Dino Graph’ activity sheet. Children take turns throwing the dice. Everyone colors 1 block above the dinosaur the dice lands on. When the time is over, count and compare.
Dinosaurs Themed Art
What you need:
- Black Construction Paper
- Sturdy A3 white paper
- Water paint
- Paint brushes
- Dinosaur Templates
How to complete the activity:
Print out the dinosaur templates and give one to each child. Ask the children to glue these templates onto the black construction paper. The children then cut out the dinosaur pictures. While they are busy cutting, call 2 children at a time to another table, where they can paint the background as shown in the pictures above. When the backgrounds are dry, children glue the dinosaurs onto these (with the black construction paper face up.
Dinosaurs Themed Science: Salt Dough Dinosaur Bones
Talk about dinosaur fossils and dinosaur bones. Mix the salt dough (one cup salt, 2 cups flour and 1 cup water). Give each child a ball of dough and ask them to create their own dinosaur bones and fossils. Place these on a baking tray and bake for 2 to 3 hours at 250 degrees Celsius.
STEM: Build a Dino!
I found this activity at jdaniel4smom.com. Children look at plastic dinosaurs and try and build their own using straws, marshmallows and toothpicks. Click on the image to head over to their blog for full instructions.
Dinosaurs Themed Snack Idea
I also found the idea for these cute fun dinosaur snack ideas at momstown.ca. You will need waffles, pineapple pieces, cheese sticks, granola and chocolate chips. Put these all together as seen in the picture, and enjoy!
Click on the images below to download the Dinosaurs Themed Math & Literacy Centers for the week.
