Dinosaur fans are often walking encyclopedias. They know names grown-ups cannot pronounce and facts about what each dinosaur ate. Coloring time is a great chance to share some new facts, or let your child teach you.
Fun dinosaur facts
Tyrannosaurus rex
- T. rex lived about 66 to 68 million years ago, near the end of the age of dinosaurs.
- It had huge jaws and teeth up to about the size of a banana.
- Its arms were short but strong.
Stegosaurus
- Stegosaurus had large plates along its back and spikes on its tail.
- It lived much earlier than T. rex, around 150 million years ago. In fact, less time separates us from T. rex than T. rex from Stegosaurus.
Triceratops
- Triceratops had three horns and a big bony frill.
- It ate plants.
Brachiosaurus
- Brachiosaurus had a very long neck and front legs longer than its back legs.
- It ate plants, probably from tall trees.
Velociraptor
- Velociraptor was much smaller than in many movies, roughly the size of a turkey.
- Scientists have found evidence it had feathers.
What color were dinosaurs?
This is a favorite question, and the honest answer is: we mostly do not know. Skin and feathers rarely survive as fossils. For a few small feathered dinosaurs, scientists have studied tiny structures called melanosomes in fossilized feathers and made educated guesses about their colors. For most dinosaurs, color is a mystery.
That means kids can color dinosaurs any way they like and be just as "right" as anyone. A purple T. rex with orange spots? Why not. Trace Then Color: Cartoon Dinosaurs is ready for every color idea.
Coloring activities
Fact cards
Color a dinosaur and write one fact on the back. Build a deck of dinosaur fact cards.
Plant eater or meat eater?
Color plant eaters in greens and meat eaters in reds. Sort them on the table.
Size line
Color several dinosaurs, cut them out and line them up from smallest to biggest.
Then and now
Talk about how birds are living relatives of dinosaurs. Color a dinosaur next to a bird and find similarities.
Robot remix
Dinosaurs with robot parts are pure imagination, but they can start a conversation about what dinosaurs used their body parts for. "What would a robot stegosaurus use its plates for?" Trace Then Color: Robot Dinosaurs is great for this.
Dinosaur vocabulary
Fossil, paleontologist, extinct, herbivore, carnivore, Jurassic, Cretaceous. Kids love big words.
Questions parents ask
Were all dinosaurs huge?
No. Many dinosaurs were small, some no bigger than a chicken.
Did dinosaurs live at the same time as people?
No. Non-bird dinosaurs went extinct about 66 million years ago, long before humans.
Are birds really dinosaurs?
Most scientists consider birds to be living descendants of dinosaurs.
About Kevin Coulston
Kevin Coulston is a cartoonist and member of the National Cartoonists Society who has written and illustrated more than 100 drawing, tracing and coloring books for kids, including the Trace Then Color series. Meet Kevin or browse all his books on FirstArtBooks.com.
