My kids were both obsessed with dinosaurs when they were younger.
However, it can be a challenge to find age appropriate dinosaur toys for toddlers.
Many dinosaur toys for toddlers are geared towards older children. But don’t worry, I have you covered.
The toys I will be sharing with you are appropriate for children between the ages of 2 and 4.
Keep in mind that some of the toys will have a manufacturer’s age recommendation of 3+, but this does not mean your 2 year old can’t play with them.
You as the parent know your child best, so use your judgment when choosing a toy.
Dinosaur toys are wonderful for speech-language development and learning.
I will give some language and learning tips (when applicable) along with each toy to help you play with your child.
At the end of the article you will also find some wonderful books for your little dino lover!
The Best Dinosaur Toys For Toddlers
Including Language Development & Learning Tips!
Learning Resources Jumbo Dinosaurs 2
These jumbo dinosaurs are great for little hands.
They are washable and made with non-toxic, lightweight plastic!
Your little one can pretend with these for hours. You can get an idea of their size based on the picture.
This set also comes with an activity guide!
Tips for language and learning
♦ Size Concepts
Sort the dinosaurs according to size.
Talk about which is the biggest and which is the smallest.
Point out the dinosaur with the long neck and find the ones with short necks.
♦ Colors
Name the color of the dinosaur.
♦ Body Parts
Label the parts of the dinosaurs – eyes, nose, neck, tail, feet, mouth
♦ Descriptive Words
Pointy, bumpy, sharp, smooth
♦ Dinosaur Dig
If you have a sandbox/table bury the dinosaurs and have your toddler dig them up.
Talk about what you will need for the dig (shovel and pail).
♦ Erupting Volcano
You can set this up in the sandbox where the dinosaurs are hiding.
Fill a bottle with water and baking soda and then pile sand up around it so it looks like a volcano (make sure to leave the top of the bottle exposed).
Then add some vinegar and watch the volcano erupt.
Use words such as volcano, eruption, lava, hot, etc.
ZipBin 160 Dinosaur Collector Toy Box & Playset
This toy box also doubles as a play mat to extend the dinosaur play time. Simply unzip the sides and the box unfolds. Fold and zip it back up for dinosaur storage!
Use the play mat and engage your child by pretending the dinosaurs are running, swimming, eating, etc.
There is the option to purchase this dinosaur toy box with dinosaurs.
But if you already have a lot of those, then just get the box and use the playmat with your existing dinosaurs.
Kidtastic Dinosaur Take Apart Toys
This adorable dinosaur take apart toys are perfect for children ages 3+.
These toys are packed with STEM learning opportunities too!
Tips for language and learning
♦ Matching
Match the correct body parts to each dinosaur
♦ Front/Back
Your little one can learn which part is the front of the dinosaur and which is the back. Put them together and make a whole dinosaur.
♦ Colors
Each dinosaur is made up of a few different colors. Talk about the colors with your child.
For example, say to your child “I have a blue dinosaur leg, can you find the other blue leg?”
♦ Fine Motor Skills
Practice fine motor skills by using the small screwdrivers to take apart and put together each dinosaur.
♦ Problem Solving
Your child needs to figure out which body part goes with which dinosaur, building memory and problem solving skills!
Melissa & Doug Dinosaur Chunky Puzzle
I absolutely love all of the Melissa & Doug Wooden Chunky Puzzles.
They are a go to toy for encouraging language development in young children.
In addition to talking about the dinosaur names, here are some other things you can do with this puzzle.
Tips for language and learning
♦ Counting
Count each of the dinosaurs
♦ Pretend Play
These puzzle pieces stand upright and therefore can be used as if they were dinosaur figures.
The dinosaurs can go on different adventures everyday!
♦ Matching
Each cutout has a picture of the matching dinosaur.
So if your child is struggling to match the outline of the dinosaur to the cutout, encourage him to look for the matching picture.
♦ Hand Eye Coordination
♦ Simple Phrases
Put all of the puzzle pieces in a bag or box.
Take turns picking a puzzle piece.
Encourage your child to say something like “I pick (one)” or “my turn”
Plush Dinosaur House by Unipak
If you have read some of my other articles you will know that I am a big fan of stuffed animals for toddlers.
