If you have a kid who’s into dinosaurs, you won’t want to miss this dinosaur emergent reader! It’s a great tool to teach kids color names and color words. Check it out below, and then don’t miss our huge library of other free preschool printables.
Dinosaur Emergent Reader
Chances are, if you’re an early childhood educator (or a parent . . . or both!) you’ve been around kids who get really into dinosaurs.
Not every kid gets obsessed with dinosaurs, but there are definitely some who just can’t get enough of them. My son skipped over this phase, more interested in all things trains when he was younger (as opposed to his mama, who was firmly entrenched in dinos as a kid).
I distinctly remember more than one student who wanted to be a paleontologist or who told me dinosaur facts I’d never heard of.
On a side note, did you know that these childhood interests can be beneficial for kids’ brains?
If your students are incredibly interested in dinosaurs, planning a dinosaur theme might very well be in order. Be sure to add a colorful dinosaur emergent reader into those lesson plans.
What’s the Big Deal about Making Your Own Emergent Readers?
If you’re a regular reader of Fun-A-Day, you know how much I love making books with the kids.
Be they printable easy readers, more involved art-and-text books, or class books, I find them to be incredibly meaningful for the kids. Plus, they’re usually just plain fun to make.
Here’s a list of what homemade emergent readers can teach kids. This list is by no means exhaustive:
- Left to right progression when reading
- Punctuation
- Sight words
- Letter names and sounds
- Concept of a word
- One-to-one correspondence (one word written is equal to one word spoken)
- Print carries meaning
On top of literacy concepts, making books can also help children learn a variety of other early learning concepts. For example, this free printable dinosaur emergent reader delves into colors and color words.
Make a Dinosaur Emergent Reader with the Kids
Grab the free printable book at the bottom of this post. Print out the version that you’d prefer (there’s a color version, as well as a black-and white version).
Related: Preschool Busy Bag Ideas for a Dinosaur Theme
To assemble the book, place the pages on a flat surface – printed side up. Pick up the pages. Take the right-hand side and fold it back to meet the left-hand side.
Related: Frozen Dinosaur Excavation for Kids
Press down along the fold on the right. Pull the individual folded pages out and arrange them in the order you’d like (just be sure the cover is on top). Staple everything along the left-hand side.
Related: Dinosaur Activities for Kids to Try
Here’s a video showing how I assemble the dinosaur emergent reader:
Of course, if you’d prefer to cut each page in half and assemble it that way, you can.
Related: Learning Shapes and Colors with Rainbow Rocks
Introduce the dinosaur emergent reader to the kids
Once the book is put together, bring the children over. I prefer to do this one-on-one or with small groups.
Tell the kids that they’re going to make a book about dinosaurs of every color. Take a quick walk through the book, talking about the different colors and asking children to search out the color words on each page.
“This page is about a red dinosaur. Which of these words says ‘red’? Red starts with the sound /r/. What letter makes the /r/ sound? Let’s find the word ‘red’!”
Underline the color words with the appropriate crayon or marker. If you’re using the black-and-white book, have the kids color in the dinosaurs on each page.
Related: Dinosaur Sensory Bin with Cloud Dough
The printable dinosaur book has eleven colors in it. That might be too much for some children. If that’s the case, you have a few choices:
- Break up the bookmaking over the course of a couple of days
- Choose only specific colors to be included in the book
- Have the kids work together in pairs or small groups to complete one book
Ways to extend the bookmaking activity
There are loads of ways to extend the learning with the dinosaur emergent reader! Below are some suggestions:
- Keep the books in the kids’ book boxes in the reading center. This way, they can be brought out to read and reread.
- Add magnetic letters and magnetic trays to the reading center, along with the books. After they reread their dinosaur books, the kids can use the letters to make color words with the letters.
- Have the children bring the books over to the math center. The kids can match various math manipulatives to each dinosaur based on color.
- Send the readers home so the children can read the books to their families at home. Encourage the kids to find items around their homes that match each dinosaur color.
Related: Snow Paint Sensory Bin with Dinosaurs
Preschool Dinosaur Theme Lesson Plans
Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes book suggestions, printable plans, over 30 learning activities (both whole group and centers) related to the theme, and corresponding printables.
Grab the dinosaur lesson plans at Preschool Teacher 101 and Teachers Pay Teachers
The Dinosaur Theme Lesson Plan Pack also includes:
1) Dinosaur Cards for sorting by color, making patterns and more
2) Counting Dinosaur Eggs Activity (1-10) in color and B/W
3) Count the Dinosaurs Emergent Reade (3 variations)
4) Dinosaur Roll and Graph Game in color and B/W
5) Dinosaur Skeleton Activity Mats
6) Dinosaur Word Cards
7) Beginning Sound Dinosaur Sort (D, I, N, O)
8) Dinosaur Number Cards (0-35) in color and B/W
9) Alphabet Train Dinosaur Matching Upper and Lowercase Letters
10) Rhyming Dinosaur Eggs
More Dinosaur Theme Activities for Kids
If your students loved the dinosaur emergent reader, be sure to check out more great dinosaur activities by clicking on the links below. You could have a lot of your dinosaur theme planned out with all of these ideas!
Hatching Dinosaur Eggs Initial Sound Match // Modern Preschool
EDITABLE Dinosaur Sight Word Game // Playdough to Plato
Salt Crystal Dinosaur Science Experiment // Steamsational
Editable Sight Word Dinosaur Game // The Kindergarten Connection
Editable Dinosaur Pick and Color Printable // A Dab of Glue Will Do
10 Little Dinosaurs Song // Stay at Home Educator
Dinosaur Counting Puzzles // Pocket of Preschool
Dinosaur Addition // Recipe for Teaching
Measurement Activities with Dinosaurs // Fairy Poppins
Matching Numbers 1-12: Dinosaur Clip Cards // Liz’s Early Learning Spot
Dinosaur Board Game Counting Activity // Fun Learning for Kids
Dinosaur Sensory Bottle With Alphabet Printables // Letters of Literacy
Addition Cards with Dinosaurs // The STEM Laboratory
Dinosaur Counting Play Dough Mats // Fantastic Fun and Learning
Dinosaur Memory Game // Teach Me Mommy
Bossy R Dinosaur Sort // Sara J Creations
Get the Free Printable Dinosaur Emergent Reader
This dinosaur emergent reader is available to members of Fun-A-Day’s free email community. If you’re already a member, enter your information in the form below to get the printable sent to your email inbox.
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Originally published February 2018.
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