Dinosaur Camp for Dolls

Phororhacos, a Patagonian Giant of the Miocene.

       The dinosaurs were a kind of great reptile that lived ages ago, before there were any men on the earth. They were of many different kinds and they varied in size from that of a house cat to that of great creatures fifteen or more feet in height and seventy-five feet in length.

       We know that these great reptiles lived on the earth because their fossil bones and skeletons are found buried in the rocks in many places. These bones are petrified or turned into stone, and have been preserved in the rock ledges through long ages. Sometimes only a few bones are found in a place, but sometimes entire skeletons are found together. From these skeletons, which have been set up in different museums, the scientists have been able to make out what kind of creatures the dinosaurs were.

       Fossil remains of dinosaurs are found not only in North America, but in South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. This shows that these great creatures lived in all parts of the world. It is not known that any ever reached Australia.

       The name dinosaur is taken from two Greek words which mean terrible lizard. They were not exactly lizards, but probably as nearly like the lizard as any other animal now living on the earth. Many of the dinosaurs lived in the water, but some of them were capable of coming out and walking about on the land. Some of them were plant-eaters and the plant-eaters grew to very great size. Some of them were flesh-eaters, and fed upon the other dinosaurs. This is known by the very sharp teeth that these flesh-eaters had and the marks that are found in many cases on the bones of the plant-eating dinosaurs. Even the broken teeth of the flesh-eaters are sometimes found buried in the earth, scattered about the skeletons of the great plant eating dinosaurs. This shows that the flesh-eaters were probably fierce animals and that they preyed upon the plant-eaters just as lions and tigers of modern times prey upon camels and elephants.

Stegosaurus skeleton.

       The dinosaurs vary greatly among themselves in their size and in the shape and the proportion of their bodies. The very oldest dinosaurs were quite small and most of them walked on four legs. Some of the later and largest of all dinosaurs also walked on four legs. These animals had small heads, very long necks, and long tails; the bodies were rather short and compact. The head was shaped very much like that of a lizard. Others of the dinosaurs walked on their hind legs with their bodies in a half upright position. Their forelegs were not so long as the hind legs, and some of them appeared to have been swimmers. Some of these swimmers had long heads with broad mouths and very small teeth and were called the duck-bill dinosaurs. Another another kind had great plates standing up in two rows and extending along the back from the neck to the tail. There were other plates which lay flat and served to protect the animal's back. 

Triceratops mounted skeleton at Los Angeles Museum
 of Natural History, Los Angeles, United States of America

       Another kind of dinosaur was truly armored. These animals were shaped like the little horned toad which now lives in the sands of desert regions, and had bony plates covering the back arranged like true armor. The flesh-eating dinosaurs were apparently the most agile and swift-footed of all the dinosaur tribe. Their heads were large in proportion to the size of the body, and armored with rows of sharp pointed teeth like those of a crocodile. They walked or ran upon their hind legs, and their forelegs were so small that they could have been of use only for the purpose of seizing and holding their prey. The largest of all these flesh-eaters now known has the very imposing name of Tyrannosaurus rex, meaning - king of the tyrant lizards.

       Fortunately, all of these creatures of the dinosaur tribe died out long before man came to live on the earth and before there were many warm-blooded animals of any kind. There were some very small mammals living at the time of the dinosaurs. Some scientists have thought that these little mammals may have eaten the eggs of the great dinosaurs and so helped in exterminating them.  Riggs.

Dinosaur Camp Crafts:

• Dinosaur "hands on" camp craft ideas from SimpleplayIdeas
• Summer Camp Programming features theme of the week - dinosaurs
• Dinosaur Camp Activities by ClubSciKidz
• Dinosaur Diorama by firstpalette

Silly Cave Dolls for Fun: People could never have survived living with dinosaurs but doll makers like to help children pretend to play and learn as though they did...

• Cave Twins by Jessie Louise Taylor
• Flintstones Family Dolls...
• The Cave Club Dolls
• Katy and K.O. wearing their leopard prints...

