Who can roar the loudest like a dinosaur – you or your little one? Yes – we thought so! Read on for some truly roarsome and easy dinosaur-themed activities you can do with toddlers. From dinosaur footprints and crafts to days out and excursions, there’s something for every dinosaur fan.
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Dinosaur Arts & Crafts For Toddlers
1. Dinosaur Footprints – Toddler Dinosaur Activities
Making dinosaur footprints is so incredibly easy and satisfying. All you need is some washable paint and a (waterproof) plastic toy dinosaur or two. Simply dip the dinosaur’s feet in the paint, then press the feet across a large piece of paper. Make dinosaur trails, play guess the dinosaur by the shape of the feet – the possibilities are endless. You can even draw dinosaurs on afterwards in pencil above the feet,
You can take this activity outside by dipping your toy dinosaurs in water and stomping them across a pavement or patio. Set trails for each other and see if you/your toddler can follow them.
2. Dinosaur Modelling – Dinosaur Activities For Toddlers
Get some playdough (make your own here) or plasticine and have a fun afternoon modelling your own dinosaurs! Your toddler can make them as realistic as they like, or why not mix it up a bit and create your own hybrid dinosaurs? Stega-rex or diplo-raptor, here we come!
3. Dinosaur Poo
Make your own dinosaur poo out of playdough! Let you and your toddler’s imaginations go wild.
Check out Poozeum if you want to see what actual fossilised dinosaur poo looks like.
4. Dinosaur Shadows Drawing
Find an outside space like a patio or path which has plenty of sunlight. Pop a toy dinosaur on the ground and use chalk to draw round its shadow – voila! Looming dinosaur shadows!
You can still do this activity indoors or on a duller day. You will need a blank piece of paper and a torch or lamp. When you shine your torch from different angles at the dinosaur, you will find that the dinosaur creates different-sized shadows to draw around.
Dinosaur-Themed Activities
5. Make A Dinosaur Tuff Tray – With Bubbling Volcanic Landscape
Chances are that if your toddler goes to a nursery or playgroup, you’ll have seen tuff trays. You can create your own dinosaur kingdom with a few small plants, twigs, sand, rocks or stones and toy dinosaurs in a tuff tray.
We love this play idea from Kub where you can use bicarbonate of soda, cocoa powder and white vinegar to make a shifting, bubbling, muddy landscape for your dinos! Simply mix some bicarbonate of soda with cocoa powder to make ‘mud’, then squirt on white vinegar to watch it all fizz up. You could even mix in food colouring with the bicarb instead of cocoa powder to make some volcanic eruptions in yoghurt pots.
Add actual fossilised dinosaur poo (see activity 17 below) or brown stones to make your dinosaur scenario extra realistic and see where your child’s imagination takes them! We also love tufftrayobsessed and their dino art.
6. Read A Story About Dinosaurs
From dinosaur encyclopaedias (like this one) to Tyrannosaurus Drip – a lovely story about finding your tribe and learning to fit in – and Dinosaur Roar, there are tons of dinosaur books out there for toddlers. A personal favourite from us here at Happity is ‘Flip Flap Dinosaurs’, which allows you to combine different dinosaur parts and names, often with very amusing outcomes. Oh, and did we mention ‘Harry and His Bucket Full Of Dinosaurs’?
7. Dance Like A Dinosaur – Dinosaur Activities For Toddlers
There’s a really fun song called ‘My Great Big Stomping Dinosaur Feet’ from Jim Henson’s Dinosaur Train. It’s guaranteed to get your little one up and about stomping – and it even works for older children too! So crank up the volume and stomp along.
There’s also a character called Daphne Daspletosaurus who just loves to stomp (despite her small size, so she sounds much bigger) and a toddler-friendly explanation of how stomping can show different emotions.
8. Catch Some Educational Dino TV
Palaeontology (the study of dinosaurs) and kids programmes which look at the origins of dinosaur life has become so cool in recent years. Try Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures or Andy’s Prehistoric adventures on iPlayer or, for a surprisingly informative cartoon, Dinosaur Train on Netflix also ticks a lot of boxes, with a real-life palaeontologist at the end presenting a short segment.
