Three Preschool Art Activities on Dinosaurs

Add some art to your dinosaur unit! These dinosaur art projects will give young children a chance to show off their creativity while practicing preschool skills like cutting and gluing. Use these activities as part of your dinosaur theme or after reading a great a dinosaur book. Some fun dinosaur books for preschoolers are How Do Dinosaurs say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen, Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp by Carol Diggory Shields and Dinosaurumpus! by Tony Mitton.

Dino Decorating

This is a super easy art activity that preschoolers will have fun doing. The finished projects would make a great bulletin board display.

Give each student a piece of paper with the outline of a dinosaur drawn on it. You can give everyone the same dinosaur or provide a few and let the children choose. Then provide the children with craft supplies to decorate their dinosaurs with. Give them crayons, markers, glue and other items to decorate the dinos with. Pieces of ribbon, tissue paper, craft feathers, and fabric scraps are a few ideas. Tell them that they can decorate their dinosaur any way they want. When they are finished and the glue is dry, help each student cut out his dinosaur to be displayed.

Dinosaur Collages

Let your preschoolers make their own prehistoric dinosaur pictures with this easy art activity.

Make enough die cut dinosaur shapes so that each child can have several dinosaurs. You can also make other shapes like trees, leaves and clouds - anything that you think might go with a dinosaur scene. Then provide each child with a large piece of paper and some glue. Let each child choose a few dinosaurs and other shapes to glue on his paper. The children can glue the shapes into a prehistoric scene or just glue them all over in collage form. When they have finished gluing they can add finishing touches to their pictures with markers or crayons.

Making Dinosaur Models

Preschoolers have fun making their own dinosaur models out of play dough while building fine motor skills.

Before you begin the activity show the children some pictures of different types of dinosaurs. Point out their different body parts and characteristics like spikes, horns and tails. Then give each child some homemade play dough and a piece of card stock. Tell the children to form their dough into their own dinosaur. The children can make a dinosaur that they are familiar with or create a new dinosaur. You might want to have some plastic dinosaurs at each table for the children to look at while they work. When the dinosaurs are finished, display each one on a piece of card stock with the child’s name and the name of the dinosaur.

These fun projects work great in a dinosaur theme.