If your kiddo has a dinosaur obsession, you should be thrilled. Science calls this an “intense interest” and says it will drive a child’s learning as well as help foster lifelong curiosity.
In fact, above-average intelligence is not unusual for kids who are enamored with dinosaurs, or any subject that generates a natural strong interest.
The same thing goes for a focus on cars, trucks, trains, dolls, drawing, etc. If a child shows an incredible fondness in something, it can be a very good thing.
In this post, I’m going to talk specifically talk about dinos because it’s such a popular interest among kids.
Why a Dinosaur Obsession Is So Great
“When we’re interested in what we’re learning, we pay closer attention; we process the information more efficiently; we employ more effective learning strategies…” – source
That’s precisely why boys and girls who are fascinated with dinosaurs can tell you the names of so many of them. They find them incredibly interesting which makes them want to seek out new information about the prehistoric creatures.
Dino fans want to know what a particular dinosaur ate, how it sounded, and how its looks differ from others.
Any parent who has called a dinosaur anything other than its proper scientific name knows how happy a 4-year-old will be to correct you.
“That’s not a Mosasaurus, Mom! That’s a Spinosaurus!”
PS: I can’t pronounce either of those things and I had to Google to be able to spell them. A 4-year-old would wipe the floor with me in a dinosaur recognition contest.
Researchers have found again and again that when a child is excited by something, like dinosaurs, their attention span is better, they learn better, and they often have above-average intelligence.
Fun Ways You Can Promote Curiosity About Dinosaurs
There is so much incredible content online that you can use to engage with the little dinosaur-lover in your life. I want to share some of the most interesting, fun things I’ve found, including these awesome Dinosaur finds.
Have a Daring Dino Dinner
Invite some other dino-obsessed kids over and throw a party they’ll never forget.
Here are some tips for a party featuring an easy dino-shaped cake. Add a DIY dinosaur excavation game and kids will love it.
Follow #Dinosaur on Instagram.
Open up your Instagram to get a TON of cool dinosaur info. Your kid will think you’re the most brilliant dino mom ever.
You’ll uncover interesting dino pictures from museums and exhibits across the world. You can tell your kiddo about new discoveries and show them how a newly uncovered bone looks, or what a real fossil looks like. (Moms can even find cute inspiration for dino birthday cakes and party inspiration.
YouTube
There are some virtual reality videos that are fascinating, even without VR products. This video is one of my favorites (too scary for very little ones though.)
Games
Jurassic World Alive is generating a lot of buzz. Dinosaurs are running free in the world and it’s up to game players to prevent another extinction. They’ll have the opportunity to learn a lot and to have a blast doing it.
PBS Kids has dino games that are perfect for small kiddos.
Teachers Pay Teachers has oodles of printable dinosaur games.
In closing, be glad your child is crazy for dinos.
So long as you don’t turn their dinosaur obsession into work, they’ll continue to learn without any help. If you can gently add to their love of the pre-historic creatures by showing interest yourself, that’s even better.
Does your kiddo soak up everything there is to know about dinosaurs? What kinds of things do you do to encourage it? Have you found books or toys that you’d recommend? Please share!
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68 comments on “You Should Definitely Encourage Your Child’s Dinosaur Obsession”
my first born is really obsessed with dinosaurs 90% of his toys are dinosaurs,, I do think hes above average,, for a 3 yr old kid
Gave my grandson the National Geographic Kids Ultimate Dinopedia: The Most Complete Dinosaur Reference Ever when he turned 3 last month. Loves it, he will follow me with that book till we have a chance to sit down and read it and it is a big heavy book! We have gone thru it many times, right now just looking at the pictures, and pronouncing the names. He does a better job than I do. He knows which ones are carnivores, which are herbivores, any facts that I told him, and he tells me which ones he likes and doesn’t like. He has been in love with dinosaurs for over a year and has many different ones. He also has an undying love for trains and construction vehicles. But dino’s are edging them out right now. Lol He probably has over a dozen dino books besides the ones he brings home from the library and if it doesn’t have a dino on it he doesn’t want to wear it, unless it is a train. After hanging out with him I am singing “brachiosaurus, he has a long neck” for the rest of the day.
P.S. his five year old sister knows the word paleontologist by sight. Another smart cookie!
Dinosaur train on PBS is great for kids. Educational and animated. We took our son to Jurassic World the traveling show and that is where his love of Dinos started.
Our 8 yr old son is autistic. He lives and breathes dinosaurs. From the time he wakes till he goes to sleep. There isn’t much he doesn’t know about them. It’s exciting and exhausting for us at the same time. But it keeps him focused, so we keep going with it. We have also found a way to intergrade it with his schooling. And what a difference.
I forgot to mention in my post… for YouTube if you are not familiar with Toy Lab TV, that’s another thing your child might love, I know mine does. It’s a father and son, Ranger Aaron and Ranger LB, they go on imaginary dinosaur and Jurrasic park adventures, play with the latest Dino toys and do all things Dino.
My 5 year old son is so obsessed about dinosaurs! He has a lot of encyclopedia books about dinosaurs. His room is so filled up with dinos and call his room a jungle room..
Yes! My child is all about the natural sciences and paleontology. He’s loved dinosaurs since he was small But from the moment he learned about Charles Darwin in fifth grade, he was hooked and has never looked back. He is now in college majoring in Geology – Earth Sciences and minoring in Biology and hopes to at least get his Master‘s in Paleontology. He is a self-taught “expert” on the subject. He writes paleontology articles for digital magazines. He’s also been volunteering at the LA County Museum of Natural History for six years and hopes to make his career at a museum or academic institution. All because of his childhood love of dinosaurs!
The Smithsonian Dinosaurs a Visual Encyclopedia is an awesome addition to a kids library!
