Have I mentioned how much my 4-year old LOVES Dinosaurs? Seriously, this kid breathes dinosaurs 24/7. Sometimes I wonder if he is really a Tyrannosaurus Rex reincarnated as a little boy. His love for dinosaurs goes beyond just playing with the billions of plastic prehistoric creatures we have laying around the house, but he also creates his own dinosaurs with random things he is playing with. Like his crayon dinosaur pictured below.
And this magnet dinosaur he made on the fridge with the letter magnets.
And he is even really skilled in making dinosaurs out of his blocks. Those teeth are killer right?! I seriously don’t hoax him into this, he does it all on his own.
So in honor of my cute Luke we made paper plate dinosaurs yesterday. Here he is holding his dinosaur this morning while still in pajamas eating his bowl of cereal. He slept with this cute creature last night believe it or not.
Andy didn’t sleep with his but I made him hold it so I could take a picture of him too. haha Yes, I’m a crazy photo Mother. 🙂
They love to line them up on the stairs so that I almost trip walking over them going up and down. They even bring down some of their plastic dinos to interact with the paper plate ones.
Here’s a close up of the dinosaurs. This is Luke’s Stegosaurus.
Of course I couldn’t resist making one myself because I’m cool like that, so here is my Brontosaurus.
Andy’s Stegosaurus.
What makes these so cool is that they are put together with brads so the legs, tail and head are all movable.
This is not the first time we’ve made these dinos. It’s probably about the 6th time. We even made them for my boys Dinosaur Birthday Party in January and it was a hit with all the kids who were at the party. I just had the kids color a paper plate with markers while we were waiting for everyone to get here and some Mom’s helped me put them together at the end of the party.
Want to know how to make these fabulous creatures?? I wish I could take all the credit, but sadly I cannot. I learned how to make these from Kids Craft Weekly and luckily, they have a FREE TUTORIAL that you can use. The only difference in my dinosaurs is that I added a wiggly eye on the face, and cut a slit open for the mouth. My kids requested these changes and I love their ideas.
This craft can also be paired with some super cool dinosaur books. We read them on a daily basis at our house but here some of our favorites.
This isn’t one of our favorites, but we happened to read it last night since Luke picked it out at the Library. “The Magic School Bus Flies with the Dinosaurs” It explains how some birds came from dinosaurs.
WE LOVE all of the “How Do Dinosaurs” series by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague. We actually own several of them and they have been really helpful in teaching my kids not to play with their food & to try everything on their plate, how to be helpful in cleaning up their bedroom, and lately for Luke, how to SHARE with friends. I highly recommend these stories if your preschooler loves dinosaurs.
Luke’s personal favorites is “Oh say can you say Di-no-saur?” Dr. Suess book by Bonnie Worth. It’s a fun book that teaches you some of the names and facts about common dinosaurs.
If you make your own paper plate dinosaurs, I’d love to hear about it.
PS-I am subscribed to Kids Craft Weekly Newsletters but I haven’t received any for about a year. So I don’t think she isn’t doing it anymore. Just thought I’d let you know if you decide to sign up and nothing comes in your email.
Sandy says
July 8, 2011 at 4:01 PMGreat dinosaurs!
Mandi says
July 8, 2011 at 4:10 PMWe love them! My son just said "Mommy, he HAVE to make those!", so that's going on the agenda for next week. We love paper plate crafts because it's one of those items I'm always guaranteed to have on hand in our craft supplies. 🙂
Mandi
boredombustingmommy.blogspot.com
WarmSunshine says
July 9, 2011 at 9:24 AMHey there! Thanks for following me 🙂 As appreciation, I have added your link to my Friends Meetup Party for this week. I hope you come around and read more from "the perfect line". You have a new follower! 🙂
Happy Blogging!
