Here’s another Dinosaur activity for your little learners – it’s a dinosaur I spy game!
Can your children find and count all of the dinosaurs? They’ll need to have a great eye for detail, good scanning skills and be able to count the dinosaurs carefully.
And if they plan on writing the number of dinosaurs they’ll also be able to practice their pencil grip and number formation.
In case you were wondering, the dinosaurs that they can spy with their little eyes are: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Protoceratops, Pteranodon, Brachiosaurus, Spinosaurus, Plesiosaur, Velociraptor, Pachycephalosaurus, Ankylosaurus and Dimetrodon.
Here’s some more dinosaur themed printables you may want to check out:
- Dinosaur Trace The Lines Writing Practice
- Cute Dinosaur Color Matching Game
- Dinosaur Letter Matching Game
- Baby Dinosaur Counting Game
- Dinosaur Finger Puppets
- 17 Dinosaur Coloring Pages
What Skills Can Your Children Learn and Practice?
Here are a few of the skills that your little ones can learn and practice when playing this dinosaur I spy game.
- Visual Scanning – This is an important early reading skill. It is the ability to use their vision to search in a systematic way, from top to bottom or left to right. This skill also helps them move around without bumping in to things.
- Counting – They’ll have to count carefully if they want to ensure they get the correct answers.
- Number Formation – When they write how much of an item there is they’ll get a chance to practice their number formation. Try to gently correct them if they do it wrong.
- Pencil Grip and Pencil Control – Any time your child picks up a pen or pencil is a great chance to practice and develop these skills.
- Concentration and Perseverance – There’s a lot to spot here so your little ones will have to remain focused if they want to finish the game.
Related – to learn other ways to help strengthen your child’s mathematical mind why not check out 7 simple ways to develop preschool math skills.
How to Prepare This Dinosaur I Spy Game
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Firstly go and download the dinosaur I spy printable by clicking on the image below:
Then print it off onto paper or card.
You can then laminate it if you want your children to be able to use it again. If you use a whiteboard marker, you’ll be able to easily rub it off to use another time.
If you don’t have a laminator here’s an affordable and reliable one.
That’s it really – an easy one this week!
How Your Children Can Play This Dinosaur I Spy Game
You can play it the standard way, letting them practice their counting and visual scanning skills to see if they can successfully find all the dinosaurs.
But you could also get them to spot a specific object. For example, ‘circle the Triceratops that is next to two Pachycephalosauruses’.
You could also flip it around so that they are describing things for you to find. This will be great for their language development as they’ll have to be really specific and use the correct prepositions if they want you to find the right one.
If you laminated a copy you’ll be able to play this again and again!
If you plan on making lots of printables, then a laminator is a great investment – here’s a good one:
If your little ones haven’t got to the stage where they are able to write numbers yet you could always just get them to say them with you and practice counting together carefully.
Or you could print a second copy, and cut out several of the pictures and get them to match it to the correct one. This could actually be pretty tricky as the images are different sizes and may be rotated in different ways as well.
I hope your children enjoy this dinosaur I Spy printable. Be sure to check out the other free printables that are available here.
If you liked this or know of anyone else who may want to play it then please spread the word by clicking on the buttons below.
And be sure to check back regularly as I’ll be releasing lots more free printables! If you don’t want to miss any, you can turn on notifications by clicking the little bell to the bottom right.
Thanks and,
Let’s nurture those Neurons!