Dinosaur Natural History Lessons: Parents and teachers should know that the following articles were originally written for children prior to 1960s. Therefore some information about carbon dating has changed according to current scientific communities. The simple descriptions of ancient reptiles, animals and ocean creatures are generally described with articulate and entertaining language that can be appreciated by very young children. It is also possible that the naming/classification of dinosaurs has also been updated a bit. I recommend the articles be reviewed before using them in a classroom setting.

• The Adventures of A Pebble by Stromquist, 1955, 4.1 International: My Beginnings, A River Journey, My First Living Friend, Jet-Propelled Shellfish, Chicago's Coral Cities, Undersea Animal Gardens, Visitor From The Swamp Forest and Chicago's Great Ice Sheet
• Living Giants by Wood, 1943, 4.0 International: The Redwood Trees, Blue Whales, The Ostrich, The Reticulate Python, Whale Sharks, Bamboo (The Giant Grass), Giant Squids, The Komodo Lizard
• What is A Dinosaur? by Weaver, 1956, 4.0 International: Brontosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Allosaurus, Turammpsaurus, Stegosaurus, Palaeoscincus, Protoceratops, Edmontosaurus, Why are there no dinosaurs today? 

Dinosaur Education & Fun Online:

• Dinosaur Education About: Fossils, Extinction, Lifespan etc...
• Dinosaurs - kid friendly films that look realistic
• Learn Dinosaur Names for Kids
• T-Rex Restaurant Disney Springs
• Dinosaur Coloring Pages
• Huge Box Dinosaur Toys!
• T-Rex Ranch - Dinosaurs For Kids (channel about T-Rex Ranch)
• Dinosaur Cannibalism by BBC Earth
• Megalodon vs Livyatan - Who Would Win?
• Marine reptiles and other animals of the time of Dinosaurs. Size comparison.
• Dinosaur Size Comparison 3D - Smallest to Biggest
• Here's How Dinosaur Figures Are Made
• The Dinosaur Farm - anything and everything having to do with dinosaurs for sale - kids and collectors welcome
• The Dino Directory at The U.K. Natural History Museum
• dinosaur-toys-collectors-guide.com

Dinosaur Field Camp Programs:

• Museum of The Rockies Field Camp
• Bighorn Basin Paleontology Expeditions

The Dinosaur Fossil Sites:

1. Seymour Island, Antartica: Read more, Exploring The History And Future of Antarctica with Dr. Paul Willis
2. Hell Creek Formation, United States: Read more, Visit Burpee Museum Of Natural Hisory Website
3. Ediacara Hills, Australia: Read more, Visit The Website
4. Joggins Fossil Cliffs, Canada: Read more, Visit The Website
5. Anacleto Formation, Argentina: Read more, Visit The Website
6. Stranska Skala, Czech Republic: Read more, Photos and detailed information
7. Red Beds, Texas and Oklahoma: Kansas Geological Survey page
8. Jurassic Coast, England: Jurassic Coast Trust
9. La Brea Tar Pits, California: Read more, Visit The Website
10. Jiufotang Formation, China: (pdf article) no internet access into China from U.S. sorry folks

Dinosaur Museum Collections:

1. Museum fur Naturkunde, Berlin: Read more, Visit The Website
2. Field Museum, Chicago: Read more, Visit The Website
3. Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Science, Brussels: Read more, Visit The Website
4. National Dinosaur Museum, Canberra, Australia: Read more, Visit The Website
5. Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, Alberta, Canada: Read more, Visit The Website
6. Wyoming Dinosaur Center, Wyoming: Read more, Visit The Website
7. Zigong Dinosaur Museum, Zigong, China: Video at youtube, Visit The Website
8. Iziko Museum, Cape Town, South Africa: Video at youtube, Visit The Website
9. Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta: Video at youtube , Visit The Website

Designated time periods used by scientists in these articles are based upon scientific theory. Here are a few links for those of you who are curious about how we teach Genesis and science at the same time to children. Understand Hebrew translations for the concepts of time in scripture. See also Christian parents can go and read here about teaching scientific theory to young children.