Dinosaur Games for 3-Year-Olds

Dinosaur Hunt

• Send the 3-year-olds on a dinosaur hunt inside or outside, if the weather permits. Hide several plastic dinosaurs all over and give each child a plastic dinosaur favor bag. (Plastic toy dinosaurs are available online and at many toy stores.) When you say, "Hunt," tell the children to look for and collect as many dinosaurs as they possibly can. The child who finds the most dinosaurs wins an extra prize and all of the children can keep their toy dinosaurs to take home.

Dino Match

• Print two identical pictures of several types of dinosaurs, such as triceratops, trachodons and stegosaurs, on card stock paper. Cut the pictures into individual squares and laminate the pictures to make them last longer. Place all of the pictures face down on a table and allow the children to play a game of dino match. The child with the most dinosaur matches at the end of the game wins.

Dinosaur Bone Dig

• Spray paint 10 small dog bones with white spray paint. Place five bones in the bottom of two buckets and cover with play sand. Have two children stand in front of the buckets. When you say, "Find the bones," the child who can find the five bones in her bucket in the fastest amount of time wins the game and a small dinosaur prize to take home. If you have enough room to play this game outside, fill two small plastic pools with the bones and play sand.

Egg Hunt

• Create a dinosaur egg hunt for young children using white or yellow plastic eggs. Fill the eggs with toys, dinosaur stickers and dinosaur temporary tattoos. Draw yellow and brown spots on the eggs to resemble dinosaur eggs. Hide the eggs and tell the children to hunt for the dinosaur eggs. Make sure that you have enough eggs for the children to gather at least two or three eggs. Tell the children to collect only two or three eggs so that everyone can find dinosaur eggs and prizes.