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!
Leave a Review!
We LOVE hearing from you! Submit your question or comment here.
Your email address will not be published.
68 comments on “You Should Definitely Encourage Your Child’s Dinosaur Obsession”
I’ve been a nanny for a family going on 6 years. The little boy in my care is almost 9. Ever since he was little, he held intense interest in many things to the point of hyperfocusing on that subject or toy and little else. (and yes dinosaurs were one of the interests.) He knew so much about his interests and could tell you everything about it, like a walking encyclopedia. His interests would shift as he got older (trains, legos, dinosaurs, star wars, soldiers ect…) The knowledge he had about these subjects and the things he could relate to you about them was amazing! Clearly he is a smart boy. But I’ve noticed, that once he moved on to another interest, he quickly forgot a lot about his previous hobby. He likes soldiers and everything to do with wars currently. When I ask him what was the name of a certain Star Wars character that I can’t remember, he use to be able to rattle of the name, what episode he was was in, and what year the movie was made. Now, he doesn’t know and claims that he never knew who that character was. Same goes for all his past interests. Sure, he remembers things here and there, popular dinosaurs and movie characters but nothing like he use to. But ask him a question about WW2, his current obsession and he knows generals, battles, dates and times. I think a kid’s intense interest is a use it or lose it kind of knowledge. They may quickly forget information as rapidly as they obtained it. I think intense interests are a great look into how kids learn but not a predictor of intelligence.
I’m 30 years old an although my tastes have widly broadened I still love dinos!
If your kid likes videos games I would recommend Parkasauras. It’s a really good park building game (think a cute fun jurassic park, that you build!) That can be a lot of fun for older kids or I would have loved playing this with my parents or an older sibling! It can be a bit in depth but I learned a lot playing around in roller coaster tycoon and would have loved a dinosaur version!
Dinosaur Train PBS kids is an awesome show about dinosaurs. My son loves that show and loves dinosaurs along with his trucks and trains. He has a wooden traintrack set he plays with a lot..
My son is almost 3 years old and has loved dinosaurs since he was very small. He has been listing them for over 1 year and it blows my mind. Lol. He has taught me so much. So fun. Thanks for the info! August 18th is his birthday and well be throwing a dino themed party.
My son is almost 5, and he’s been dino obsessedsince age 3.5. My husband and I encouraged it having no awareness of this study, and having absolutelyno dino awareness ourselves. We are now a true dino family, and our son continues to learn something new every day.
Now, it has turned into an obsession with other creatures, via the Wild Kratts.
It’s true, we absolutely see how it leads to deepening his intelligence and a strong desire to learn.
When my daughter was only 4 she correctly identified a Parasaurolophus among the toys for sale in Lidl – she got the pronunciation right and yes, I did have to check how to spell it! She’s now nearly 7 and still very interested in dinosaurs; at the moment she wants to become either a palaeontologist or archaeologist.
My grandson loves his dinos, we do get him books, games, even clothes with them, sometimes he picks them out himself. Taken to see at museums, one of the like robots that look real. He does know their names and what they eat, meat, plants, and even know correct term for what they eat. He does correct us if we pronounce the name wrong. This all started when he was maybe not even 2 years, he is now 6 and still can not stop learning and playing with them. He builds cities for them and they destroy the cities, trains, cars, whatever. We so enjoy watching and listening to him as he tells us the story of what they are doing.
My almost three year old is obsessed and can name about 15-20 Dinosaurs on sight. He is allowed limited YouTube time and spends all of it learning about dinos. There are some nice videos which teach the names.
I love this SO much! Both my boys have loved dinosaurs, the younger one much more. He has so many T-Rex shirts it’s crazy lol. At six years old now, he uses big words and thinks his complex thoughts out loud. His twin sister has been drawing and singing since she could start to do each one, and has only gotten better as she gets older. They have amazing conversations and make up the best stories and games together. At the end of their kindergarten year, they are nearly at the top of their reading levels. My oldest took an interest in and taught himself origami and also loves the STEM toys that he can create with. Love seeing them each learn in their own amazing ways!
I was one of those kids. I drew a Tyrannosaurus rex aged 5 based on memory. All by free hand.
We have a collection of cheap or homemade dinosaur hats for our kids to wear. They’re nothing fancy, but they serve their purpose and the kids know exactly what each one represents.
