Young children are often fascinated by dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are perfect to encourage children to use observational skills. These creatures offer children the opportunity to question and wonder. They provide a sense of mystery and wonderment. All areas of development are easy to incorporate in a dinosaur thematic unit. I have created a dinosaur theme with over 11 different activities. These activities are engaging, hands-on, and build skills while children are having fun.
One way to set the scene is through dramatic play props. These paleontologist style hats were perfect! (Affiliate Link)
Once the stage is set with props, invite the children into your classroom with a daily question. This allows children to transition from home to school. Answering the daily question provides children with a routine they can count on each day. The following .pdf download contains one question and 6 options to choose from. The cards fit a standard pocket chart but can also be put on a magnet board or used with velcro. This product can be downloaded from the following link for {FREE}:
Patterning is a fundamental preschool skill. When a child learns patterning, he is learning a skill that will transfer to many areas of development. Patterning is part of math, science, and literacy. This patterning printable activity provides children the chance to practice ABA, AABB, ABC, ABBA patterns. Children are also able to use the blank cards and 40 image cards to create their own patterns. This activity can be downloaded from the following link for a low fee:
The spikey dinosaur is an easy item to create at home. With a few supplies, you can make a fine motor manipulative that will keep children engaged! (Affiliate link)
Supplies:
With the foam, cut out eyes and a tail. You can be creative as you want with this. I cut three different colors for the eyes and added eye lashes. The tail is a basic snake shape with triangles hot glued standing up. Cut the pipe cleaners in half. This activity is excellent for toddlers!
Another math activity is sorting by size. In this .pdf download, you will receive 9 sorting cards with small, medium, and large dinosaurs along with the printed words. This product can be downloaded from the following link for {FREE}:
Children will use visual discrimination skills while they interact with these fun shadow matching cards. Visual discrimination is the ability to perceive differences between objects. We perceive differences by differentiating colors, shapes, sizes, and orientations. Children typically rely on color to differentiate objects. Shadow matches removes the color and forces children to focus on shapes, sizes, and orientations. This .pdf download will include 9 image cards and 9 shadow cards. This product can be downloaded from the following link for a low fee:
Match games in general are a great way for children to use memory and visual discrimination skills. This .pdf download includes 10 match cards. Simply print, laminate, cut, and use! This product can be downloaded from the following link for a low fee:
Creative arts can be a part of the dinosaur theme also! Provide the children with dinosaurs, paint, and large paper. The dinosaurs make great footprints! This activity also opens up dialog about colors, shapes, and new vocabulary. (Affiliate links)
Supplies:
Another way to incorporate dramatic play is through the use of puppets. These puppets also offer children to opportunity to work on fine motor skills. Puppets often are used to “irritate” other children. This opens up the opportunity to practice social emotional skills. Children should be encouraged to tell the other child they do not like that and to stop. (Affiliate links)
Supplies:
Print the dinosaur patterns that are included in the .pdf download. Laminate them. Cut them out. Cut along the mouth line. Glue one half to the top of the clothespin and the other half to the bottom.
The dinosaur puppets can be downloaded from the following link for a low fee:
The next activity will also develop visual discrimination skills. Children can use new vocabulary to describe the missing piece of the dinosaur. Simply print, laminate, and use! The dinosaur pattern match is a .pdf printable with 6 dinosaurs and 6 matching pattern cards. This product can be downloaded from the following link for a low fee:
Dinosaurs can be a great sensory activity! A popular sensory experience in our class is kinetic sand. Children love the various aspects of this wonderful experiences. Kinetic sand stretches, holds its shapes, and is easy to clean up! The following items were used to create our dinosaur sensory bin: (Affiliate links)
Number puzzles help children develop counting and cardinality skills. These puzzles also include the written number. As children manipulate the pieces, they are being exposed to many math skills! These .pdf puzzles can be downloaded for a low fee from the following link:
As stated above, children begin developing visual discrimination skills with color. This activity allows toddler aged children the opportunity to practice visual discrimination while using fine motor skills to place the objects on the dinosaur. Children will also be developing one-to-one correspondence as they interact with this manipulative. This .pdf printable activity includes 5 dinosaurs with different colored dots to match. Use pompoms, dot markers, stickers, or dinosaur sorters with this product.
Supplies: (Affiliate links)
This product can be downloaded from the following link for a low fee:
Literacy can be encompassed in all activities with dinosaurs. There are many dinosaur books available for all ages!
Suggested Reading: (Affiliate links)
Another literacy activity is by using the dinosaur alphabet match game. This product includes uppercase and lowercase letters. Simply print, laminate, cut, and use! This .pdf product can be downloaded from the following link for a low fee:
Gross motor can be included in the dinosaur theme with the use of these movement cards. These cards include:
- Stretch like a brontosaurus
- Stomp like a triceratops
- Soar like a pterodactyl
- Wiggle like a hatching baby
- Erupt like a volcano
- Squeeze your claws like a t-rex
These cards can be downloaded from the following link for a low fee:
If you are looking for easy, cheap ideas to help toddlers develop fine motor skills look no further! Stickers are the perfect item to use to develop the pincer grasp. Foam stickers that are slightly raised work the best. I simply cut a simple dinosaur shape out of various colors of colored paper.
Supplies: (Affiliate links)
All of these activities can be found in the following bundle for $10.00!
Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you find something useful. My TPT store can be found here: