Category Archives: Dinosaur Fun

How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? (Great bedtime story for kids)

I found this great book for kids online called “How do dinosaurs say good night?”. It’s about how dinosaurs say goodnight and I’m sure kids love it. Listen and watch this clip – it’s the whole book! However it’s a very speedy version but you get a feel for what it’s like and you get to see the all these nice dinosaur illustrations.

http://youtu.be/f4aHT9-3Sqo

‘How does a dinosaur say good night when Papa comes in to turn off the light?
Does a dinosaur slam his tail and pout?…’

Great stuff. It’s got lots of detail and humor and I’m sure children and their parents will love this bedtimes story about the eleven different dinosaur children depicted here. It seems young dinosaurs are much like human kids: They give a big kiss, turn out the light, tuck in their tails, and whisper “good night.” Hmmm. Very well-behaved dinosaurs I would say.

Title: ‘How do dinosaurs say good night?’
by Jane Yolen, Mark Teague (Illustrator)

There is an audio version as well. I love audiobooks!
Check it out on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/How-Dinosaurs-Say-Good-Night/dp/0545093198

The King’s Dinosaur Pet – a Velociraptor?

Kungafamiljen på Nobelfest med sin velociraptor

The King of Sweden Carl Gustavosaurus Rex is said to have a new pet – a real DINOSAUR!. Actually, he’s so fond of it he brings it with him everywhere. Some weeks back people watched in horror as he brought his new pet dinosaur to the The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockhom City Hall. It’s hard to tell from this photo, but doesn’t it look like a velociraptor? Nobody knows where he got it, if it’s actually a real dinosaur or why he likes dinosaurs so much. Perhaps he enjpys listening to Daddy Donut and got inspired to get a pet dinosaur when he heard ‘Dino Blues’. After all, he’s got a great, big castle to mess up. His youngest daughter, Princess Madelaine doesn’t look at all pleased with the King’s decision to bring the family pet to the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony. She likes horses and a velociraptor it probably very difficult to ride.

Facts about Velociraptors

Velociraptors lived about 80-75 million years ago in Mongolia. Velociraptors were a group of relatively small carnivorous dinosaurs. They were sleek, fast and agile predators that could keep their balance while hunting at high speed thanks to their long stiff tails. Velociraptors had roles in Steven Spielberg’s movie Jurassic Park from1993 (based on the book Prehistoric Park by Michael Crichton). However, the dinosaurs in the movie called ‘Raptors’ are not relatives of the Velociraptors, but its American relative, Deinonychus. (Wikipedia)

NOTE! This article about the king’s dinosaur pet may not be entirely true. I’m just telling you what I heard. 🙂

Amazing T-rex illusion

There is a Youtube video going around with a paper T-rex that seems to turn its head as you walk past it. Check it out.

You can actually download the T-rex for printout and make your own T-rex illusions at home with your kids. Here are the direct links:

GreenT-Rex image
http://i.imgur.com/vBDV8o5.jpg

Red T-rex
http://i.imgur.com/80DDCYy.jpg

Blue T-rex
http://i.imgur.com/Z8lZnoK.jpg

And here is what the filmmaker writes about the video.

This is based on the famous dragon illusion which was inspired by Jerry Andrus. I’ve always wanted to try this illusion with several of these at once. I wanted to use 20 or 30 but after I tried a test with only 12, I realized 20 or 30 was going to be too many. So another thing I’ve always wanted to try was to have a large version. The original file was about 9 feet X 9 feet. I had to split the image into 4 files so the printer as my local print shop could print it. I traced all of the pieces on cardboard which I used to build a support structure for the prints. I used small pieces of cardboard and hot glue to make the structure really solid. One problem that I had was that the paper for the large dragon was really shiny. So if you look closely you can see the reflection of the eyes on the “top” and side panels. I bought some matte spray to try and minimize the reflections. It worked a little. Over all I was happy with the results.

The t-rex design is an original design used with the Gathering for Garder 3D dragon template. The original 3D template design (dragon) was inspired by the work of Jerry Andrus to celebrate Gathering for Gardner 3. http://www.thinkfun.com

The Dinovember Song

When I discovered Dinovember I was blown away. It was just so great to see how parents Refe and Susan Tuma’s used their creativity to let their kids experience a sense of wonder and excitement about some plastic toy dinosaurs. The same day I found the Dinovember website I started writing a song called “The dinosaurs come alive at night”. It was one of those songs that pretty much wrote itself. I started recording it a few days later. Recording it took about a week. The month of November was over but I felt I wanted to do something to honor the initiators of Dinovember. So I made a music video from Refe’s and Susan’s photos. It’s now finished and available on Youtube. The song is not available on iTunes yet. Instead I made it available as a free download here on the website. That way you can make your own youtube video if you are a Dinovember fan. [UPDATE: The free download campaign is over. Now you can get the Dinovember Song on Bandcamp.]

So here it is: Dinosaurs come alive at night – The Dinovember Song

Enjoy!

