Critter’s current obsession is dinosaurs. She has dinosaur clothes, dinosaur TV shows, dinosaur songs, and everything else you can think of. While we’re not sure what inspired this newfound love of prehistoric reptiles, we do what we can to encourage her interests. So when Magformer’s and Wild Republic offered to send us some dinosaur toys and activities in exchange for our honest opinion, we were happy to take them up on that offer. We celebrated International Dinosaur Day (June 1st!) with lots of Dinosaur activities, and we thought we’d share them with you.
Fun Dinosaur Toys
One of the dinosaurs we received was the Dolce Dino, designed with babies and young children in mind. The Dolce Dino is soft and cuddly, which makes it perfect for toddlers to carry around with them. Critter always has a toy dino at her side— even when we recently had professional family photos taken— so she immediately fell in love with the Dolce Dino. For younger kids, the Dolce Dino features an attached teether and a built-in rattle. Older kids will love pulling the attached dragonfly friend to feel soothing vibrations, and listening to the dino’s feet crinkle and rattle. The textures make the Dolce Dino perfect for tactile learning! The Dolce Dino is a great way to introduce babies and young toddlers to dinosaurs for the first time. While some dinosaur toys can be intimidating, the Dolce Dino is not, which makes it perfect for a kid’s first Dinosaur Day. Recommended for all ages, $29.95
Perhaps Jenna’s favorite new activity was the T. Rex Tooth Excavation Set by Thames and Kosmos. We’ve done a lot of “dinosaur dig” activities around our house, mostly by hiding tiny toy dinosaurs in bowls of dried beans and allowing the kids to dig them out using spoons and cups. Although that’s a fun, low cost way to encourage a love of dinosaurs, this replica T. Rex tooth is much cooler. Using a hammer and chisel, kids will dig a 4.7 inch long replica T. Rex tooth from packed “dirt” around it. Jenna’s favorite dinosaur TV show features a T. Rex, so having a replica T. Rex tooth was right up her alley. While this is recommended for ages 7 and up, we did it as an adult supervised activity with lots of help with the tools, $12.95.
Another of our favorite dinosaur activities is “dinosaur nest,” which is like the games of cat, dog, or horse you remember playing as a child. However, instead of pretending to be a dog, I build a nest on the floor of the living room and the toddlers pretend to be dinosaurs. Their favorites are the T. Rex, which involves lots of stomping, and the pteranodon, which involves LOTS of screeching. When we received a glitter velociraptor from Wild Republic, the babies were more than happy to add it to their nest and take on their best velociraptor impression. The glitter dinosaurs come in 3 sizes, so you’re sure to find one that fits in your nest…. and your price range. Recommended for all ages; prices range from $5.99 to $14.99.
We also received the Magformers Dino-Tego set, which uses Magformers magnetic building pieces to create a cool Stegosaurus. This is recommended for ages three and up, which makes it perfect for Critter’s friend who I watch during the day. However, we couldn’t keep Jenna away from it either since stegosaurus is one of her favorite dinosaurs! The stegosaurus is movable and is compatible with most Magformers pieces. If you’re looking for a STEM activity for Dinosaur Day, then look no further. Price: $49.99
Easy Dinosaur Day Activities
*Dinosaur Dance Party— turn on your favorite dinosaur tunes and get stomping, chomping, and screeching to the beat.
*Dinosaur Picnic— have fun with your food by having a dinosaur themed picnic, inside or out. My favorite is an “herbivore platter” with lots of trees (broccoli and cauliflower) and leaves (lettuce and spinach) with a yummy dip!
* Dinosaur Nature Walk— get outside and take your dinosaurs on a walk! Talk about the animals you see, the habitats they live in, and imagine what your area looked like during the age of dinosaurs!
What are your favorite dinosaur activities for kids?
How cool! I’ve never heard of dinosaur day before but I definitely wanna celebrate!
My nephew loves dinosaurs. They can be very educational. I love that you included a STEM toy in your list!
Seems that you had a great time and your daughter had a lot of fun! I know what it is like when kids have that ” dinosaur age” !
my boys all love dinosaurs. jayden is playing jurassic world right now. i’m sure they’d love dinosaur day.
Dinosaur Day? What a cute idea for creative play. \My kids have lots of dinosaur toys from when they were younger.
My son used to be obsessed with anything dinos but he got older and his fascination shifted to something else. Those are really cool!
I didn’t know there was a dinosaur day but my kids love dinosaurs. These are such great ideas!
I never knew there was a dinosaur day. How fun and what great ideas to celebrate.
My six year old nephew is obsessed with dinosaurs! These activities would offer him a ton of summer fun. Thanks!
How fun! My daughter just LOVES dinosaurs, so she’d have a blast with all of these. We’re excited for the new Jurassic World movie.
Well, this is a new holiday I didn’t know about! This looks a fun way to celebrate!
I didn’t know we had Dinosaur day to celebrate on the 1st of June! But I am loving the activities that you did during that day! So fun and exciting especially for the kids!
I had no idea there was an international dinosaur day. That Dolce Dino toy is so cute. I remember being obsessed with Barney & Friends growing up!
My girls loved dinosaurs when they were small and heading to museums often that was always what they wanted to see. Now I’ll have to keep these in mind for my friends and relatives who have young kids for gifting!
My son went through his dinosaur phase but we never had the great toys and projects you found. I will keep all of these dinosaur ideas as presents for the kids in the family.
That Dolce Dino looks adorable as well as the other toys! Looks like you guys had tons of fun especially your little girl.
Sounds like you had loads of fun on Dinosaur day! I had no idea that we have that day to celebrate Dinosaurs. Planning activities like this is a great way to allow the kids to have fun while learning!
Dinosaur day sounds like fun. Will have to share with my daughter. We could do this with three children.