Dinosaur Day is a fantastic opportunity to combine children’s fascination with prehistoric creatures with outdoor learning, numeracy, and a deeper connection to the natural world. Whether they are counting fossil replicas, measuring dinosaur footprints, or digging into the past through imaginative play, children can explore the wonders of dinosaurs while developing important skills. Here are some fun, hands-on activities to celebrate Dinosaur Day in a way that blends learning with outdoor exploration.
1. Measure a Dinosaur
Start by showing children pictures of different dinosaurs. Then, head outside and challenge them to measure out the actual size of a dinosaur using chalk or rope. For example, a Tyrannosaurus was 15m long and a triceratops 8m! Once they’ve drawn the length of the body, they can compare their own body to the dinosaur’s and practice measuring and estimating. This is a great way to help children use measure in a real way and is fun while developing team working skills.
2. Fossil Dig Activity
Create a mini fossil dig by burying small toy dinosaurs or fossil replicas in a sandbox or a designated patch of soil. Provide children with brushes and small shovels, and let them carefully excavate the buried items. As they dig, they can count the fossils they find and sort them by type. This is great as it helps them understand real jobs while developing their fine motor control and patience. Remember to talk about how real paleontologists work and the importance of preserving fossils to understand the past. There are often news stories on Newsround with real palaeontologists talking about their latest finds.
3. Make a Dinosaur Nest
Challenge children to design and build a dinosaur nest using natural materials like sticks, leaves, and grass. Encourage them to think about what kind of dinosaur they are building the nest for—would it need to be big, hidden, or strong? This STEM activity promotes critical thinking and creativity while connecting children to the environment.
This really helps children learn about different dinosaur species and their behaviours while strengthening their connection to nature through the use of natural materials.
4. Make a Dino Habitat
Ask children to create a miniature dinosaur habitat using natural materials like sticks, leaves, and stones. They can design rivers, forests, or deserts based on what they know about different types of dinosaurs and the environments they lived in. This activity promotes creativity while helping them think critically about ecosystems. This really helps develop creative thinking and problem solving while teaching about habitats and ecosystems.
Connection Tip: Use this as an opportunity to discuss how modern animals live in different habitats and how environments have changed over time.
5. Create a Dino Timeline
Help children visualise the vast history of dinosaurs by creating a dino timeline outdoors. Provide them with cards featuring different dinosaur species and the periods they lived in—Triassic, Jurassic, or Cretaceous. Mark out a timeline on the ground using chalk or rope, and ask the children to place the cards in the correct order along the timeline. Once the timeline is complete, discuss how dinosaurs evolved and changed over millions of years. To help you, we have popped our lesson on this below.
It is a great lesson for older children and introduces the concept of geological time in a hands-on way while encouraging discussion and team work.
Additional Activities
- Dino races: Have children run different distances and compare how far they’d need to go to match a dinosaur’s stride.
- Fossil rubbings: Provide fossil replicas and paper for children to make rubbings.
- Dino shadow tracing: Use shadows of toy dinosaurs to create drawings.
- Make fossil imprints: Press leaves or small objects into clay to create fossil-like imprints.
- Rock sorting: Gather and sort rocks, discussing how fossils form in different types of rock.
Why Dinosaur Day Matters
Dinosaur Day is more than just a celebration of prehistoric creatures—it’s a chance to spark curiosity, encourage exploration, and help children develop a love of learning. By combining outdoor activities with numeracy and nature, we give children a holistic learning experience that connects them to both the past and the present. Exploring the world of dinosaurs helps them appreciate the wonder of life on Earth and understand how much there is still to discover.
This Dinosaur Day, let’s dig into learning and discovery by heading outdoors! Whether through measuring footprints, creating habitats, or hunting for dinosaur eggs, these activities make learning fun, memorable, and meaningful. Let’s inspire children to think like explorers, work like scientists, and play like adventurers.
