Giving children toys that will interest and engage them is a great way to support their development. Dinosaur toys are a great choice since so many children have a fascination with the ancient animals.
To keep things interesting, you can find different ways to play with these toys so your children always have something to do. Here are a few ideas to try out.
Make a Diorama “Home” for Your Dinosaur Toys
If your children love arts and crafts, combine that interest with dinosaurs. You can help them use an old box to create a dinosaur forest and make dinosaur eggs to place throughout.
Not only is this a fun, hands-on activity that supports their motor skills and creative thinking, but it also allows you to teach them about different climates, such as deserts and forests.
Once you help them design their habitat, they can place their dinosaur figurines inside. You can use the diorama as part of playtime in the future or put it on display.
Act Out Stories
Dinosaur figurines such as the stegosaurus or triceratops can easily become the leading characters in your child’s stories. Encourage your kids to come up with ideas and personalities for their dinosaurs, then plan out a plot for the dinos to act out. Your child will get to express themselves while growing their imaginations and getting the other benefits of storytelling.
For children who need a bit of a starting point for their stories, encourage them to think about their favorite bedtime story, TV show or movie and have the dinosaurs act out the storyline. Soon, the kids will start coming up with their own ideas and improvisations.
Use Dinosaur Toys To Teach Size, Shapes and Colors
As younger children learn basic skills and knowledge, it’s good to reinforce their lessons however you can. When teaching size, shapes and colors, dinosaur figurines are useful tools.
Each figurine represents animals who look very different, such as the gray and brown regaliceratops and the bright green amargasaurus.
Try these fun lessons with your children:
- Size Comparison: Ask your child to line up the dinosaurs from the smallest to the biggest so they practice ordering objects. You can also compare the size of the toys to other household items, such as a phone or a ball.
- Learn Shapes: Dinosaur toys are full of fun shapes, including triangles, circles, ovals and cones. As your child learns to identify these shapes, they will become more familiar with them and start noticing shapes in other contexts as well.
- Colors Galore: Your dinosaur figurines will come in a variety of colors, giving your child a chance to organize them by shade. Group the toys by their color or have your child organize them from lightest to darkest.
Start Exploring With Dinosaur Toys
Dinosaur figurines are versatile toys you can use in a lot of different ways. They can be a part of your arts and crafts time, your story time or lesson time.
If your child really loves dinosaurs, then you’ll definitely want to check out our post on 16 Dinosaur Party Ideas that Will Make You Roar.