Dinosaur Games
9. Dinosaur Zoo/Park – Dinosaur Activities For Toddlers
All you need for this dinosaur building game for toddlers is some Duplo-style or wooden bricks. Have fun creating a dinosaur enclosure, a maze, a zoo, a park (how Jurassic). Then add your dinosaurs. You can extend this game by making different containers or transport for your dinosaurs (yes, you can literally make a dinosaur train!)
10. Dinosaur Pairs Game
You can make your own ‘match the dinosaur footprint’ pairs game by cutting out 20 square pieces of card. Get some toy dinosaurs and dip their feet in paint so you can print two identical sets of footprints on each set of two cards, until you have 10 matching pairs. Alternatively, you can draw the footprints using this field guide to dinosaur tracks from National Geographic. Then use your cards to play it like any pairs game, where you put the cards face down and take it in turns to turn over two at a time until you get matching footprints.
11. Dinosaur Puppet Shadows
For dinosaur shadows, you just need a wall with a bit of sunlight coming through the window. Practise making dinosaur shapes with your hand, or grab a couple of dinosaur toys and move them around. You might be able to make up a story, or have one run away from the other!
12. Dinosaur Stacking Game – Dinosaur Activities For Toddlers
Gather as many toy dinosaurs as you have lying around the house (you may be surprised by how many you can find!). Now see if you can stack them on top of each other! Who can make the highest stack of dinosaurs?
Dinosaur-Themed Days Out
Up and down the country, there are museums, shows and exhibits which often put dinosaurs centre-stage, knowing how much children (and adults!) love them.
13. Hunt For Dinosaurs On A Trail
King’s Cross and Knebworth House both have dinosaur trails, as does ROARR! in Norfolk, the UK’s largest dinosaur-themed park. At Hertfordshire Zoo there’s the World Of Dinosaurs, with 30 animatronic dinosaurs, while in Wales you can find The Dinosaur Park in Tenby.
If you go to Gulliver’s Kingdom in Matlock Bath you will find a whole Lost World dinosaur-themed section, including a Jurassic Park-style ride and many dinosaur models which toddlers will enjoy looking at. You can even travel above these models on the chair lift or book in for a T-Rex Trek! Check out Kids Pass for days out discounts too.
14. Check Your Local Class Provider For Dino Activities
Class providers know that most toddlers LOVE dinosaurs. So keep an eye out for dinosaur-themed sessions and activities on Happity, like this Unicornious Y Dinosaurios Spanish language class for 0 to 4s. Also look at Teach Rex for dinosaur shows and events nationwide.
15. Go To A Dinosaur Or Fossil Museum – Dinosaur Activities For Toddlers
The Natural History museum is famous for its dinosaur bones and exhibition, but if you’re near Dorset you can try the Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester or Dinosaurland Fossil Museum in Lyme Regis. Also check out fossil collections at Dinosaur Isle on the Isle of Wight. Dinosaur Isle also offers a quiet hour every week for those who prefer their dinosaurs without the roaring sound effects!
If you’re in the midlands, try The Lapworth Museum of Geology in Birmingham or Fossils Galore in March, East Anglia.
16. Meet Some Dinos After Dark
There are various zoos and museums which offer ‘after dark’ dinosaur experiences, including sleepovers at The Natural History museum (they even do sensory.. options) and Dinos after Dark at Hertfordshire Zoo.
Gullivers offer various Dinosaur Sleepovers and Twilight Trails across their UK-wide theme parks.
With Kids Pass you can get extra savings on entry to many dino experiences too
17. Go Fossil Hunting
Since Victorian times, Lyme Regis beach in Dorset has been famous for its fossil-hunters including Mary Anning but did you know anywhere along the 95 mile-long Jurassic Coast, from Swanage to Exmouth in Devon could easily throw up a fossil or two? Try North Yorkshire beaches like Staithes, Saltwick Bay and Whitby as well, particularly for ammonites and plant remains.
Just be careful when walking near cliffs/incoming tides and always follow local safety advice.
18. Find Some Real-Life (Fossilised) Dinosaur Poo
Here’s a little-known fact: you know those stones you find that look like treacle toffee? They could well be fossilised dinosaur poo! Workers from Shillington in Hertfordshire even used to grind these stones down for fertiliser. So next time you’re out and about and find a shiny brown stone in a field or footpath, wow your toddler with the knowledge that it might actually be dinosaur poo! (fun to pretend, even if it isn’t!) and why not take a few home to add to your dinosaur collection?
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