When it’s time to play dinosaur (when isn’t it?) Dad draws each kid a card with a number corresponding to a hat (because I can’t say those names). This keeps the big kids from always being the predators ‘preying’ on the littler ones. It also lets them learn about the different roles different dinos had besides their favorite ones.
And it’s a lot easier to pass a dinosaur a carrot stick when you can say ‘parasauralophus didn’t eat cake, remember?’ Or ‘you’re a raptor, you can have either a hard boiled egg or some ham.’
Our eldest is the one most obsessed with dinosaurs but the younger ones like stomping around and roaring too. At least I always know where they are.
My son was definitely obsessed with dinosaurs. He is 4 years old. One day we were watching Blue Planet II and he watched the episode with cuttlefish and from that day forward he has been very focused in learning everything there is about cuttlefish and octopuses. It’s amazing to see our little ones super interested in specific things.
“I’m a dinosaur” on YouTube is great, Dino Dan, Dino Dana, and Dinosaur Train (you can get all on Amazon) are also fantastic. Walking with Dinosaurs, Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, and Walking with Monsters: Before the Dinosaurs are all great movies from a BBC series. For something less documentary and more story telling (with education) try Dino King. Papo and Schliec make excellent dinosaur/ prehistoric reptile/prehistoric mammal toys. For events, search small museums for fossil talks, or larger events like Jurassic Quest. Buy some cheap dinosaur skeleton toys and put them in a sandbox for an excavation dig. There are a TON of dino books (my two year old loves the ones that make sounds. ) But the best piece of advice I can offer is watch the shows and read the books with your kids. Learn with them. And always acknowledge when they correct you on something. Feeling like they know more than their parents is s huge drive for kids. Plus there are so many documentaries on Netflix and Amazon about dinosaurs. It’s awesome.
Thank you for all the info. I have grandkids who are just beginning to learn about dinosaurs. Both of my boys were obsessed with the beasts 30 years ago and I now need to feed the next generation.
I messed up, I would like to fill in to reply
You are truly blessed ❤️ Enjoy your time with your second generation of Dino’s ❤️✨ I too, am blessed. My nephew loved dinosaurs as a child and my sister saved “ a few “ of his treasures. One being a Dinosaur metal TV tray wish I could add a picture. Happy hunting ❤️✨
In the early 1990’s I bought the entire dinosaur encyclopedia for my 2 kids. They loved them and loved playing with the toy dinosaurs I bought at the dime store. I hated giving them away when they grew up. Both my son and daughter. Are very talented artists.
My daughter is 11 and has been obsessed with dinosaurs since she was 3. She has always wanted to be a peoloentologist since she knew what one was. I have encouraged her by buying her books, watching videos ect. When she was 8-ish we took a trip to LA and went tot heir natural history museum, which has a huge dinosaur exhibit, and the La Brea tar pits. This summer I’m hoping to make a trip to the John Day fossil beds in Oregon.
I let my kids have a Dino eating contest by setting out spinach in a plate and they had to put their hands behind their back and eat like a dinosaur now they always ask for Dino food. Found the idea online somewhere. At least their eating veggies! Their 4 & 5 btw.
My son was obsessed with dinosaurs around age 10. Our whole family went on a dinosaur mission and drove for three days to dinosaur country, in outback Queensland where there are dinosaur museums and Dino footprints etc etc. It was a two week epic adventure and we all still remember it so clearly and talk about it a lot.
I have twin boys and they absolutely love Dinos. Before they even turned 2 years old they could identify about 10 dinos..match up their shapes, we bought some toy Dinos. I can say go find the Brachiosaurus,T Rex ,Stegasaurus to name a few and they’ll go get the toy and take it to the window and match it with the sticker. Pretty amazing.. @twinwades
Loved reading this one! My four yo is a BIG dino fan!
My son first met a dinosaur after he turned 2 but now they have become best friends. He turned 5 last month and he can identify dinosaurs by their physical features such as the ears, mouth, teeth, tail, spines, neck. Through his love for dinosaurs, he has been able to learn the concept of Herbivores and Carnivores. To feed his interest, I supply dinosaur encyclopedias, which he says are his favourite story books! He drew an illustration of Jurassic Park at the age of 4 by memory and it continues to be my favourite drawing which is going up on the family wall very soon! Each extended family member knows at least 5 popular dino names because of him. This is a huge achievement considering the fact that we all thought Dinosaur is a name of the animal