The age of dinosaurs may have long since passed, but it is still remembered with wonder and amazement. Especially young kids! Their eyes always light up when someone talks about these beautiful creatures. So, why not take kids on a journey back to the age of Jurassic creatures by involving them in a special craft?
Young kids, like preschoolers and kindergarteners, often spend their time doing fun tracing activities, color activities, and math activities in class every day. Try making a fun DIY dinosaur craft with the kids to break the monotony of regular activities and add an element of fun and excitement. Want to know how? The details are right below.
Fun preschool dinosaur craft to transport kids to the Jurassic period
Things you’ll need:
- Glue
- Scissors
- Button – 1
- Paintbrush
- Paper cups – 2
- Yarn or thread
- Orange acrylic paint
- Black marker or pencil
- Divider (or anything with a pointy end)
- Colored paper – white, orange, and violet
(Disclaimer: Adult supervision is required as scissors and divider are sharp tools. Please be vigilant.)
Steps to follow:
For the first step to making a cute dinosaur craft, you will need two paper cups, an orange acrylic color, and a wide paintbrush.
Start coloring by dipping the paintbrush in the bottle of acrylic paint and then spreading it evenly onto the paper cup. When you finish coloring the first cup, color the second one as well.
Let the paint dry for some time.
The next step involves making small holes in both cups. So, use a divider or any pointy item to make the holes.
Parents must be vigilant during this step, as kids will be using a sharp tool. You can also choose to do this step for your child if you would like to.
Take the first cup and puncture a small hole in its closed end. The hole must be close to the circumference and not near the center.
Now make two holes in the second paper cup. The first hole will be similar to the one we made in the previous step and should be made on the closed end.
Make the second hole close to the open end. It must be on the wall of the paper cup, right below the top hole.
After you have made the holes, use scissors to cut the rim of the first paper cup, i.e., the paper cup with only one hole.
Now press the cup in the middle of the rim and form soft creases on both sides.
Cut the cup along the creases on both sides. Make sure the cut is all the way to the base of the cup.
This is how the cup will look after cutting it from both sides.
Can you guess what this cup will be used for? Yes, the dinosaur’s face!
Moving on, take a piece of yarn or a thick thread and insert it into the hole from the inside.
Grab the yarn peeping out of the hole and pull it out of the cup.
Before you insert the yarn into the hole, tie a small button on one of its ends to stop the yarn from coming out completely.
Next, grab the cup with two holes and insert the yarn from the hole on its closed end.
Pull the string out and insert it again into the hole close to the open end of the cup.
This time, insert the string from the inside and pull it from the outside of the cup.
Once you have got this right, pull the string all the way so that the first cup gets on top of the cup with two holes.
To make sure the cups don’t displace from their positions, apply some glue to the base cup and stick the other one onto it.
You can also use double-sided tape if glue is not sufficient to hold the top cup in place.
Now that the basic structure of the dinosaur is ready, it’s time for some detailing. Use small pieces of white, orange, and violet paper and draw teeth, eyes, a tail, and back plates for your dinosaur.
Cut these shapes out and keep them ready for the next step.
Use glue to attach the details you just made for your dinosaur. Add eyes, hands, and teeth on both sides. Glue the back plates too!
Add the small violet plates to the tail. Cut the excess string off and glue the yarn to the back side of the tail. You can also add some tape to hold the yarn in place.
There! Your fierce yet cute dinosaur is complete. Just grab its tail and pull it back to see its jaws and sharp teeth moving up and down. Have fun!
Engaging books to read and enjoy with our dinosaur craft
Kids are always up for a good story and love to spend their time reading or listening to it. Make things more interesting by reading a dinosaur-based book before or after the craft-making session. Our favorites include:
- How to Catch a Dinosaur by Adam Wallace
- Have You Seen My Dinosaur? by Jon Surgal
- Dinosaurs Love Underpants by Claire Freedman
- A Very Dinosaur Birthday by Adam Wallace
You can also have a quick story-retelling session wherein kids come forward and use their dinosaur craft to retell the story. What a fun activity this would be!
It’s time to wrap things up!
Crafting is a popular activity among young children. They love to cut, glue, draw, and color to make things for themselves. Besides nurturing kids with good skills like creativity, coordination, problem-solving, and critical thinking, our dino craft also teaches them to work with patience.
Believe us when we say, it does take time to cut all the detailing we add to the dinosaur! Some kids will enjoy the challenge. Some might get frustrated. So, offer help to the kids who need it. When complete, the smile on their faces after all the hard work will be totally worth it!
