Invent A Dinosaur

Dinosaurs came in all shapes and sizes. Some dinosaurs were tiny, many were huge. Some had horny spikes and some had massive, powerful tails.

This is an artist's idea of how a plesiosaur would have looked swimming underwater.
© Natural History Museum.

Some dinosaurs ate meat, others were vegetarian. There were even dinosaurs with wings!

How about letting your imagination loose, and inventing your own dinosaur?

This is how an artist believed a fuzzy raptor would have looked.
© Natural History Museum.

You could begin by thinking about where your dinosaur might live, what it might eat or what it likes to do, as this will affect the way it looks.

For instance, if your dinosaur lived in the sea it would need flippers or fins and maybe some gills. If it ate tasty leaves from treetops it would need some way of reaching up high. If your dinosaur lived in steamy jungles it might need a way to get rid of mosquitoes.

When you've had a think about your dinosaur, you could draw or paint it. We'd love to see your inventions! Maybe you could design it on your computer? You could write some labels on the picture to tell us all about it.

As usual, if you send us your picture we will try to publish it on Show Me's Show and Tell page and send you a prize. Have fun!

Use our Get in Touch page to send your dino in.