Dinosaur Ideas for Teaching Pre-K

Young children are often captivated by dinosaurs, so teaching preschoolers about prehistoric creatures can be an entertaining unit filled with games, crafts and other activities. Allow the children to express their creativity in the activities you choose to incorporate into your lesson plans, and add an air of magic where you can to get them excited about learning.

Games and Activities

Give the preschoolers some background information about the different types of dinosaurs before delving into games. Use puppets or toy figurines to help demonstrate the different characteristics that each dinosaur has. Discuss each dinosaur's diet, shape and size to help the children understand the differences. Following your presentation, give each student a paper cutout of a specific dinosaur as a "pet" for the day; help the children to recall important details about his or her dinosaur and ask each child to describe the necessary steps to care for the dinosaur pet. Use a sandbox or bucket of sand to bury small objects representing things you've covered in your lesson plan, like dinosaur bones, eggs, fossils or figurines. Give each child a turn to be a paleontologist and dig for an item.

Crafts

Allow the children to express their creativity with a variety of mediums to create dinosaur-related artwork. For instance, provide play dough for sculpting miniature dinosaurs, or give the children macaroni and glue to create a dinosaur skeleton on a piece of paper. For older preschoolers, consider making dinosaur "fossils" using leaves, shells or other items found in nature. Have the children place the items in the bottom half of a clean, empty milk carton and fill it with plaster of paris. Once the mixture has dried, pop out the resulting fossils and allow each child to present in front of the class. Another option is to cover inflated balloons with papier mache; wait for the balloons to dry and then have the children paint them to look like dinosaur eggs. For a special touch, leave a plastic dinosaur figurine in the egg when the children are away.

Snacks

Snack time is an important part of the preschool daily regimen, so prepare dinosaur-themed snacks during your prehistoric creatures unit. For an interactive treat, prepare pretzel or cookie dough beforehand and allow each student to shape a bit into dinosaur bone shapes. Bake the dough to be ready for snack time and allow each child to enjoy his or her masterpiece. Another option is to create gelatin eggs with a gummy dinosaur in the center, or try making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut in the shapes of different kinds of dinosaurs.