Walking like dinosaurs

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By Sharon Parnellearly years practitioner and freelance writer

Keep on the move with these fun ideas for getting physical

Photo © Corbis

In this article:

  1. Stomp to the beat
  2. Dinosaur rhyme time
  3. Hunt the eggs!

1. Stomp to the beat

Explore different ways to move to represent dinosaurs

Physical Development

Movement and Space

Development matters: move freely with pleasure and confidence in a range of ways, such as slithering, shuffling, rolling, jumping, skipping, sliding and hopping (30–50 months); experiment with different ways of moving (40–60+ months).

Early Learning Goal: move with confidence, imagination and in safety.

What you need

Group size: small groups or whole class.

Large safe space; dinosaur music or big drum; tambourine.

What you do

Talk to children about how dinosaurs moved and the actions they made. They may have watched films or television programmes about dinosaurs. Dinosaurs took large strides, they ran, walked slowly or quickly; some could fly. Big dinosaurs were so heavy they made a loud thudding noise with their feet.

Play a musical instrument, such as a drum, for the sound of the dinosaur’s feet and encourage children to listen and respond by moving around the room, forwards and backwards, miming dinosaur movements and actions. Encourage them to think about rhythm and moving to the beat of the drum as they take their dinosaur strides. Change the instrument to a tambourine to suggest the flight of a dinosaur.


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