Kelly @ ThrivingWith5 says
July 10, 2011 at 1:41 AMLove your blog! I taught 1st grade for 11 years and my kids love getting to do all the crafts now that I am home with them full time! I can't wait to follow you as a resource for more ideas! Thanks for stopping by. Following back now!
http://www.thrivingwith5.blogspot.com
Lori @ Beneath the Rowan Tree says
July 12, 2011 at 9:49 PMOh, these are wonderful! My almost 6 year old daughter is a dino freak, too 🙂
Would you be willing to share this at our Weekly Playdate link party? This week's party is here: http://beneaththerowantree.blogspot.com/2011/07/playdate-link-party-blog-hop-16-all.html
Cheers,
Lori
Come & Play :: Playdate
http://www.beneaththerowantree.com
lindsy says
July 13, 2011 at 8:10 PMThanks for visiting over at my blog and for your nice comments. I can tell I'll be spending too much time on your blog 🙂 Love it!!! We'll be trying quite a few of you ideas. Thanks!!
Jenni says
July 14, 2011 at 3:29 PMWe are totally on the same page this week aren't we? So cute love the dinos! AND we have those awesome Woody pjs here!
HUGS~
Jenni
Tanya @ Greetings From the Asylum says
July 14, 2011 at 4:25 PMWho says dinosaurs are extinct? You obviously have a huge herd roaming around your house! What a fun project! Thanks for sharing the big smiles and the awesome dinosaurs!
Kate @ Puddles and Gumboots says
July 14, 2011 at 4:53 PMVisiting from the It's Playtime link-up. I love these dinosaurs! Very cute….I have some dino mad boys of my own, we will have to have a go at making these 🙂
Bec@littlelucylu says
July 14, 2011 at 10:52 PMI love these guys SO much, too!
I will totally "borrow" this idea for my kindergarten classroom next year!
Awesome!
~Bec
Terri @ A Creative Princess says
July 15, 2011 at 10:46 PMToo cute and your boys are adorable!! Thank you so much for linking up!
Marcia says
July 16, 2011 at 12:50 AMAwesome!
SmileMonsters says
July 16, 2011 at 3:13 PMLove those dinosaurs.
Jo @ SmileMonsters
Anonymous says
July 19, 2011 at 6:42 PMGreat idea and very cute dinos!
Don't forget Dinosaur Train on your local PBS station! Our 4 year old is crazy for dinosaurs and loves the program.
Art For Little Hands says
July 19, 2011 at 7:06 PMDinosaur Train has made my 5 year old into a living breathing dinosaur lover too. I love all these ideas. I have to say that the top three art work done with various play things around the house really tickled me. So cute. What a fun craft as well.
Ayin Masliza says
July 25, 2011 at 4:53 AMHi,
wow!! cute dino they are.. I 'll definitely do this with my kids. Thanks for sharing.. I also link you site..
heart, hug n smile from Malaysia.
Sue says
July 30, 2011 at 10:25 PMUncle Kenny and I loved seeing these dinos, especially knowing how much Luke is into them. What a terrific idea! We so enjoyed spending a little time with you all on Friday. Keep the great ideas coming!
Crafts for Kids - Piggy Giggles says
August 12, 2011 at 3:18 AMThese are super cute!!
Thanks for sharing!!
Brenda
http://www.piggygiggles.com
E @ Act Fast Chef says
August 18, 2011 at 10:37 AMI love these! My daughter is SO into dinos. We'll try to make these soon 🙂
Brooke @ Let Kids Create says
August 26, 2011 at 3:57 AMMy girls really love dinos as well, these are so cute I know they would love to make some.
Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas says
August 28, 2011 at 1:55 PMOh, I LOVE these! 🙂 I wish I had seen them before we did ours bc I seriously like that you made them movable (and these are much smaller than ours – perfect for playing) Saving this for the next time we work on dinosaurs!
Thanks for linking to Sunday Showcase – I always {heart} your over the top crafts – exactly how I like to do things myself!!!!
Bern
Hannah says
August 31, 2011 at 9:27 PMWhat a brilliant idea. We will definitely be trying this one.
Mealy says
September 22, 2012 at 6:38 AMMade these with my two year old twins yesterday. Just crayons and stickers for immediate results plus some with stuck on tissue paper which need finishing today for extended fun. Dinosaurs are flavour of he month with them both it seems.