ZOOM DINOSAURS™ Stuffed Dinosaur Craft

This activity creates stuffed paper dinosaurs and takes about an hour or less. It’s not very messy; it involves cutting two identical paper dinosaur shapes, decorating the dinosaurs, and stapling them together, and then stuffing them with newspaper.

Supplies Needed:
  • Any thick paper, 8 1/2 x 11
  • Scissors
  • Stapler
  • Crayons, paint, or markers to decorate the dinosaurs
  • Newspaper or tissue paper to stuff the dinosaurs

Instructions

1.

Choose the type of dinosaur(s) you want to make: click here for a list of printable dinosaur templates that fit on standard 8.5” x 11” paper.

For larger templates, use an enlarging copy machine or use a grid and enlarge the templates by hand.

2.

Cut out the template(s) you’ve chosen.

3.

Have each child make two identical dinosaur tracings, using two pieces of paper.

This is a good time to discuss how the body shapes differed in the different species – for example, compare the lean, long-legged meat eaters (like T. rex and Velociraptor) to the short legged, slow moving plant-eaters (like Apatosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Ankylosaurus).

4.

Staple around the edges, leaving a hole large enough to stuff the dinosaur later.

5.

Have the child decorate both sides of the dinosaur, adding eyes, nostrils, camouflage, teeth, etc., using crayons, markers, or paint.

This is a good time to discuss the placement of facial features, and the fact that no one knows what color or patterns any of the dinosaurs were.

6.

Stuff the dinosaur with crumbled newspaper, scraps of paper, or tissue paper.

7.

Staple the remaining hole shut. You now have a great dinosaur!

StegosaurusVelociraptor

“Sewing” can be used as a more difficult alternative to stapling the dinosaur together. Using a hole punch, you can punch holes around the edges of the dinosaur while holding the two identical pieces together. Then the students can use yarn or string to “sew” through the holes, attaching the two sides.