Not all children will become attached to them, but they make great playmates.
This plush dinosaur house (I think it is supposed to be an egg or a cave) comes with 5 soft and lovable dinosaurs.
The “house” can be used to store the dinosaurs and is great for travel! And everything is washable!
Tips for language and learning
♦ Prepositions
Talk about putting dinosaurs “in” the house and then take them “out” of the house.
They can crawl “through” the holes as well!
The dinosaurs can also get in and out of the house through a flap that lifts at the back.
♦ Colors
♦ Body Parts
These dinosaurs have teeth!
♦ Use your imagination
Perhaps there is a mother, father and children. Talk about what they might eat.
Are they friendly dinosaurs or scary ones? Maybe one of your child’s other non-dinosaur stuffed animals/toys would like to visit the dinos.
Educational Insights Dino Construction Company
If you have a future builder and dinosaur enthusiast this collection will find a perfect place in your home!
Choose from a variety of different dinosaur construction vehicles including:
- Wrecker the T-Rex Skid Loader
- Boom the Brachiosaurus Backhoe
- Helix the Stegosaurus Cement Mixer
- Rocko the Styracosaurus Dump Truck
- And many others
Use these vehicles indoors or out!
Some even leave dinosaur tracks when pushed around in the sand, so take them on your next beach vacation!
So many language opportunities are possible with these vehicles! Combine dinosaur vocabulary with construction vocabulary!
*Note: the trucks contain small parts that can come off, therefore the manufacturer’s recommended age is 3+
Dinosaur Play Sand Kit
Kids love sand and dinosaurs which makes this set very appealing.
This kit is perfect for small spaces. It comes with 34 pieces and 2lbs of sand
If using indoors simply put an old sheet or table cloth underneath to avoid having the sand go everywhere.
Tips for language and learning
♦ Vocabulary
Sand, trees, dinosaur (specific names if child is interested), color labels, fence
♦ Prepositions
Up, down, in, out, up, under (the sand), over (the fence)
♦ Actions
Stomp, jump, dig, eat, push (push down on the dinosaur mold)
Dinosaur Books For Toddlers
These dinosaur books are sure to be a hit!
And it’s a fun way to learn so more amazing facts about dinosaurs but at a level that young children can learn from!
Here are a few of my favorites.
Melissa & Doug Children’s Book – Poke-A-Dot: Dinosaurs A To Z (Board Book with Buttons To Pop)
Interactive books such as this one are a great way to get young kids more involved in book reading.
Some of the facts in this book are a bit advanced, but this makes it a great book to keep on the bookshelf for many years!
How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night?
This book will make for a great goodnight story!
While your child won’t learn specific facts about dinosaurs it should help make the bedtime routine go a bit more smoothly, especially if your little one aspires to be a big stomping dino!
Noisy Dinosaurs (My First Touch and Feel Sound Book)
Here is another wonderful interactive book for toddlers. It’s perfect for children ages 2 to 5.
Your child can learn some fun dinosaur facts too!
Here are even more dinosaur toys that are perfect for children between the ages of 2 and 4! I have hand picked these toys with your child’s development in mind!
I hope that this guide has helped you find some quality dinosaur toys for toddlers.
Do you have a dinosaur enthusiast in your family? What are some of his/her favorite dinosaur toys? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Great looking website! It’s crazy how many unique dinosaur toys there are these days. My kids are huge dinosaur fans! When you pair dinosaurs up with puzzles and books …kids absolutely love it! Great job putting together some excellent choices. I love the dinosaur books! Definitely gonna check those out. My kids actually don’t have any books about dinosaurs now that I think about it. That will make a great Christmas gift!
– Ryan
Glad I could help with some Christmas gift ideas Ryan! Dinosaur books are fascinating for kids of all ages!
Lovely post! Much appreciated. How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? is a very good bedtime book. My kids love it! It is such a great book for toddlers and also preschoolers. I would classify this book under science fiction because it involves dinosaurs. All young readers do love books about dinosaurs. It shows different dinosaurs acting out when it is about time to go to sleep. But then the book shows that this in not the right way to behave.
Awesome post you’ve got here. Definitely worth sharing.
