Fun for Dino Fans This Spring

Have you heard about the dinosaur exhibit coming to the Philadelphia Zoo?! My kids have just entered the “Dinosaur Phase” of childhood (though I’ll admit, Ghostbusters still reign supreme in a shared obsession for the two of them.)

Conversations like the below are commonly overheard from my car’s driver’s seat:

Charlotte: I wish I could see a T-Rex!
Henry: No you don’t, Charlotte. Because T-Rex eats meat! And you, Charlotte, ARE meat.

So I was excited when the Philly Zoo announced BIG TIME: Life in an Endangerous Age! The immersive experience features 24 life-size animatronic dinosaurs and highlights some of history’s most powerful events like volcanic eruptions and asteroid strikes.

“BIG TIME is a dynamic experience that will stimulate the senses and transport guests back in time to walk among dinosaurs like the mighty T-rex, puts them face-to-face with an enormous Woolly Mammoth, sand side-by-side with a life-size polar bear, elephant and Sumatran rhino – incredible!”

Philadelphia Zoo’s President & CEO Vikram H. Dewan

Here a list of some of the animatronic creatures on display:

• Alamosaurus, 98-foot-long swinging an enormous, 20-foot-long tail
• Edmontosaurus, a 40-foot-long herbivore
• T- rex chomps his threatening jaws 40- foot- long and 3000 lbs.
• Triceratops, with 1,000-pound head, and three massive horns
• Quetzalcoatlus, 30-foot-tall with an enormous 35-foot-long wingspan
• Anzu, a feathered dinosaur resembling a bird, that is 10-feet-long
• Young T-rex at 24-foot-long
• Pachycephalosaurs, dome-headed herbivores, 15-foot-tall and weighing 1000 lbs.
• Dakotaraptor, an 18-foot long feathered predator
• Smilodon, aka “Saber-tooth tiger”, a ferocious feline, sporting 11-inch fangs
• Woolly Mammoth, ancestor to the Asian elephant,15-foot-tall
• Glyptodon, a relative of the armadillo, almost the same size of a Volkswagen Beetle
• Megatherium the second largest land animal behind the woolly mammoth
• Aepyornis, or “Elephant birds”, massive 10-foot-tall that weighed about 1200 lbs.
• Procoptodon, standing 10-feet-tall and weighing more than 500lbs.
• Thylacoleo, the largest carnivorous mammal to ever inhabit Australia

It sounds awesome! I was thrilled to be invited to a preview of the event this coming Wednesday, March 24. (It’s open to Zoo Members from March 25 – March 28 and opens to the public on Monday, March 29.) I’ll post photos and what we thought here on the blog afterwards. Plus, if you follow Sweet Mini Moments on Facebook and Instagram, I’ll try to post a few Stories while we’re there. I feel like the experience could go either way for my kids (ages 4 and 3). They’ll either completely LOVE it … or they’ll be terrified, and we’ll be racing through the exhibit to get to the giraffes. Either way, we have our Zoo Keys ready (yes, they’re BACK!!!), and we’re all looking forward to it.

If you follow Sweet Mini Moments on social media, you might’ve seen some of the “prep” we’re doing before Wednesday. Henry and Charlotte start every day asking me where we’re going. And since our outings have been few and far between this past year, it’s big excitement when I actually have something cool to tell them about. To stretch out the excitement, I told them about it a week in advance (which I’ve slightly regretted since Henry comes in my room every morning asking if it’s Zoo Day yet!) In anticipation of our outing, I’ve been trying to incorporate some extra prehistoric fun into our daily routines. Here are a few ideas that we’ve done and will do over the next few days.

UPDATE: Now that we’ve visited BIG TIME at the Philadelphia Zoo, you can click HERE to read my review and tips!

Start the Dino Fun at Home:

Get those dino-themed outfits ready. (As long as they’re little enough to let me, I love a themed outfit!)

If you’re looking for dinosaur clothes, I’ve seen cute things at Children’s Place, Gymboree, Carters, Target and PatPat. (Love that I’ve been seeing more “girly” options lately, too!)