My 5 year old son has been obsessed with dinosaurs since he was 2. He as every dino there is to have from mini dinosaurs to dinosaur that are the size of a dog. He knows everything about them… the roars, colors, what they eat, etc. I have paid hundreds of dollars for the different Jurassic Park/ World dinosaurs that are discontinued. I dont have a clue about dinosaurs!!! I must say that my little guy is very smart, intuitive, creative and pay great attention to details. Sometimes I have to ask him where he come from because it seems like he’s been here before. His love for dinosaurs are very much encouraged by myself and my husband. And yes he get a kick out of correcting us when we can not pronounce the names correctly. He sleeps with about 20 or more dinosaurs… but I make sure they are removed from the bed once hes alseep.
Our Dino lover watches “Dino Dan” on YouTube. He absolutely loves it and it’s very educational.
My 4 year old is obsessed with dinosaurs! He has memorized a large portion of his favorite book and will recite it as we turn the pages. He does like to correct me if I read something wrong or leave out a word Our favorite book is the National Geographic “Little Kids First BiG Book of Dinosaurs”. It has lots of awesome pictures, scientific information, and the best part for Mommy, a pronunciation of every name.
When my oldest son was in pre school he told the teacher he wanted to be a paleontologist. She told me, “I had to look it up!” He was 5! Lol
My son is obsessed with them! He is 9 and has been a dinosaur addict since we was a one year old. In fact his first Dino toy was Rexy from Toy Story! He studies on You Tube, books and anything in between. He also is a huge fan of Ryan’s Toys where he also becomes a critic and makes his own videos. He is an amazing artist when comes to drawing them too. He just did a presentation on how to draw a hybrid Gallimimus! Yes I had to google that Anyway glad to have found this article months ago but it resurfaced on FB and I was tagged several times. Not only is my son learning about dinosaurs but he’s also connecting so many people about his knowledge on them! He wants to become a paleo artist and draw dinosaur species. I think he’s got an amazing start! I’m hoping this summer to take him on a road trip out West to South Dakota and Wyoming if we can afford it. Thank you for posting the article because I’m one crazy dinosaur mom that loves reading it.
Hey,
My little cousin loves dinosaurs. He has made his own YouTube channel where he mixes his love for dinosaurs and his art, using plasticine he makes short animation clips on dinosaurs. I think they are genuinely really good and believe his videos would inspire alot of other young kids like him. If your not too busy please take a couple minutes to check out his videos. I’m sure he would love it.
Thanks for sharing your article, I thought it was really cool and good advice for when I have children of my own one day.
You can hire an private plane for a trip over the forbidden jungle where Jurassic Park was filed. Did that with my son when he wa 8, now he’s studying for 2 PhD’s to become an international professor and he speaks 7 languages. Give your child every opportunity that you can afford to learn and engage, dinosaurs are still my son’s first love, he’s 25!
My daughter Eleanor is 4 and is OBSESSED with everything dinosaurs. She loves to start to sound their names out and make me guess which one she is naming. She can tell me the names, what they ate, when they lived and what area they lived in. I try to encourage it as much as possible. She will proudly tell everyone she meets that she wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up. Recently I took her to Jurassic Quest and that was an all day event. I highly recommend it. All of their dinosaurs are life size and it is really fascinating to see how big they really were.
But I totally agree with what this artice has to say about the advancement in children that focus in on one topic because Eleanor has never been to any type of school and she knows her alphabet and numbers to 100. She understand basic addition and subtraction. And can count by 10s. She even has basic reading skills and her sentences are amazing. Just the other day she picked up my guitar and just started strumming randomly and started singing twinkle twinkle little star. So their is definitely a stronger attraction to math, science and music.
If this whole article isn’t about my 3 yo… He will be 4 next week (Dino party of course) I am on Dino overload around here. He will correct you and tell you which one is a cornivore and which is a herbivore. It fascinates me how much he loves them! He watches them on YouTube and loves to “battle” on thr Jurassic World Live game!
I use to have paper grocery sacks full of plastic and rubber dinosaurs. I would quote names, weights and when they lived when I was 5-6 years old. I loved Dinosaurs. I use to love movies with dinosaurs like Valley of Gwangi, King Kong etc.
I wouldn’t say my kids are obsessed with Dinosaurs but we do have a huge collection of dinosaur books. We LOVE the “How Do Dinosaurs…” series by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague. We also have Dinosaurs Love Underpants, Dinner for Dinos, I Dreamt I Was a Dinosaur and various other dino books. We love to read!!
As a SPED teacher who often works with kids on the AU spectrum, I see this sort of interest level often. AU kids focus on things like dinosaurs, trains, and elevators to an impressive extreme. I’ve also seen the tendency confuse parents. They think this interest level will broaden. I would like to see this sort of data contrasted to the data presented in the article.
Hi Carrie,
My name is Jonathan, and as a “former” kid with an unending interest in dinosaurs, I want to assure you that in many children, the interest level will absolutely broaden (I wouldn’t have actually been able to become a professional paleontologist and amateur musician/weekend racer if that were not the case). Perhaps this is with most children that show such a driving interest in a single subject, this will later allow them to understand other subjects at levels that other people do not.
Jon, I agree with your comment. My 17-year old has had an obsession with dinosaurs since he was 3. We are looking at colleges now, but unfortunately most colleges only offer a geology degree with some courses in paleontology. Just curious, what was your bachelor’s degree in and where did you go to school? I know the master’s degree in paleontology is more available and he will seek that out when he is done with his bachelor’s degree. Appreciate any feedback. – Joanie
Jon,
My 13 year old daughter has been fascinated with dinosaurs since she was 4. She swears she still wants to be a paleontologist. Can you give me recommendations on how she can work towards persuing that career? We live in California. Thank you very much!
Karisma