5 Ways to Turn Your Dino-Loving Kid Into a Prehistoric Explorer

If you have a kid who can pronounce Parasaurolophus but somehow can't remember where their shoes are, you're not alone. 🦖

Dinosaurs have a way of capturing kids' imaginations - and all that dino enthusiasm can be a fantastic doorway into learning about geography, science, history, reading and even critical thinking.

The best part? It doesn't have to feel like school. Instead of simply memorizing dinosaur facts, encourage your little paleontologist to investigate, explore, create and ask questions.

If you're looking for a dino map puzzle you can build together, try our Dinos of the World Puzzle.

Here are five easy ways to get started.

1. Become a Dino Detective 🔎

Every good explorer starts with a mystery!

Have your child choose a favorite dinosaur and do a little investigating. Where did it live? What did it eat? How big was it? When did it roam the Earth? And what made it different from other dinosaurs?

Our Dinos of the World Geo Facts are a great place to start. Kids can pick a dinosaur, gather their clues and then share the most surprising thing they discovered.

Try this: Make a simple "Dino Detective File" with the dinosaur's name, location, diet, size, and one seriously cool fact.

2. Put Dinosaurs on the Map 🗺️

Dinosaurs didn't all live in the same place - and the world they lived in looked very different from the one we know today.

Choose a few dinosaurs and find out where their fossils have been discovered. Then locate those places on a modern map. Were they found in North America? Africa? Asia? Somewhere your child wasn't expecting?

You can take the exploration one step further with the Dinos of the World Puzzle, putting the world together while discovering which prehistoric creatures once roamed different parts of it.

Try this: Find your home on the map. Which dinosaurs have been discovered closest to where you live?

3. Compare Dino Superpowers 💪

Who needs superheroes when you have dinosaurs?

Some were enormous. Some were surprisingly speedy. Others had horns, armor, giant claws or seriously impressive teeth.

Have everyone choose a dinosaur and decide what its "superpower" would be. Then make your case: Which dinosaur would be best at defending itself? Which would you least want chasing you? Which dinosaur would you choose to be for a day - and why?

There's no need for one right answer. The fun is in using what you've learned to make an argument and defend your choice.

4. Imagine Their World 🌿

Now travel back in time.

What would your dinosaur have seen around it? Was its home lush and green? Dry and dusty? Near water? What plants grew there? What other creatures might have crossed its path?

Kids can draw their dinosaur's habitat, build it with blocks or LEGO, or create a mini prehistoric diorama from things around the house.

And here's a question for your budding geographer: If you traveled to that same place today, how different would it look?

5. Host a Dino Challenge 🏆

Once you've done some exploring, it's time to put all that prehistoric knowledge to the test.

Use the Dino Geo Facts to quiz each other:

Herbivore or carnivore? Which dinosaur was bigger? Where in the world did it live? Can you identify it from just three clues?

Kids can even create their own trivia cards and challenge parents, siblings or friends. And don't be too surprised if the dino-loving kids are hard to beat!

Keep Exploring

A love of dinosaurs can lead kids just about anywhere - from prehistoric Earth to today's continents and from science and history to some very big questions about our planet.

So follow their curiosity and see where it takes you.