Lyrics to the Dinovember Song

In our house there are many toys
fluffy toys and toys that make a noise

then there are the dinosaurs
they’re different from the rest
when we go to sleep at night
they will make a mess

the dinosaurs come alive at night
the dinosaurs come alive at night

they drink from the milk carton
they pee on the bathroom floor
they never beg your pardon
they just roar

the dinosaurs come alive at night
the dinosaurs come alive at night

The dinos can be a handful
they plunder and they loot
They draw on the walls
They steal our eggs and fruit

oh, the dinosaurs come alive at night

it doesn’t happen every night, of course
and I don’t know why it’s just the dinosaurs

and if you try to catch them
up to mischief at four am
they will simply freeze
and pretend it wasn’t them

the dinosaurs come alive at night
the dinosaurs come alive at night

It’s happening all over
It’s spreading across the world
yes, I know it sounds all crazy and absurd

but the dinosaurs come alive at night…

Toy Dinosaurs Arrive… but isn’t Dinovember over?

Isn’t Dinovember over?

Today we found a huge cardboard box outside the door. The kids took it inside and opened it. It turns out someone left all their toy dinosaurs in our custody. The note attached read something about the dinosaurs being too unruly for the previous owner who was planning on getting a hamster instead. And here I was thinking Dinovember was over. Could it be these Swedish dinosaurs have their own month of mischief?
Nah!

The dinosaurs arrive in their cardboard box with a note attached.

The note attached read: “We know you love dinosaurs in your family. Could you please take care of these for us? They are always up to mischief and we can’t take it anymore. We are getting a hamster instead. Good luck!

PS. Don’t forget to close the box at night. DS.”

13 Reasons Dinosaurs don’t make Great Pets

A friend of mine sent me a link to a little gem of a children’s book: “13 reasons dinosaurs don’t make great pets”. I don’t think it has been published so you can read the whole thing online. It’s great reading for your kids even if they don’t like dinosaurs particularly.

Follow the link to read it: http://www.sketchbookproject.com/library/5104#page-slide_1

The illustrators name is Matt Tames. He calls his company Little Big Illustrations and he has a website with all his artwork here: http://www.littlebigillustrations.com/

Dinovember – the dinosaurs come alive at night

NOTE! Please don’t tell your kids about this. Get inspired instead and do something similar yourselves. I know I will! 🙂

If you haven’t already heard of “Dinovember” it’s time you do. I came across a link to the Dinovember website on facbook about a week ago. So what is Dinovember? Well, it’s two parents who dedicate the month of November to convincing their children that their plastic dinosaurs come to life while they sleep. I just love the idea and I’ve been following the Dinovember progress on facebook every day. Not only because I happen to create music and stuff about dinosaurs myself, but mostly because it’s so inspiring to see parents take the time to do this for their kids.Talk about creative parenting, keeping that childhood flame of awe and amazement burning. Also, it’s very, witty and funny. I’m glad to see the Dinovember facebook page is getting many followers and it seems they are becoming an inspiration for parents all over the world. People are sending in their photos.

Here is a quote from Refe Tuma, who together with his wife came up with the idea for Dinovember.

… in the age of iPads and Netflix, we don’t want our kids to lose their sense of wonder and imagination. In a time when the answers to all the world’s questions are a web-search away, we want our kids to experience a little mystery. All it takes is some time and energy, creativity, and a few plastic dinosaurs. Childhood is fleeting, so let’s make sure it’s fun while it lasts.

I’d love to be a kid in their family. I actually got so inspired myself that I wrote a song called “The dinosaurs come alive at night” as a kind of tribute to Dinovember. Hopefully I’ll be able to record it before november is over. I also ordered a number of plastic dinosaurs the other day. I was going to order them anyway since I need them for live shows and videos. But I’m planning on having them show up at the doorstep in a box with an unsigned note saying: “We know you love dinosaurs in your family. Could you please take care of these ill-bred dinos and see if you can straighten them out. We can’t take it any more…” My kids are in for a fantasy dino ride!

Check out this page about Dinovember 2012.

https://medium.com/thoughts-on-creativity/6f4cb1886d41

And here is the facebook page where the new photos are:

https://www.facebook.com/dinovember

Dinovember – the dinosaurs come alive at night

The Smallest Dinosaur – a Teeny-Weeny “Tinysaur”

I’ve recorded the third for the dinosaur album. It’s not about one of the big sauropods and it’s not a about a T-rex this time either. This song is about the smallest dinosaurs there ever was – a Tinysaur named Paul. Some say the tinysaurs never existed because they have not yet found any tinysaur bones of fossils, but I bet they existed. They were about the size of a spore and they were impossible to see. However, they made a peculiar sound so the only way you could tell there were tinysaurs around was by a gentle buzzing in the air – sort of like a mix of a mosquito and a bumblebee. The tiny dinosaur – or “tinysaur” – in this song is a lonely little fellow. He seems to have lost all his tinysaur buddies and now he is wondering if there is anyone else like him out there. Poor little guy.