I loved Mrs. Confetti’s post about maximizing opportunities regarding your child’s obsessions and how to develop and enjoy that love of theirs with them. At the time, I started thinking then about what my toddler’s obsession is. J doesn’t have obsessions, but he has things that it is very apparent he loves, and a little bit of variety at that, which is very nice. One love that has developed for him is the love of dinosaurs. I think dinosaurs are pretty awesome too and I have no hesitation about finding ways to encourage this love. I get excited finding dinosaur type things for him!

So for those with little dinosaur lovers like mine, here are all the dinosaur related things we do together.

1. Dinosaur song:

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This is what started it all. Starting around a year old I began playing Laurie Berkner Band on spotify for him and the moment he heard the “We are the dinosaurs” song, he was in love. To this day it’s the song he asks to sing all. day. long. In fact, he asks us to sing it to soothe or calm him when he’s hurt or upset, and as a pre-nap/bedtime song. He loves to sing it in the car when he’s bored, or even just randomly. He also has an entire dance act that he does every time he hears it, complete with marching and pretending to eat his food just like the song says. In the second verse of the song, the dinosaurs stop and take a rest in their nest. One time, a babysitter relayed a story that J randomly laid down in the middle of the floor and she asked him, “Are you going to sleep?” and he replied, “take a rest.” Just like the dinosaurs. His idea of imaginative play with dinosaurs? Singing and reenacting the entire song, including “eating” trees.

2. Dinosaur exhibits:

I never realized how many places have dinosaur exhibits until I had a child who loved dinosaurs. The zoo, the children’s museum, the science museum, some parks and playgrounds, as well as some amusement parks and fairs/carnivals are some of the places I found some great dinosaur exhibits. He went to the Science Museum of Minnesota for the first time a month ago and the only part of the museum he wanted to visit was the dinosaur exhibit – which, at the time, was a special extra they had recently installed and it was huge. In addition to fossils and life-size dinosaur models, there were videos about dinosaurs playing in different rooms, play dinosaur figurines in a beautiful diorama and random factoids about dinosaurs. Ever since we took him there, he affectionately refers to it as the “dinosaur ‘seum” and asks to go back all the time.

At the science museum playing with the dinosaurs

J will be traveling with Mr. Pen to visit family in NY this summer, and Mr. Pen is planning to take him to the Bronx zoo – which currently has a dinosaur exhibit! At the end of the summer we’ll be taking our annual trip to a local amusement park and guess what – this year they have a dinosaur exhibit! Even more exciting is that they have free admission on Tuesdays, and kids under three are free.

3. Dinosaur books:

His favorites, by far, are the “How do Dinosaurs….” series. We started with the bestseller, How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and have since read the entire series from the library. He quotes the books constantly, and loves when we say to him, “Goodnight, goodnight, little dinosaur,” or from the book How Do Dinosaurs Go to School? “Good work, good work, little dinosaur.” I would say it’s his favorite phrase of affirmation.

I also recently found the section in the library that has nonfiction informational books geared specifically toward kids and plan to find some nonfiction dinosaur books for him as well.

4. Dinosaur Shows and Apps:

Although he has other shows that he enjoys slightly more, he does like the Dinosaur Train show. It’s a great blend of song and dance with some learning/educational elements mixed into it, and is geared toward his age range. Dinosaur Train has a Dinos A to Z app he plays as well.

5. Dinosaur Figures:

After seeing how much he adored the diorama and dinosaur figurines at the science museum, I started searching for some dinosaur play toys for him. I ended up deciding on the Schleich brand. Although they’re significantly more expensive than some of the others I found on amazon, they all have great reviews and will likely last a long time. This week I was browsing the dollar store and saw they have little dinosaur play toys there too – which is a great option as well! I may have actually started with those if I had found them first.

Does your little one love dinosaurs too?