Collaborative Cardboard Dinosaur Art

Every week we have a different theme and featured book as part of our Weekly Virtual Book Club for Kids. Are you following along? Last week was focused on gratitude and we made a gratitude turkey pumpkin! 

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This week is Dinosaur Week! We are featuring Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems and doing a cardboard dinosaur art project! If you haven't read it yet, this is one book to buy and keep as part of your family library. All of my kids love it.

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems is a darling take on the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears. It is so funny! My kids love dinosaurs and the silly story so it is always a hit when we pull it out.

MATERIALS NEEDED FOR CARDBOARD DINOSAUR ART:

• 2-3 shoeboxes (1 small, 1 big)
• roll of brown paper
• green paint (or any color)
• tape
• painbrush
• hot glue gun
• glue sticks
• scissors
• black and white paper
• paper towel rolls
• lids
• Sharpie

HOW TO MAKE A CARDBOARD DINOSAUR:

This dinosaur art activity is easy, pretty open-ended, and such a great workout for little fingers. 

To get started on this project, first I prepped the materials. I wrapped all of the shoeboxes in brown paper so that you couldn't see box logos or writing on them. I also cut out several dino plates from cardboard and a dino tale. 

Once the materials were prepped, our main job was to paint the dinosaur pieces!!

We talked about green and the different shades of greens and the other colors that were used as we were creating. My son was adamant that his dinosaur would be green... but your kids could make it pink or blue or really whatever color they want it to be.

Once all of the pieces were painted, we let them dry for a few minutes and then we started assembling the dinosaur using a glue gun.

My kids gave some input while I glued.

Once the dinosaur body pieces were glued together, we added eyes made from lids and googly eyes, dino plates made from cardboard, and black cardstock nostrils.

We also added paper towel roll arms to the dinosaur body!

The last things that were added were the black mouth and the teeth pieces. Kids cut and ripped paper to fit on the black mouth.

Our dinosaur friend was perfect for hanging out and visiting while we read Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems again and again.

There are so many additional fun DINOSAUR WEEK themed crafts and activities shared by our Dinosaur Week group. Check out the activities below to get you started...

Alphabet Activities

Dino Babies Letter Game - Rainy Day Mum

Name Activities

Dinosaur Name Activity- Preschool Powol Packets

Number Activities

Dinosaur Number Maze - Inspiration Laboratories

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs Jacks Game- Sugar Aunts

Clothespin Dinosaur Counting Tray

Dinosaur Eggs Preschool Math Printables-Chickadee Lit

Sensory Activities

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs Play Dough Mats

Cooking Activities

How to Make Chocolate Dinosaurs - Mama Smiles

Science Activities

Rocks & Fossils Experiment- Teach Beside Me

Pre-writing Activities

Dinosaur Pre-Writing Tracing Pages - Sea of Knowledge

Movement Activities

Roll A Dinosaur Movement Game - To be a Kid Again

Shape Activities

Dinosaur Shape Matching Game - Powerful Mothering

Build A Shape Dinosaur - Adventures of Adam

If you have any other favorite dinosaur crafts or activities, please share them in the comments!

This activity was inspired by the cardboard box robots shared in Art Bar Blog's new book Art Workshop for Children. If you haven't seen Bar's new book yet, go check it out HERE along with my new favorite art workshop ideas HERE.