This dinosaur game is a huge hit among kids. It’s a movement-based dinosaur activity that kids of all ages love. If you are looking for creative dinosaur games to use in therapy, at home, or in the classroom, then be sure to add this dinosaur game for kids to your list!
Use the dinosaur game below along with these dinosaur exercises and other dinosaur themed activities in therapy sessions. You can even incorporate handwriting and visual motor skills into dinosaur games with this printable dinosaur visual perception worksheet.
Dinosaur Game for Kids
This dinosaur game is an older blog post here on the website, but it’s a gross motor activity that is well-loved for many reasons.
There is just something about the stomping and roaring of a dinosaur game that takes me back to my own kids at their preschool ages! This is an older post here on The OT Toolbox, but one that is one of my absolute favorites.
We read the dinosaur book, Dinosaurumpus by Tony Mitton…and created a fun dino game that the kids loved! Our dinosaur movement game inspired tons of giggles and wiggles as we moved our way through this book with a gross motor activity!
The gross motor coordination tasks and motor planning skills make this dinosaur game the perfect addition to dinosaur physical therapy and dinosaur occupational therapy themes.
When kids play this dinosaur movement game, they build skills in areas such as:
- Eye-hand coordination
- Balance
- Whole body coordination
- Crossing midline
- Position changes
- Heavy work input
- Proprioceptive input
- Vestibular input
- Visual scanning and visual processing skills
The specific activities in the game allow kids to develop skills such as hopping, jumping, twisting, stomping, and other gross motor tasks.
How to Play the Dinosaur Game:
We’ve included affiliate links in this post for the book and items you’ll need to create the DIY Dinosaur game.
Have you read the book, Dinosaurumpus!? This is a book that is sure to get the kids moving with it’s loud and active rhymes as the dinosaurs dance an irresistible romp.
Using this book and the game you’ll find here together is a great dinosaur game for toddlers and preschoolers to address listening skills, comprehension, and regulation through movement and play.
My kids couldn’t help but move and groove as I read them the story. We had to make a movement gross motor game to go along with the book! We talked about the fact that dinosaurs have big feet and big bodies that sometimes move too fast in the space around them.
This is a great lesson on body awareness that kids can relate to.
Make this game easily using our free printable for the game board. We listed out the dinosaurs in the book and the actions they did.
These went onto a game spinner that I made on card stock. We used dinosaur figures for part of our movement game. These ones are a great deal!
Dinosaur Game Printable
To play the dinosaur movement game:
This is a dinosaur movement activity for preschool and older aged kids. Use in in the classroom or home as part of a story and reading activity, or use it as a dinosaur brain break in the classroom.
First print out the free printable. You’ll also want the game rules for easy play and the spinner piece.
- Print your printable on card stock OR you can use regular printer paper for the game board, but the arrow won’t spin as well. You may want to print the game spinner on paper and then glue to cardboard for more sturdiness during (active) play. Make your game board and ensure the arrow spins using a brass fastener.
- One player hides the dinosaur figures around the room or outdoor play area.
- The first player spins the arrow and reads the action. He or she then races off to find one of the hidden dinosaurs.
- When she finds a dinosaur, she races back and performs the action.
There will be shakes, stomps, jumps, and TONS of giggles with this gross motor activity!
We loved this game activity for it’s gross motor action. It would be a great activity for rainy day fun or indoor play when the kids need to get the wiggles out. Racing off and remembering the action they must perform requires a child to recall auditory and visual information necessary for so many functional skills.
We hid the dinosaurs in all sorts of fun spaces in the house.
The dinosaurs in the book, Dinosaurumpus! move a lot! Get ready for stomping, shaking, diving, dancing, running, jumping, twisting, and spinning!
My kids love any kind of scavenger hunt game and this one, with its movement portion, was a HUGE hit!
Gross motor skills are important to develop through play. It’s essential for attention and focus to build core body strength.
More Gross Motor Games
Looking for more ways to work on gross motor skills like core strength and proximal stability for improved attention and distal mobility?
Some more of our favorite gross motor activities that you will love:
- Crossing Midline March
- Brain Gym Bilateral Coordination
- Gross Motor Apple Tree Balance Beam
- How Balance Beams Help Kids
- Core Strength and Attention
If you are looking for more dinosaur activities for kids, be sure to check out our Dinosaur Jacks activity to promote more motor skills, and our Dinosaur visual perception worksheet to work on visual perceptual skills.
Free Dinosaur Game Printable
Want to play this dino game with kids you work with in therapy or in the classroom? Print off the game pieces using the free printable. Simply enter your email address into the form below to access.
Want to add this resource to your therapy toolbox so you can help kids thrive? Enter your email into the form below to access this printable tool.
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Colleen Beck, OTR/L has been an occupational therapist since 2000, working in school-based, hand therapy, outpatient peds, EI, and SNF. Colleen created The OT Toolbox to inspire therapists, teachers, and parents with easy and fun tools to help children thrive. Read her story about going from an OT making $3/hour (after paying for kids’ childcare) to a full-time OT resource creator for millions of readers. Want to collaborate? Send an email to contact@theottoolbox.com.
