Make Stamped Dinosaur Art with Preschoolers and Toddlers

This dinosaur art activity for preschoolers is so fun! You’ll be surprised at what we used to make the colorful scaly pattern. (Hint: not bubble wrap).

We had so much fun making these that we now have a LOT of dinosaur paintings on display. The beauty of this activity is that it’s suitable for most age groups, with younger toddlers being able to join in too. It would make a great addition to a preschool dinosaur theme (it’s one of our favorites).

And to make things extra easy on you, you can grab a free printable dinosaur template at the end of this post!

For the Love of Dinosaurs

This week my eldest daughter has been learning about dinosaurs. She’s one of those people who has a very inquisitive mind (don’t most kids!), and we have been reading and researching about dinosaurs all week. Not only have we checked out way too many dinosaur books from our local library, but we also decided to take a trip to our local museum which has a great dinosaur exhibit.

As I’m keen to encourage her with this current dinosaur passion (some may say obsession!), we decided to make these Duplo-stamped dinosaurs. We’ve stamped with Duplo before and it’s a great process art activity, but we really enjoyed the dinosaur theme today.  I know there’s a lot of debate about process versus product, but I believe a bit of both makes for a lot of fun too!

For this activity, we did use printable dinosaurs (you can grab them at the end of the post) but by all means, encourage your child to draw their own if they prefer. The beauty of this activity is that you don’t even need to stick to dinosaurs – any animal picture will work.

We used the Duplo for the stamping as we thought it would look like scales, and I think they’ve turned out quite well. We discussed what colors we thought dinosaurs would be, and came up with a mix of greens, browns, and oranges.

You’ll notice we use gold paint instead of brown – that’s because we’ve found it looks much nicer when mixed with other colors than brown. Brown tends to turn everything else brown too.

How to Make Duplo-Stamped Dinosaur Art

Materials

• White paper or cardstock (I used paper)
• Colored paper for the backing
• Glue
• Scissors
• Paint in your choice of colors
• A paper plate or tray to put the paint on
• Duplo or any other blocks that you have at home in a few different sizes.

The Dinosaur Process Art Activity

These are really easy to make! It only took a few minutes to set this activity up. And it can be a relatively independent activity, depending on the age of the child.

First, print out or draw your dinosaurs on the white paper – download the dinosaur printable at the bottom of this post.

Next, set up your paints on a tray or plate. I like to use a paper or plastic plate as you can throw it away when you are done and it makes clean up much easier.

After that, it’s time to have your child stamp the dinosaur! Encourage him to mix colors and experiment with different ways to stamp.

You can stamp lots in one area or only use a minimal amount. Don’t worry about the child going over the lines of the picture as we will be cutting them out at the end.

Once everyone is done painting, leave your paintings to dry. We left ours for a few hours.

Then it’s time to cut out your dinosaurs. This is a great way to work on fine motor skills.

Depending on the age of the child they no right or wrong way with this, especially for the dinosaurs that are a little bit intricate.

Draw an eye onto each dinosaur, or you can use googly eyes.

Glue the cut out dinosaurs onto the colored paper or card. This really makes the scaly pattern pop!

Cut out around the dinosaur leaving a 1/2 inch gap. This creates a nice border.

Finally, hang them on display!

My children really enjoyed making these, and we have since made them again with a group of their friends. I really hope you enjoy making these Duplo stamped dinosaurs and I would love to see a photo of the finished product!

A Word about Process Art

The fun thing about process art is that it’s appropriate for all ages. Older siblings will love this dinosaur activity as much as preschoolers, and even young toddlers can use the Duplo to stamp.

There’s no right or wrong way to how the kids stamp their dinosaur art, and each child will end up with a different design. I love how the colors mix together, too.

Grab Your FREE Dinosaur Temple Here

Think stamping some Duplo on a dinosaur looks like fun? How about LEGO, a sponge, or potato masher? You can use anything! Grab your dinosaur art templates by clicking the image below!

Want More Dinosaur Printables?

Here you go! Your preschooler will love them!