Raaahr! I’m a dinosaur! Nothing can stop me! Is there a better topic to appeal to preschool boys AND girls than dinosaurs? We all love it — although my throat gets a little sore from all of the roaring. But what’s a little soreness when we’re having so much FUN?
My little dinosaur-in-an-egg puppet starts things out. The kids guess what I’m holding while the dino is still inside. We talk about what kinds of things could be inside the egg, and then he comes out and gives his tiny “raaahr!” and shows off his two teeth. Then we settle in for some books:
Raaaaaaarrr!
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Waddell, Martin. The Super Hungry Dinosaur. A new title that I adore. Hal and his dog, Billy, are set upon in their backyard by a Super Hungry Dinosaur who threatens to eat them. Hal bravely stands up to the dinosaur, and in the end they are able to satisfy his hunger and make him promise never to eat people or dogs again. A few almost-wordless pages allow the kids to describe what’s happening, broadening their vocabularies. For example: what does Hal use to tie the dinosaur up? Not a rope…
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Stickland, Paul. Dinosaur Roar!. A CLASSIC. Another vocabulary builder, with opposites like sweet and grumpy.
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Flannelboard/Song: Thanks to MelissaZD for this one! I printed an image of each dino and stuck them to felt (with their names typed underneath for added print awareness). We talked about what each one was, and some characteristics (lots of them knew quite a bit about the dinos!). Then we sang each dinosaur’s verse:
The Tyrannosaurus Rex goes grr grr grr
grr grr grr, grr grr grr
The Tyrannosaurus Rex goes grr grr grr…
All through the swamp.
The Triceratops’ horns go poke poke poke…(etc.)
The Stegosaurus tail goes spike, spike, spike…(etc.)
The Apatasaurus mouth goes munch, munch, munch…(etc.)
The Pteranodon’s wings go flap flap flap…(etc.)
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Shea, Bob. Dinosaur vs. Bedtime. I read this in a monster-truck-announcer voice. “DINOSAUR VERSUS….A BOWL OF SPAGHETTI! WHO WILL WIN??” We guess who’s going to win. Bedtime always wins.
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Song/Action Rhyme!: “Dinosaurs in Cars.” WAY fun. Teachers always want to know where I found it, and I have Krista P., a former co-worker, to thank for directing me to Nancy Stewart’s website. It’s gold!
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Other book possibilities:
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Gurney, John Steven. Dinosaur Train. Did you know there’s now a TV show called Dinosaur Train? I sure didn’t, until the kids alerted me to that fact. This book long predates the show, and has always been a winner. We even talk about what Jesse means when he tells the dinos to “duck!”, and why the train falls over.
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McMullan, Kate. I’m Bad! “Are YOU bad? I’m REALLY bad.” T-Rex thinks he’s pretty tough, but he still needs some help. Lots of great sounds in this one!
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Gall, Chris. Dinotrux. A new favorite! Did you know that trucks were once dinosaurs? Me neither!
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I have learned SO much doing this storytime. Did you know that if a creature swam or flew, it was NOT a dinosaur? It was simply something that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. And can you tell the difference between a pteranodon and a pterodactyl? I can. And what is it with dinosaurs and spaghetti?
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