Thanks Jordon! I agree, “How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?” is a wonderful book for toddlers and preschoolers. Glad to hear your kids love it too!
Very nice and educative article! Learning while playing is one of the best ways to learn. I liked to play with dinosaurs when I was child and another great way of learning and getting more creative was practicing Latin names of dinosaurs. My parents never asked me to do that but dinosaurs were so exciting I started to do that myself. In the end I was able to remember Latin names for +80 dinosaurs and I remember most of them still. Thanks again for sharing this, lets play and learn!:)
That’s great Jesse!
I love this post, in fact, I’ve enjoyed reading some of your other posts too, but I have to say that there are loads of children that love dinosaurs and there are so many toys to choose from. There does seem to be an endless supply of different kinds of dinosaur toys, however this post gives some very useful tips on how these toys can help with a child’s development which is great! My family is large and I never know what to get some of the nieces and nephews for birthdays and Christmas. I know some of them are dino obsessed right now so I’m glad I found this article just before Christmas.
Thanks Russ. You’re right, there are so many dinosaur toys to choose from. I selected these with younger children in mind (18 to 36 months) as dino toys are often geared to kids over the age of 3.
A really useful and informative guide, this is really helpful to me right now. My six year old nephew is completely obsessed with dinosaurs and I am starting to think about Christmas presents for him so this is exactly the type of guide I need. Thanks very much for putting this together, I appreciate your work.
You’re welcome! Glad I was able to help you figure out what kind of gift to get your nephew this Christmas.
This is a very fascinating website.
My kids are all grown now but these ideas would have been great when they were little.
Who knows maybe later down the road I will have grandkids and if I do I will be coming to your site for some very useful tips.
I love how you explain how to incorporate fun into learning all at the same time.
Most of the young kids I know love dinosaur toys but I had no idea that kids were actually learning some of the skills you pointed out just by playing them.
I’m sure many parents will find this information very helpful!
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for taking a look around the site and reading the article! Happy to hear that you liked it.
Hi my name is Maria,
I am a grandmother of 6, I started looking for children’s books for my daughter and somehow I ended up on your site. It’s a good thing I did as she is expecting now and is already a mother of two boys ages 4 and 6. They both love Dinosaurs.
I had no idea that dinosaurs toys were good for learning so much.
I love how you give some many examples of what kids can learn while they are having fun and playing.
My daughter is going to love your site.
Thanks again!
Thanks Maria!
I am happy to hear that you found my site and found it helpful! And thanks for passing the info on to your daughter.
While this article is geared to toddlers, the dinosaur toys I discuss would still be suitable for a 4 and 6 year old. The suggestions I provide would probably need to be tweaked a bit for older children.
Or just let them have fun playing with their dinos!
Wow you have really taken the guess work out of this one for me! What a fantastic guide full of so much easy to read information. I love the tips for playing with children and to help their development. And there are so many options to choose from, its great.
Thanks Tennille! Glad you enjoyed my list of dinosaur toys and how to use them from a development perspective!
My son is also obsessed with dino toys. We have a collection at home and it keeps growing 🙂 Up to now we just played with them using role play and pretending. I just didn’t realize these toys can be used also for learning. I love the Jumbo dino set and I think my son will love it too. It looks so realistic and is a great way to learn colors and sizes. My only doubt is that they look a kind of heavy – do you know if they are heavy or not?
Hi Arta,
Don’t worry about the dinosaurs being too heavy. They are made of lightweight (and dishwasher safe) material perfect for little hands. All five of them weight 2lbs (or less) all together. The biggest one is 13″ (L) by 6.5″ (H). And, I forgot to add it in the article (but will do that now), this set also comes with an activity guide to give you some more ideas for how you can extend the play with your son!
Great review page of dinosaur toys for toddlers! I love how much you can interact with you child with these in a way that encourages learning and fun. So many to choose from but your reviews here are very helpful. I can see how these can make great gifts for moms with toddlers. 🙂
Thanks Lidia! Simple toys can really do a lot for a child’s learning and development. But they should come with some quick and easy instructions that teach parents how to interact with a toy and their child for the most optimal learning outcomes. But this is all done in a naturally playful way.