Movie Night

Since we’re not ready for the Jurassic Park series, we went with Land Before Time. I also considered The Good Dinosaur. And Dino Dan (plus Trek’s Adventures, Dino Dana), Dinosaur Train, Gigantosaurus and Dino Ranch are already in the usual TV show rotation! While my kids weren’t into it, older kids might like the 90s throwback Dinosaur, recently added to Disney+.

Dinosaur Play

Get a little creative with your ordinary dinosaur toys! Press them into flattened Play-Doh disks to make “fossils.” Add them to the sandbox outside, or use with kinetic sand inside. The Easter Bunny might also be bringing us some of THESE dinosaur excavation eggs, too!

(Amazon Affiliate Link.)

Get Artsy

Draw or paint favorite dinosaurs. Picky up a dinosaur coloring book and stickers. Make dino track art by dipping those dinosaur toys’ feet in washable paint and then pressing on paper. And if you need some inspiration, Pinterest is always a great place to check for kid craft ideas. We’re keeping it simple by painting wooden dinosaur shapes I found in the bargain section by the checkout at Michael’s Crafts.

Visit the Library (or Read at Home)

When I my kids about seeing the dinosaur exhibit at the Philadelphia Zoo, they wanted to know what kind of dinosaurs we would see. I read them the list above, but then we also got out some of our dinosaur books to see if we could find out more about them. Since my children are fairly young, we don’t have too many detailed dinosaur books yet. (Though this Smithsonian Kids one is definitely the most detailed!) The next time we were at the library, we made a point to check out some of the “big kid” offerings there and picked a T-Rex one to bring home. Plus, I noticed they had a handout for a “”Prehistoric Explorer” Badge. It gave us even more ideas of things to do with out dinosaur theme. And, we’ll be able to complete a few activities and get a badge during our next library visit! If you don’t know about the Badges at the Bucks County libraries, find out more HERE.

If you’re looking for a few suggestions to purchase:

Dinosaur Dance by Sandra Boynton is a great one for toddlers in that it’s short and cute but also introduces a lot of different dinosaur names.

Smithsonian Kids: Digging for Dinosaurs is better for ages 3 and up. It includes a lot more detailed dinosaur facts, has sliding tabs and other interactive elements, and it also includes a pronunciation guide. (I REALLY appreciate that feature!)

(Amazon Affiliate Links.)

Have a Dinosaur Dinner

While you’re eating dinner, talk about the different eating habits of dinosaurs and how scientists can tell that from looking at their teeth. See if you can name a few dinosaurs that would eat each part of your meal. OR, just go for quick and fun and heat up some dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets!

Continue The Dinosaur Fun!

Big Time at the Philadelphia Zoo isn’t the only dinosaur-themed event for your mini paleontologists-in-training. If you haven’t been there yet this winter, The Academy of Natural Sciences reopened in early January and has a brand new exhibit called Permian Monsters: Life Before the Dinosaurs. The exhibit includes amazing fossils, scientifically accurate models, interactive games and more. This is in addition to their Dinosaur Hall that showcases more than 30 species and dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles!

Have you heard about the antique store with HUGE dinosaurs outside? Best of France Antiques is located just before reaching the intersection of Route 202 and Holicong Road near Doylestown. My kids loved walking around the grounds and seeing all of the dinosaur sculptures, other animals, fountains, and more!

And coming up in June, there’s going to be a dinosaur event at the Philly Expo Center in Oaks. Dino Stroll is set for June 5 and June 6 and will include almost 75 life-like creatures, reptiles and life-size dinosaurs.

And as of May 1, the Bucks County Children’s Museum is open again! Children can enjoy making fossil rubs or discovering hidden bones and fossils using little flashlights. (More on that in THIS post!)

Let’s hope that my little ones have a blast at BIG TIME this week at the Philadelphia Zoo! I’ll be sure to share more later this week!

UPDATE: Now that we’ve visited BIG TIME at the Philadelphia Zoo, you can click HERE to read my review and tips!