If you're looking for a fun project-based learning unit, these dinosaur activities for elementary students are just what you need. A dinosaur day can grab the attention of your students like none other! Take a look at how you can get your students excited about learning with these activities about dinosaurs.
Building Background
When you're first beginning your unit, it's important to build some background knowledge with your students. Begin your unit by reading some simple kid-friendly books about dinosaurs and the job of a paleontogist. Two great titles are You Can Be A Paleontologist by Scott Sampson and What Are Dinosaurs by Bobbie Kalman. During your read alouds you can answer your student's questions like “Which dinosaur was the biggest?” or “How many dinosaur species were there?”
Searching For Dinosaur Bones
Next, tell your students that you'll be working as paleontologists to search for dinosaur bones and create your own dinosaur museum. In my class, we worked together to create this list of things we might find in a museum about dinosaurs.
Making Dinosaur Fossils
Another great lesson to add to your dinosaur activities for kindergarten or first grade is making dinosaur fossils. We did a little research on where dinosaur fossils are found and then I gave each child a ball of salt dough and some tiny dinosaur toys
. They used the treasures that they found on the hunt and the dinosaur toys to create fossils of rocks, shells, and footprints. We added our fossils to our dinosaur museum.
Discovering Dinosaur Eggs
all over the playground and my little paleontologists were excited to search for their own eggs. We brought the eggs back to our room and the students completed this dinosaur observation sheet as they weighed and measured their eggs. Finally, they put their eggs in a cup of water to “hatch”.
Build A T Rex
Your students will love learning how dinosaurs really looked. Have students cut out large bones and put together this huge (almost 6 feet tall!) dinosaur. Students can label the different parts and then hang your giant T Rex in your museum.
Create A Dinosaur Habitat
If you've ever been to a real dinosaur museum, you know that habitats are included. My students wondered where did dinosaurs live so we created this dinosaur world in our museum. I helped get things started by creating a background and the kids worked together to make everything else. They used construction paper to make rocks, trees, volcanoes, and plants. We added some small dinosaurs like t rex and brontosaurus for the students to play with at the habitat.
Dinosaur Writing Activities
Now that your students have some good background knowledge, it's time for them to research their dinosaurs and write a dinosaur report. My class worked together to complete this large anchor chart about dinosaurs including where they lived, what they ate, and what they looked like.
Save These Dinosaur Activities For Elementary Students
Take a minute to save these ideas to your favorite dinosaur activities Pinterest board so you can remember them later!
