Dinosaur Gift Ideas for Children: Books, Movies, Posters, Puzzles & More

Do you know a little boy or girl who loves dinosaurs? Do complicated dinosaur names roll off the tongue of your toddler? Is your First Grader already talking about becoming a paleontologist? If you answered yes to any of these questions, these gift ideas are for you. Delight the child in your life this holiday season with a great dinosaur gift.

1. Dinosaurs Figures: Fisher Price's line of Imaginext dinosaur toys are a great way to start building a collection of dinosaur toys. Probably not the first choice in realistic looking dinosaurs, these toys are brightly colored and most come with a little caveman counterpart. Medium sized dinosaurs are priced around $15 each, while smaller dinosaurs are sold for $5 to $7. The Mega T-rex is currently the biggest dinosaur in their line and retails for $30. This dinosaur has realistic roars and movements. For $35 you can add T-Rex Mountain to your collection, a large caveman fort.

2. Books: There is a large selection of kid's books on Dinosaurs. In the fiction category, my favorites are the "How Do Dinosaurs" series by Jane Yolen. There are several books by this author including "How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight", "How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food", and "How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon." These books have great illustrations by Mark Teague and are sure to tickle the funny bone of your pre-schooler.

If your child is more interested in dinosaur non-fiction try "Scholastic Dinosaurs A To Z". This book contains more than 700 entries on anything and everything that has been classified as a dinosaur. This encyclopedia style reference book is a wealth of information for your grade school aged dinosaur enthusiast. Finally, "A Dinosaur Named Sue" written by Pat Relf tells the story of this "colossal fossil". This book covers the 1990 discovery of a nearly complete T-Rex skeleton, its removal, transport to the museum in Chicago and reconstruction.

3. Dinosaur Movies: Disney's "Dinosaur", released in 2000 is a computer animated, PG rated family movie that tells the story of an Iguanadon raised by a family of lemurs and eventually reunited with his own kind. Flaming meteorites threaten the species and the dinosaurs must face big challenges to find peace in a new home.

Younger children will enjoy the "Land Before Time" movies. These animated movies are geared towards younger viewers and will surely be a big hit with your pre-school aged kids. After the success of the first few movies, many sequels were released straight to home video.

4. Dinosaur Art Projects: If your little dinosaur lover also enjoys art, look for a wide variety of coloring books and art projects. The 3-D Paint By Numbers Dinosaur book let's kids get creative while they paint 5 pre-historic scenes. This fun book is also filled with lots of dinosaur facts and information and can be found at Discoverychannelstore.com

5. Dinosaur Clothing: Look around a little and you will be surprised at the wide variety of dinosaur related clothing. Storeofknowledge.com even has a darling pair of dinosaur shoes for $30. Kids will also love dinosaur t-shirts, socks, hats and coats.

6. Posters: Decorate your future paleontologist's room with dinosaur posters and pictures. Allposters.com carries a huge selection of posters including colorful juvenile prints and more scientifically detailed prints. You can choose to pay for framing, or just buy inexpensive poster frames to finish off the look.

7. Stuffed Animals: Stuffed dinosaurs are actually quite cuddly and much easier to snuggle with at night that their hard, plastic counterparts. Stuffedlegends.com has a great selection of realistic looking plush dinosaurs. Most are reasonably priced from $16.50 to $32, but a few of their larger dinosaurs can be as much as $62.

8. Dinosaur Dig: Your grade schooler will love to take part in his very own dinosaur dig. Storeforknowledge.com has many different kits to choose from. Your child will be able to take a hunk of hardened clay and carefully chip, sweep and brush until the dinosaur fossil is uncovered. Most kits start around $20 and come with dinosaur models which can be displayed permanently after they are excavated.

9. Visit a Natural History Museum: Many large cities have science or natural history museums that will include some kind of dinosaur exhibit. If you're really lucky, you might live near an actual dinosaur fossil excavation site like Dinosaur National Monument in Vernal, Utah. Enchantedlearning.com has a list of science and natural history museums by state. Why not give the dinosaur fan in your life the gift of time with a trip to one of these museums? No doubt you will make a great memory with your child.

10. Puzzles: There are lots of dinosaur themed puzzles. The great thing about puzzles is that there is usually something available for all age ranges. Older kids can enjoy more complicated 3 dimensional puzzles, like the ones created by BC Bones, while smaller children will love items like Melissa & Doug's wooden jigsaw puzzles.

These gifts will be sure to spark the curiosity of any little dinosaur lover this holiday season. What could be better than encouraging your child to learn and seeing the joy in their eyes while they discover all they can about dinosaurs.