Dinosaur Lesson Plan for Preschoolers

Today, even though I am sick I knew the younger two needed something to do. So I asked them what they wanted to learn about and both said dinosaurs. It has been awhile since I have done much with dinosaurs and it is very easy to make lesson plans around this topic so I went with it.

We started with Zoom Dinosaurs at Enchanted Learning. We read through several pages, discovered that this Hadrosaurus was discovered in Minnesota. TO find out fossils discovered in your state go here.

Ciaran and Rhia really enjoyed learning about the T-Rex and talking about the difference between herbivores and carnivores. We went through a few of the pages and they liked seeing the size diagram found here.

We printed out the pictures to make a diorama from here though we did not get to it today, maybe tommorrow.

We learned some songs and actions/movements to go along with them. Here are some of their favorites from today.

I'm a Mean Old Dinosaur
(Tune: I'm a little Tea Pot)

I'm a mean old Dinosaur
(Make a mean face, the kids make the cutest mean faces)
Big and Tall
(Gesture hands big and tall )
Here is my tail, here is my claw.
(Gesture hands behind your back for tail and make claw hands)
When I get all hungry
(rub your tummy)
I just growl
(have the kids exaggerate the grrroooowwwlll)
Look out kids I'm on the prowl.
(Here I tickle each one of the tummy and they all giggle)vvvvv

Found at Preschool Rainbow

The Dino Ditty
Submitted by Linda
Here he comes just a stomping with his feet
Singing Dino, ditty, ditty-dum, ditty do
Searching all around for something to eat
Singing Dino, ditty, ditty dum ditty do
He's huge (echo). He's strong (echo) He's huge, he's strong.
Wont be hungry very long
Dino ditty, ditty dum, ditty do
Yeah, Dino ditty, ditty dum, ditty do


Five Crazy Dinosaurs
Submitted by Sarah
5 crazy Dinosaurs sweeping the floor
1 got swept away, then there were four
4 crazy Dinosaurs chased by a bee,
1 got stung, then there were 3
3 crazy Dinosaurs playing with glue,
1 got stuck, then there were 2
2 crazy Dinosaurs out for a run
1 fell down, then there was 1
1 crazy Dinosaur acting like a hero
He went out to save the others, then there were zero

Dinosaurs of Long Ago
Submitted by Sarah
The Dinosaurs lived long ago,
And walked like this, and that. (Walk heavy like Dino's)
Some were large (Stretch arms apart.)
And some were small. (Squat down.)
Some liked water (Swimming motion)
And some liked land (Stomp feet.)
Some had wings that flapped and flapped. (Flap arms)
Some had long necks that stretched and stretched (Put hand above head)
The meanest, rudest one of all was ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex
These were the Dinosaurs of long ago.
Goodness gracious! Where did they go?

Dinosaurs Lived Long Ago
(sung to "London Bridge is Falling Down")
Dinosaurs lived long ago, long ago, long ago,
Dinosaurs lived long ago, That's prehistoric!

Tyrannosaurus was very mean, very mean, Very mean,
Tyrannosaurus was very mean, That's prehistoric!

Brontosaurus was very big, very big, very big,
Brontosaurus was very big, that's prehistoric!

Stegosaurus wore heavy spikes, heavy spikes, heavy spikes,
Stegosaurus wore heavy spikes, that's prehistoric!

Triceratops had big sharp horns, big sharp horns, big sharp horns,
Triceratops had big sharp horns, that's prehistoric!

Pterodactyl could fly in the air, fly in the air, fly in the air,
Pterodactyl could fly in the air, that's prehistoric!

All the Dinosaurs disappeared, disappeared, disappeared,
All the Dinosaurs disappeared, that's why their prehistoric!

Found at Everything Preschool.

Some other things were making dinosaur teeth out of air drying modeling clay (when dry we will string them on necklaces), we dipped plastic dinosaur feet into paint and painted footprints on brown paper. Then we dipped plastic dinosaur stencils into paint and painted dinosaurs in a scene.

Ciaran and I did some math with the big plastic dinosaurs. We counted, added and subtracted and matched numbers to sets. He also classified by colors and sizes. He lined them up by size and then we played a jumping game. We kept adding dinosaurs to see how many he could jump over, he got up to 9 before he touched one. Then we lined up the dinosaurs like hurdles and he had to jump over each one in a row without touching them. They were close enough to make this challenging and he eventually mastered it. In the meantime he burned energy and had a blast. Together we went on a dinosaur hunt where I hide the big plastic dinosaurs and they had to find them.

Some other ideas I found but did not get to today were:

The Jaws of a Tyrannosaurus Rex

Put a ten foot circle some where in your class. Hide large Dino teeth in different places around the room before they get there. Have the children find the teeth and bring them back to the circle. Tape the teeth around the circle. Explain to the children that the circle is how wider the Tyrannosaurus Rex mouth was. Let them see how many of them can fit in the jaw

From 123 Child and

Making Paper Dinosaurs (geared more for adults and older kids)
Found here.

There are many options for a dinosaur unit. Want more ideas just type dinosaur lesson plan and the grade level into google and you will find more than you can use!

Peace,
Tenn