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Friends Art Lab / Blog / Dinosaur Observational Drawings

Dinosaur Observational Drawings

By Kristian Klebofski   Published: January 6, 2023    Updated: January 6, 2023

Invite your child to create amazing dinosaur observational drawings inspired by their non-fiction books! These dino-mite drawings couldn’t be easier to set up.

Two children's books about dinosaurs sit above four kids' dinosaur observational drawings
Table of Contents:
  1. Dinosaur observational drawings = Totally “rawr-some”
  2. Dinosaur observational drawings are the easiest to do
  3. Materials
  4. Let’s get into it
  5. Dinosaur observational drawing variations
  6. Dinosaur observational drawings have your kids’ names written all over them

Dinosaur observational drawings = Totally “rawr-some”

One of a preschool teacher’s best teaching tools for igniting discussions and piquing interest is simply mentioning dinosaurs.

It could be a perfectly calm Tuesday morning with classical music playing in the background, the sun peeking in through the window, and a perfect, palpable calm in the room.

But as soon as the teacher mentions dinosaurs?

MAYHEM. The best kind of mayhem. Kids pretending to be Pterodactyls flying around the room, kids roaring like the T-Rex, and absolute, complete, utter fascination.

Taking such excitement and pairing it with interesting, informative books about dinosaurs leads to magnificent art opportunities.

Related: Have kids that LOVE to color? Check out our collection of coloring pages for kids!

A smiling girl draws her dinosaur observational drawing and a book with a picture of a dinosaur sits in front of her.

Dinosaur observational drawings are the easiest to do

All you need are dinosaur books and drawing materials. That’s it!

We usually begin by reading specific dinosaur books at Circle Time and then use those same books during art time later in the morning so that the books are both familiar and enticing.

If you have or are a teacher of young learners, you likely already have some dinosaur books on hand. If you don’t – no worries! They are VERY easy to find in bookstores and libraries.

A child draws a long necked dinosaur with blue and black markers while using a kids' book about dinosaurs opened in front of him for inspiration.

Materials

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  • Dinosaur books (non-fiction is preferred as they usually have the most realistic depictions of dinosaurs)
  • White paper
  • Drawing materials
Two girls draw dinosaurs and a book about dinosaurs sits in front of them.

Let’s get into it

First, talk about the dinosaurs.

After reading the dinosaur books, ask your little paleontologists what they know about dinosaurs – especially the ones you’ve read about that day.

After they share, review the dinosaurs in the books and pick out a specific page & dinosaur to talk about and draw.

Ask questions like:

  • What color is this dinosaur?
  • How big do you think this dinosaur is?
  • What do you think this dinosaur eats? How can you tell?
  • Does this dinosaur have markings?
  • What body parts do you notice first on this dinosaur?

Verbalizing their observations will assist in their physical drawings of said dinosaurs. I wholeheartedly love these conversations because kids are equally adorable and serious about what they’re sharing. The most precious!

Next, draw the dinosaurs.

Provide paper and drawing materials and invite your kids to draw dinosaurs based on the illustrations in the books.

This isn’t as simple and easy as it sounds! When kids recreate an image from a book, they’re paying close attention to all types of details (ex: length of neck, number of legs, width of feet, etc.).

As they create, ask them to share what they’re drawing with you (ex: “I’m making the long neck!”) for juicy informal assessment data.

Once done, celebrate their hard work, and if they’d like to make another dinosaur, turn the page and repeat the process.

A kids' dinosaur book is opened to a page about the velociraptor and a child's drawing of the same dinosaur is below it.

Dinosaur observational drawing variations

If you do not have dinosaur books and cannot easily access them, you absolutely can still do this activity.

Dinosaur toys: Grab your child’s favorite dinosaur toys and figurines and use them as 3-D models to inspire drawings.

Google images: The internet is full of a gazillion images of dinosaurs that you can print off and use as your inspiration. A benefit to printing photos online is that you could also print off enough pictures of the same dinosaur for an entire group to work from simultaneously.

Two children's books about dinosaurs sit above four kids' dinosaur observational drawings

Dinosaur observational drawings have your kids’ names written all over them

Read some fun dinosaur books, engage in lively discussions about dinosaurs, then pick your favorites to draw!

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Kristian

Hi, I’m Kristian!

I love all things early childhood. Having earned a master's degree in education, I love sharing my passion and knowledge both as a classroom preschool teacher and college professor. Friends Art Lab is my heart and I'm excited to share with you! LEARN MORE

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