Dinosaurs

ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS

	By Mari Ono and Hiroaki Takai, Dinogami (CICO Books, 2012) has step-by-step instructions for folding 25 different dinosaurs, plus 50 sheets of patterned origami paper. Illustrated with photographs.
	Bake a T. rex! With these 3-D Dinosaur Cookie Cutters, you can make a collection of slotted cookies that make a stand-up (and yummily edible) dinosaur.
	Build a 3-D wooden dinosaur skeleton. Several kits are available from Woodcraft, among them a Velociraptor, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus rex, and Stegosaurus. About $5.
	From All Kids Network, Dinosaur Crafts has a great assortment, among them a tissue-paper dinosaur window ornament, a sock puppet, a dinosaur color matching game, and a salt-dough fossil.
	Dinosaur Crafts from Activity Village include a paper-plate Diplodocus and Styracosaurus, and a pair of tie-on dinosaur feet. (Put them on and stomp in them!)
	DIY Dino Dig Kits has photo-illustrated instructions for making your own excavation kits, plus links to a number of alternatives including a dinosaur excavation cake.
	This one is a craft and a half. Chris McGowan’s How to Make a Dinosaur out of Chicken Bones (HarperPerennial, 1997) has instructions for making an (“incredibly realistic) Apatosaurus skeleton from chicken bones. (You’ll need three chickens, boiled; the book includes recipes for the leftovers.) A fun and challenging project. This clever book is out of print, but inexpensive used copies are readily available. (And check the library.) For ages 9 and up.

SONGS AND POEMS

	Most Amazing Dinosaur Songs from Music for Little People is a collection of 22 dinosaur ditties. Available as audio CD or MP3. Or just listen to them online.
	John Foster’s Dinosaur Poems (Oxford University Press, 2004) is an illustrated collection by a range of different poets. For ages 4 and up.
	Jack Prelutsky’s Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast (Greenwillow Books, 1992) is a collection of humorous poems illustrated by Arnold Lobel. The title poem: “Tyrannosaurus was a beast/that had no friends, to say the least./It ruled the ancient out-of-doors,/and slaughtered other dinosaurs.” For ages 4-8.

Also see DRAGONS.