Dinosaur theme activities and ideas for teaching and learning about dinosaurs in preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten.
Dinosaur Books
Dinosaur Literacy Activities
Dinosaur Sight Word Mats
Setting: Small Group, Literacy Centers
Objective: Sight Words
Materials: Dinosaur Shapes, Sharpie marker, lamination film, magnetic letters
Directions: Write a different focus sight word on each dinosaur shape with a Sharpie marker. Laminate the accents for durability. Place a basket or tub of magnetic letters in the center of the table. Students will spell the sight words out on the mats with magnetic letters.
Dinosaur Syllables
Coming Soon!
Dinosaur Beginning Sounds
Coming Soon!
Roar, Roar! Dinosaur Game
Objective: Sight word recognition
Materials: Dinosaur shapes, Sharpie marker, laminating film, Do-A-Dot markers, recording sheet, plastic container or basket to put cut-outs in
Directions: This game is a modified version of the Bang Game. Write one one word on each whale accent using the Sharpie marker. On one accent write the words “Roar! Roar! Dinosaur” with the Sharpie marker. Laminate the accents for durability. Place all the accents in a basket or plastic tub. Give a recording sheet to each student. Have the students sit in a circle and pass the basket of accents around. Each student closes his eyes and removes one accent, then reads the word written on the back aloud and marks it on his recording sheet with a Do-A-Dot marker. If a student gets the shape that says “Roar! Roar! Dinosaur” all the students can roar together and pretend to be dinosaurs.
This game could also be played with letters written on the accents and recording sheet instead of sight words.
Dinosaur Sentences
Setting: Small Group, Literacy Centers
Objective: Sight Word Recognition
Materials: Sentence strips, Sharpie marker, dinosaur clip-art or stickers
Directions: Write several simple dinosaur sentences on sentence strips using a Sharpie marker. Include clip-art or stickers next to the unknown word(s). Cut the sentences apart and place in envelopes. Give each student in your small group an envelope. Students will construct the sentences using their knowledge of sight words. Remind them to create sentences that “make sense”.
Dinosaur Math Activities
Dinosaur Board Game
Setting: Small Group, Math Centers
Objective: 1:1, number sense
Materials: file folder, Dinosaur board game (see printables section below), playing pieces (plastic dinosaur manipulatives make great playing pieces), glue stick, foam die, laminating film
Directions: Print the dinosaur board game and glue the pages inside the file folder to create your game board. Laminate your game board for durability. Give each player a playing piece. Players take turns rolling the die and moving their playing piece toward the hatching egg.
Dinosaur Counting Book
Setting: Small Group, Math Centers
Objective: Integrate math and literacy. Number identification, number sense
Materials: dinosaur stickers or stamps, one pre-assembled Dinosaur booklet per child
Directions: Place the stickers or stamps in the center of the table in a basket or container so all students can easily reach them. The students identify the number in each sentence and using their knowledge of number identification, letter sounds, and sight words they are to determine which dinosaurs to stamp on each page.
Dinosaur Patterns
Setting: Small Group, Math Centers
Objective: Patterning
Materials: Patterning grid- one per child (available in printables section below), dinosaur stickers or stamps
Directions: Give each child in the small group one patterning grid. Place the stickers or stamps in the center of the table in a container so all students can easily reach them. The students will use the stickers or stamps to create a pattern on the grid.
Counting Dinosaurs 1-5
Setting: Small Group, Math Centers
Objective: Number recognition, number sense, one-to-one
Materials: 1-5 counting grid- one per child (available in printables section below), dinosaur stickers or stamps
Directions: Give each child in the small group a counting grid sheet. Place the dinosaur stickers or stamps in the center of the table in a container so all students can easily reach them. The students will place the correct number of stickers next to each number on the counting grid.
Dinosaur 1:1
Setting: Small Group, Math Centers
Objective: 1:1 correspondence
Materials: dinosaur 1:1 mats- one per student in small group (see printables section below), macaroni for bones, foam die
Directions: Print the 1:1 dinosaur mats on cardstock and laminate. Give each student in the small group a mat. Place the macaroni in the center of the table in a container so it is easily accessible to all students. Each student takes a turn rolling the die and putting the corresponding number of “bones” on their mat. When there is one bone on each dinosaur on the mat the students have successfully completed the game.
Dinosaur Roll ‘N Stamp
Setting: Small Group, Math Centers
Objectives: Number recognition, number sense, one-to-one
Materials: foam die, 1-6 dinosaur mat (see printables section below), Do-A-Dot markers (see resources section below)
Directions: Students take turns rolling the die, identifying the corresponding number on their paper and stamping that number with a Do-A-Dot marker.
Dinosaur Fun Activities
Dinosaur Names
Materials: small photo of each student, dinosaur backline copies, crayons or markers, sharpie.
Have each student color their dinosaur picture with crayons or markers. Glue a small photo of each student (head shot) onto the dinosaur picture in the place where the head is. Re-name your dinosaur using the student’s name; for example: Michael’s dinosaur would now be a “Michael-a-saurus” and Nicole’s dinosaur would be a “Nichole-a-saurus”. Use a sharpie to write the name of the new found dinosaur at the bottom of each picture and display in the hallway. This activity is sure to tickle everybody’s funny bone and be a class favorite! You can also bind these together and turn them into a class book.
Dinosaur Roar!
Materials: blank paper, crayons or markers, sharpie.
This is a great companion activity to do after you read Dinosaur Roar! by Paul Strickland. Read the story to your students and then ask them what type of dinosaur they would be. Provide them with paper and crayons or markers and ask them to draw themselves as a dinosaur, then have them dictate to you what type of dinosaur they would be. You can scribe the responses at the bottom of their paper with a sharpie or pen. For example; dinosaur strong, dinosaur weak, dinosaur fast, dinosaur slow, dinosaur sweet, dinosaur grumpy etc. Bind the responses into a class book and place in the classroom library, it’s sure to be a big hit!
Macaroni Dinosaur Bones
Materials: uncooked macaroni noodles, glue, black construction paper.
Have students glue the macaroni on to black paper cut in the shape of a dinosaur to create a 3-D dinosaur skeleton. This looks best on black paper, the noodles stand out and look like real “bones”.
Fossils
Materials: Crayola Model Magic, uncooked macaroni or other types of pasts.
Read Dinosaur Bones by Bob Barner and discuss what fossils are. Next, give each child a small amount of Crayola Model Magic and have them press it flat like pancakes. Provide various types of pasta and press it into the Model Magic to create your own fossils. Let it dry for several hours to become solid.
Dinosaur Graph
Materials: butcher paper, crayons or markers.
Title your graph “What’s your favorite dinosaur?” and divide your butcher paper into columns for your graph. Write the name of a different dinosaur at the top of each row. You can also use crayons or markers to draw the dinosaurs at the top of the columns if your students don’t read yet. Ask the students to write their name in the column of their favorite dinosaur. Post this graph in the hallway or on a bulletin board.
Dinosaurs Lived Long Ago
Materials: white crayons (NON-washable), white paper, dinosaur stencils, watercolor paints.
After reading Whatever Happened to the Dinosaurs? by Bernard Most and singing “Dinosaurs Lived Long Ago” (see song above) we do the following activity. For each child trace a dinosaur stencil shape onto white paper using a white, non-washable crayon. Have the students paint on the paper using the watercolors and the dinosaurs will magically reappear on the paper!
Dinosaur Printables
Dinosaur Board Game {FREE}
Dinosaur 1:1 Game {FREE}
Dinosaur Roll ‘N Stamp Game {FREE}
Counting Grid {FREE}
Dinosaur Resources
Dinosaur Links
Prekinders
