Best Dinosaur Toys for Children

Giant, pre-historic lizards, what’s not to love? Dinosaurs are fundamentally cool, being beasts of another age that once roamed the Earth for millions of years. Grizzly creatures that now leave nothing but footprints and bones behind, they remain an intriguing mystery to be unravelled. It’s perhaps then, no surprise that children often become obsessed with them.

As such, dinosaur toys are a great way to encourage imagination and promote learning about science, geography, history and more, all whilst playing out stunning scenarios with ravenous raptors or a terrifying T-Rex.

Why do Children Go Dino-Mad?

The fascination of dinosaurs could come from many factors, not least being powered by dinosaurs in pop-culture like the epic Jurassic World film franchise. But they also fall into a unique category of being near mythical and yet definitely having existed. In short, they are like real-life dragons!

Their variation and differences in size and abilities means that everyone can have a unique favourite or collect them all (a bit like Pokémon) so that there’s plenty to learn about and discover. What’s more, Children love to feel like experts so having a special interest can make them feel especially accomplished.

Dinosaur toys can be a great way to link children to that world and engage them with ongoing discoveries and real-world fossils. Developing a healthy interest in these large lizards can help their curiosity grow and build a love of learning that lasts a lifetime.

Types of Dinosaur Toys

From cute and cuddly to scientifically accurate, dinosaur toys come in many forms. This means that, whatever you’re looking for or however that interest in dinosaurs manifests, there’s always something to suit curiosity in the cretaceous period and beyond.

Dinosaur Soft Toys

For the smallest of palaeontologists, you can find friendly soft toys to snuggle up with so they can curl up with a cuddle-saurus (not actually a real dinosaur) for the ultimate in creature comfort. With adorable Snuggle Buddies companions or even icons like Barney the Dinosaur to hug, there’s plenty of plushies to pick up.

Realistic Dinosaur Figures

For slightly older children, you can find dinky dino figures from Happyland. Whilst the rounded edges and chunky sizing make them ideal for little fingers to discover, they’re not the most accurate but can start that spark of interest.

Early Learning Centre do offer up realistic models with their Dinosaur Figurines and Dinosaur Families packs that collect together multiple monstrous beasts in a set so you can pick up a ready-made roarsome collection to play with together.

These more realistic figures are great for play and education, acting as teaching tools that are fantastic fun to use to create dioramas of dino activity or to play out prehistoric scenes.

Interactive Dinosaur Toys

For those that want to experience a little more action from their ferocious friends, you can find plenty of interactive options that walk and roar.

Zuru’s Robo Alive range features a raucous Raptor electronic pet that stalks and squawks, running after you with lifelike actions, but also offers up other great figures to have fun with.

Alternatively, hatch your own baby T-rex with Jurassic World Primal Hatch egg. Nurture it into a friend or fearsome predator with over 100 sounds and amazing reactions, the impressive articulated features make for stunning movements in everything it does.

If you prefer to be the one in control, why not check out remote control dinos like Red5’s vicious Velociraptor that has a funky, fossil-themed, controller that makes moving around the room, prowling for prey, a cool way to change any space into a Jurassic playground.

Choosing Dinosaurs by Age

T-Rexes for Toddlers (18 months – 3 years)

Toys for toddlers should always be soft, chewable and chunky so that they can’t be swallowed and will do no harm. There are loads of lovely dino toys for this age range with chunky playsets like the Happyland Dinosaur Adventure Set providing a great way to make up imaginative prehistoric stories with cute characters that are easy to handle. Likewise, the Early Learning Centre T-Rex Soft Toy is a super soft and squishy friend to cuddle and love, great for providing sensory stimulation with bright colours and gentle textures.

Pre-School Palaeontologists (3-5 years)

As children start to become more curious, they’ll begin to ask questions and will want toys that are fun but also help them understand simple facts. Accurate figures that are durable to play with but can be used to teach, like Mini Dinosaurs, are ideal for growing minds.

Simple picture books are a great way for fun facts to form and stick in impressionable minds keen to learn about everything they can.

School-Age Scientists (6+)

Toys that connect to school learning and build on that relationship can really help with developing a deeper level of intrigue and understanding of the subject matter. Fun archaeological dig experiences not only explore the world of dinosaurs but also the work that goes into uncovering their remains.

GrossMos! Mystery capsules also add an element of mystery to collecting dinosaur figures with squidgy slime coating the dino skull that reveals a figure inside. A great way to start a collection and encourage tactile play.

The Learning Power of Dinosaur Play

Learning about dinosaurs isn’t just about prehistoric play and picking facts up about the animals themselves. It can also lead to scientific thinking, where children start to consider classification of them, their names, and explore hypothetical thinking like, “what if dinosaurs hadn’t gone extinct?”

Vocabulary can grow, not only with the knowledge of dinosaurs but also how to describe them and their actions and understanding what their unique features were for. Geographical connections to where dinosaur bones were discovered and how far reaching they were when alive can help with a greater understanding of the world.

Finally, you can start to draw connections between conservation messages and extinction, how climate change can drastically affect all living things and how some may adapt better than others, having present day applications as well.

Building the Ultimate Dino Collection

You can’t just muster up an impressive collection of dinosaurs on day one of learning about a child’s interest in them, so start small. Find out what their favourite is and pick up a single toy or figure that they can love and carry with them. The essential, and most well-known dinosaurs are things like
Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops and Stegosaurus, and these can be a great starting place.

Grow the heard by picking up different dinosaurs in size and shape, and mix price points from pocket money toys to larger gifts on special occasions. There are so many dino options out there that you needn’t break the bank to have an impressive array of them.

Consider displaying them on shelves, as a décor or theme for a bedroom or playroom. That way, you can really show off your love for dinos and bring fun to everyday surroundings.

Conclusion

The appeal of dinosaurs is long lasting and will always be a favourite subject for young children. Embrace the phase and use it for its multiple learning experiences whilst having fun with it. There are so many toys, puzzles and games that are dino themed that finding something that they’ll love should be a breeze.

Read our disclaimers.