Digging for Dinosaurs

With another Jurassic World movie coming out at the end of June, you’re dino-obsessed kids will either be super excited to see it or will have just seen it and in either case will probably want something to satiate their hunger for more dinosaurs. Because who doesn’t love dinosaurs? While there are never a shortage of dinosaur toys – ever – you may want to steer your kid in the direction of something that educates as well as entertains.

For kids who are maybe a little older or who are into building things like the Metal Earth model kits, the metal stegosaurus, triceratops and tyrannosaurus rex by OWI are all great ideas. The models are made from pre-punched aluminum parts and are put together with the included assembly tools and screws/nuts. These are excellent kits to build motor skills with as well as encourage young builders.

For those more interested in the paleontological aspects of dinosaurs, Thames & Kosmos makes two different dinosaur dig kits. The first is the 551008 Dinosaur Skeleton Dig which features a small triceratops skeleton and a couple excavation tools. You’ll use the included plaster to make a mold around the dinosaur and the tools to carefully excavate the bones while also trying to preserve the impression in the plaster. The slightly similar, but more involved 630416 Dinosaur Fossils includes a few more tools including goggles, a brush, and chisel as well as a heftier manual and more experiments. This kit also boasts the same plaster molding and dinosaur excavation except that the T-Rex skeleton has to be put together at the end. Both kits will teach kids about paleontology and the process of how fossils are made.

Once your kids have the digging up bones and understanding of fossils out of the way, perhaps they’ll want to try their hand at assembling an entire scale model of a dinosaur skeleton. There are three options from Elenco available at present, the EDU-37671 Velociraptor which is 25.5 inches, the EDU-37670 Brachiosaurus which is 23 inches from nose to tail and of course the EDU-37329 T-Rex which is a whopping 36 inches long and made of 51 bones. These kits offer a pretty detailed skeleton that will be a challenge for your budding paleontologist and when the project is done you’ll have a great display model for a shelf or diorama. For an added challenge, you could bury them in plaster like in the Thames & Kosmos kits or in the backyard for a more authentic excavation. Or that could just be too mean.

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