10 Dinosaur Coloring Pages That Are Dino-Mite
Calling the parents of all budding paleontologists! Boy, do we have a fun pastime for your dino-obsessed kids. We know Covid-19 has probably made it a bit trickier to indulge your little one’s fascination, what with museums and science centers following strict social distancing guidelines. So, you’re on the hunt for something dinosaur-themed to do, right? Look no further — we put together a bunch of dinosaur coloring pages that your little one is sure to think are dino-mite.
Bonus: The dinosaur fun doesn’t stop there! Check out our suggestions for dinosaur movies to put on while your kiddo colors. Or follow up these free printables with a dynamic dinosaur craft. We’ve even compiled a list of the best dinosaur jokes and puns so you can incite giggles in your future Dr. Ellie Sattler or Dr. Alan Grant (shout-out to our fellow Jurassic Park fans for knowing who these characters are).
Well, what are you waiting for? You’ll be hard-pressed to find another DIY kids’ activity that can tricera-top these free printables.
Free Dinosaur Coloring Pages
1. Dinosaur Museum
You know what we love about this page? It’s giving us all of the Night at the Museum vibes. Right?! So, basically, you’ve got a built-in bonus activity: watching that film (or all three in the series) after your kiddo finishes coloring. Since we’re talking about museums, paleology is the study of dinosaurs. And fun fact: The dinosaur with the longest name is Micropachycephalosaurus. Ironically, it means tiny and thick-headed lizard! However, the word dinosaur itself comes from the Greek language and means “terrible lizard.” They didn’t call them this because they were mean, but because of how large they were. The dino bones in this picture look a lot like the skeleton of a velociraptor, which means speedy thief.
2. Wuerhosaurus
You may never have heard about the wuerhosaurus until just now, so let us supply you with a few interesting facts to pass on. This dinosaur species existed from the Upper Jurassic Epoch period to the Lower Cretaceous Epoch period. A herbivore, it lived in a terrestrial habitat and reproduced by laying eggs. Fascinating, yeah? And have you ever heard of the pegomastax? It looks like a cross between a parrot and porcupine with a beak full of razor sharp teeth. Strange, but true!
3. Stegosaurus
Who doesn’t love a stegosaurus? We’ve been big fans ever since we watched the 1988 tearjerker The Land Before Time and met the sleepy steg baby named Spike.
4. Tyrannosaurus
Coloring this gigantic predator might give your little one the heebie-jeebies. But you can distract them from getting scared by telling them a little bit more about this bipedal dinosaur. Like, for instance, the fact that the T. rex measured up to 43 feet long and weighed as much as 7.5 tons. Did you know that the largest meat-eating dinosaur was not the T. rex, but the Spinosaurus? It was 50 feet long and spent most of its time in the water.
5. Pterodactyl
We’re not sure what it says about us that many of our dinosaur touchstones come from watching The Land Before Time, but they do. And if you’re fans of that nostalgic film like we are, you’ll never be able to look at a pterodactyl (or “flyer”) without thinking of neurotic Petrie. You watched the movie a million times growing up, so now’s the perfect time to introduce it to your little one and ask them to share which character they like best.
6. Parasaurolophus
What a peculiar looking dinosaur the parasaurolophus was! In addition to its distinctive head crest, it had a broad, flat mouth — almost like a duck’s beak. Yet, its name means “beside crested lizard.” And speaking of that name, you pronounce it “para-sawr-ollo-fuss.” Did you know some dinosaurs looked like giant rats? (Terrifying, we know.) The suzhousaurus had a huge furry body and scientists believe it was an ancestor of the giant ground sloth.
7. Juravenator
Admittedly, this guy looks a little intimidating. However, here’s something to share with your little artist: Juravenators were only around two feet long, weighing in at only around 300 grams. But undoubtedly the most interesting thing about this dinosaur is the fact that it was partially covered in feathers!
8. Brachiosaurus
If you’re looking for a great place to start your child’s dinosaur education, may we recommend the brachiosaurus coloring page? This gentle giant with an enormous giraffe-like neck walked the earth over 150 million years ago. The largest dinosaurs were usually herbivores. As you may be able to tell from this rendering, its front legs were longer than its back. In fact, its name actually means “arm lizard.” And did you know the first dinosaur was named in 1824? Paleontologists called it the Megalosaurus. Did you know that the heaviest dinosaur was the Argentinosaurusus? It weighed 77 tons, which is about the weight of 17 African elephants. They were the largest land animal to walk the earth.
9. Dinosaur Friends
If the super-realistic dinosaur coloring pages prove too much for your toddler, try these adorable dinosaur friends instead. This group appears to contain some sort of sailback, an apatosaurus, and perhaps an agujaceratops. When most people think of dinosaurs, we imagine them all as massive monsters. And although gigantic ones existed, many dinos were no bigger than a turkey. Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden found the first dino bones discovered in America in 1854. He dug up a collection of teeth that belonged to a trachodon, troodon, and deinodon, near the Missouri River.
10. Dinosaur Friends — 2
These dinosaurs sure look happy for a trio of fellas that long ago went extinct. But hey, let’s not ruin their fun — actually, you should lean into their cheerful personas by asking your kiddo to come up with names and backstories for each one. A funny fact to keep in your pocket is that big dinosaurs didn’t have big brains. In fact, the largest brain was about the size of a human brain. Fun fact: No one knows the exact lifespan of dinosaurs but some scientists believe they could have lived to almost 200 years old.
Click here to print all of the dinosaur coloring pages at once!
This article was originally published on
