Shape-o-saurus !
Shapes and dinosaurs are both a big deals at our house right now, so I mixed the two together for this fun and really simple activity. To make it more challenging, you can have older children draw their own shapes to make the dinosaur.My son insisted on adding the “rocks” after we had finished the dinosaur, who am I to say no?
- Gather your materials. You will need some heavy paper ( I am using card stock but construction paper will work), some markers, scissors, glue and a white piece of paper. I also used a full piece of construction paper to use as a backing for the finished masterpiece!
- Have your child draw the dinosaurs habitat using the markers on the white paper.
- While they do that , draw out the shapes that will make up the dinosaur on the back of the heavy paper. I used a semi circle for the body, triangles for the spikes, a circle for the head, rectangle legs and square feet.
- Cut the shapes out.
- When the habitat is drawn, grab the glue
and start adding the shapes. 
Start with the semi circle and remember to label the shapes for your child or have them tell you what they are. - For the spikes I added some glue in the shape of a triangle and that guided my son , without me telling him.
He was very proud of himself when he figured it out! - Add the feet !
- Add the circle head and an eye and a mouth ! I just used marker but a googly eye would look cute too!
- Let dry.
Books !
“Dinosaurs” by Gail Gibbons is an interesting and comprehensive introduction to dinosaurs for preschoolers. If you have a little one who wants to know more, this is a great book for them. It covers the basics and then some about dinosaurs and paleontology.
“Dinosaur Roar!” by Henrietta and is a board book that I’ve read often enough , I don’t need to look at the book. The premise is simple, using 2 different dinosaurs every page illustrates a pair of opposites. Toddlers and young preschoolers adore this book and I can’t blame them, it’s adorable and a great tool for teaching !
“How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon” by Jane Yolen is another favorite. I like the whole series and think this book is a great one to read before doctor appointments especially if you have a child like mine who is never happy to go! I love the details in Mark Teague’s illustrations and never tire of reading this book, even when my son grabs it again and again.
I love this craft – I really like shape crafts, and this dino is very cute!
My son is sitting in my lap and saw this and said DINOSAUR! He and I will do it during his sister’s nap time.
Yay! I love them too, crafts like this really helped my Pre K students who were not recognizing shapes catch up to their peers. Being able to manipulate and touch the shapes help develop a true understanding of each shape.
We did this craft this am – thanks so much for the idea. My 4yro was able to cut out the shapes herself, and she had the biggest time with it. Turned out super cute!
Another craft we can’t wait to try!
I love this one allie! And so will Joey. 🙂
~ang
I love your blog! I can always count on your site to have some great fun crafts for my kiddos. 😀
After my two-year-old finished her “shape-a-saurus,” she wanted to add baby dinosaurs. So I got to talk with her about babies that come from eggs and introduce a new shape: ovals!
I just did this GREAT craft with my DC Kids & they LOVED it!! I look forward to checking your crafts out every morning 🙂 Thanks so much!
This was my 17 month old’s introduction to shapes and glue yesterday afternoon—he loved it. The very first time he’s proudly shown something he made to daddy when he gets home.
Thank you so much for this blog. It’s making winter so much easier for us.
LOVE this! WE did it today and both my kids were SO proud of themselves. It was so fun to make something so cute out of simple shapes!
Oh thanks so much. My kids have been obsessed with Dinosaurs lately and this will fit in GREAT!!
Hi I just found your site and we did the dinosaur project with my 3 and 1 year old. They LOVED it. I love how simple these ideas are. Thanks for all the great ideas!
I did this with my 2.5 year old son and he LOVED it. He cut out the body all by himself and really had fun being able to glue and add details like a face. We did make one minor adjustment. We used 4 legs instead of 2 because my son pointed out that the dino in the picture was missing two feet.
Hi Love this activity…I used it for one of my playgroup crafts and it was a hit.
I just started teaching ECSE and can’t wait to try this craft with my students!