KidyGrowKidyGrow
EN HR ES
Get the app↓ App
travel_exploreDiscovery · The age of dinosaurs

⏳ The age of dinosaurs

How long did dinosaurs rule the Earth? Simple, true the age of dinosaurs facts for young children, each with a fun fact, a tiny activity and a question to talk about together.

Tap a question to reveal the answer, share the fun fact, try the tiny activity, then talk about it together.

schedule3 minstarHardgroupTogether
How long did dinosaurs rule the Earth? Revealexpand_more

Dinosaurs ruled the land for an astonishing amount of time, more than one hundred and fifty million years. That is so long that the famous T. rex actually lived closer in time to us than to the earliest dinosaurs. Humans have been around for only a tiny sliver of that vast history.

🌟
Talk about itDoes it change how you think about time to know dinosaurs lasted so long?
Did you know?There is a bigger gap in time between Stegosaurus and T. rex than between T. rex and you.
🎲
Try itStretch a long piece of string for dinosaur time and pinch the last centimetre for humans. That tiny bit is all of us.
🤖Still curious?Which came first, Stegosaurus or Tyrannosaurus?arrow_forward
schedule3 minstarHardgroupTogether
What were the three ages of the dinosaurs? Revealexpand_more

The long age of dinosaurs is split into three parts. In the first, dinosaurs first appeared and were mostly small. In the second, giant long-necks and many others grew huge. In the third and last, famous dinosaurs like T. rex and Triceratops lived, right up until the great extinction ended their reign.

🌟
Talk about itWhich of the three dinosaur ages would you most want to visit?
Did you know?The three periods have long names, but together they cover the whole age when dinosaurs ruled.
🎲
Try itSplit a long line into three parts for the three ages. Mark where the small early dinosaurs and the giants belong.
🤖Still curious?What are the real names of the three dinosaur periods?arrow_forward
schedule3 minstarHardgroupTogether
How do scientists know how old a fossil is? Revealexpand_more

Scientists work out a fossil's age mostly from the rock layers around it. Layers pile up over time, so deeper usually means older, like pages stacked in a book. They also measure special clocks hidden in certain rocks, natural materials that change at a steady, known rate, to pin down an age in millions of years.

🌟
Talk about itWhy is it useful to know exactly how old a fossil is?
Did you know?Some rocks act like natural stopwatches that have been ticking since long before the dinosaurs.
🎲
Try itStack sheets of paper one by one. The bottom sheet went down first, just like the oldest, deepest rock layer.
🤖Still curious?How can a rock work like a clock?arrow_forward
schedule3 minstarHardgroupTogether
How did moving continents change the dinosaurs? Revealexpand_more

When dinosaurs first appeared, all the land was joined in one giant supercontinent, so early dinosaurs could roam almost everywhere. Over millions of years the land slowly split apart and drifted into separate continents. Groups of dinosaurs were carried away from each other and evolved into different kinds in different places.

🌟
Talk about itIf your home slowly drifted to a new place over ages, what might change?
Did you know?This is why some dinosaurs are found only on certain continents and nowhere else.
🎲
Try itFit a few puzzle pieces together, then slide them apart. Picture dinosaurs riding each piece to a new place.
🤖Still curious?What was the giant supercontinent called?arrow_forward

More topics

Sources

Answers are simplified for young children and checked against child-friendly science references.