What is it that preschoolers love so much about dinosaurs? Could it be the fascination with the size of these creatures that lived so long ago? The hard-to-pronounce names? Whatever the lure, be ready for tremendous fun with these preschool dinosaur activities.
A child’s curious nature could explain their fascination with dinosaurs. This curiosity is important for a child’s cognitive development, so nurture the interest by giving students engaging preschool dinosaur activities.
Find plenty of engaging dinosaur activities here!
Dinosaurs Preschool Unit
$12.00Explore DINOSAURS with this complete unit that includes 10 circle time lessons, daily lesson plans, activities, and ideas that you need to teach preschool and Pre-K students about dinosaurs. Everything is written out and planned to make your job easier!
Dinosaur Activities Around the Classroom
Providing the students with dinosaur opportunities is easy. A great start is introducing the Dinosaurs Preschool Unit during circle time. Pictures of dinosaurs, songs (like “Little Baby Dinosaur”), poems (like “5 Long Necks”), games (like “Where’s the Egg?”), and book recommendations (like Mo Willems’ “Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs”) are abundant in this unit. Read on for a whole-classroom set-up!
Setting Up a Preschool Dinosaur Dramatic Play Area
Students will love donning hats and vests to feel like real paleontologists because they can dig right in to find fossils hidden in a sensory table. Give them tools such as:
- paint brushes
- magnifying glasses
- tape measures
- tiny shovels
- buckets
- notebooks
Read more about the dinosaur dramatic play area here.
Dinosaur Feltboard Fun
After making discoveries at the sensory table, children engage at the felt board by matching fossils to dinosaurs. First, place the fossils in a basket on the floor. Then, have a push pin by each dinosaur for the matching fossil to be hung. Finally, after completing the matching game, they can grab a clipboard with a scavenger hunt and roam the room looking for more dinosaurs. They check off their list as they find them. They can mark off random dinosaurs they see, or pictures can be “hidden” around the room at their eye level to be discovered.
Dinosaur Writing Activities
Continuing around the room, copy tracing sheets (like these from the Dinosaur Unit Centers) and place them in a page protector at the writing center. Next, provide a basket of dry erase markers and erasers for some great fine motor literacy opportunities. Then, the students use their fingers to trace the letters. The sheets could also be laminated and put in the bottom of a sand tray.
Dinosaur Patterning and Sorting Centers
Dino math time! Print out dinosaur patterning strips with dinosaur pieces and set them up for students to discover in a corner of the classroom. The students choose a strip, read the pattern, then decide what picture goes next. Their little brains will get a workout trying to figure out the patterns. They can also work on their sorting skills by grouping dinosaur counters by color or type. Students roll a customized dinosaur die and compete to see who can collect all the different kinds of dinos!
Dinosaur Toys
A dinosaur classroom theme would not be complete without the toys! Add sturdy plastic dinos, available anywhere that sells toys, to the blocks for some dino fun. Consider adding in plush options like this brontosaurus from Ikea. They also have a stegosaurus, triceratops, T-rex, velociraptor, and ankylosaurus! At about 17″ tall, these critters are huggable and so much fun to play with.
Wrapping Up a Week of Dinosaur Fun
After a week or two of playing everything dinosaur, it’s time to wind down and see what the students have learned from their weeks of engagement. Ask them questions like, “What is something new you learned about dinosaurs?”, “What is your favorite dinosaur?”, “If dinosaurs lived today, which one would you like to meet?” Write their answers down to be shared with their parents.
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