TriceraTOTs Preschool Program
TriceraTOTs
Upcoming TriceraTOTs Events
2023 TriceraTOTs Schedule
Join us at 10 a.m. on the 2nd Friday of each month at the Dinosaur Discovery Center for fun 30-minute crafts and storytime sessions! Watch for updates on our activities and plans here, but also on our Facebook page.
February 10: Hatching Dino Babies
This activity bubbles to life when we wet some baking soda and pad it around our baby dinosaur. Add a little bit of vinegar and WOAH! Watch as the little dinosaur “hatches” from the egg! You can do this at home yourself: 1/2 cup of baking soda, add water until paste (optional: add a few drops of food coloring to the mix as well as a tablespoon of dishsoap – it’ll make your bubbles last longer and give them a fun color). Add a tablespoon at a time of vinegar on top to see the reaction! Come hatch a dino with us!
Open Spots: 0/20 (FULL)
March 10: Making Ammonites
Ammonites are coil-shelled squid that lived here in Colorado 80-90 million years ago! We find their shells at Dinosaur Ridge. For our activity today, we’ll learn about their amazing spiral shape and make our own ammonites out of coils of clay to take home! Come learn about this awesome fossil with us!
Open Spots: 0/20 (FULL)
April 14: Beans in a Bag?!
Spring is for planting, and we’re going to look at how plants grow! Our activity today will be planting some seeds in a baggie and taking them home to watch them grow! Different types of plants lived here in Colorado when dinosaurs lived here, so come learn more about living and fossilized plants with us!
Open Spots: 11/20
May 12: Pollinators for the WIN!
Bumble bees are wonderful pollinators! Now that we’re seeing flowers blooming and summer is coming, let’s learn about pollinators! Our craft today will have us create our own bumble bee out of pompom balls, popsicle sticks, and pipe cleaners, and we’ll see how well our little creations can pollinate! Come check it out!
Open Spots: 14/20
June 9: Sand Turned to Stone: Sandstone!
Sandstone is the type of rock that makes up most of Dinosaur Ridge (and Red Rocks Park). It’s made by sand being buried and stuck together over time with other minerals growing and acting like glue. Come join us as we make our OWN sandstone with colorful sand and glue, and once it dries – we’ll have a model of sandstone!
Open Spots: 17/20
July 14: No program today, have a wonderful July!
August 11: Digging up Dinosaurs
Dinosaur fossils are found at Dinosaur Ridge because they were buried in sand and mud and over millions of years turned to stone. Today, come join us as we make our own dinosaur dig and learn about how fossils form!
Open Spots: 15/20
September 8: Build A Dinosaur
Have you ever wanted to make your own dinosaur? For this craft, we’ll build some dinosaurs and see what creations we can come up with. Join us for this fun story and activity and learn more about different types of dinosaurs and the parts that make them really neat!
Open Spots: 19/20
October 13: Coloring with Shadows
Sometimes it’s fun to look at something and paint what’s there – but what about painting what’s NOT there? Using lights and dinosaur and animal models, join us as we do some art using just shadows!
Open Spots: 19/20
November 10: Watercolor Leaves and Petals
How colors mix and blend is always so fun to play with! Today, we’re going to look at how flowers take water and how it may change the color of the flower petals after it drinks through the stem! Join us as we use markers to brightly color coffee filters, and then dip them in water to see how the colors blend and mix! This is just like when a flower drinks colorful water and changes the color of its petals!
Open Spots: 20/20
December 8: Gingerbread Dinosaurs
Winter season is such a fun time for decorating for all of the holidays and making cookies! Today, we’ll decorate paper gingerbread dinosaurs in this fun seasonal craft!
Open Spots: 20/20
Past Shows
TriceraTOTs VIDEO Library
Check out the Facebook TriceraTOTs video library for fun activities you can do at home. Templates and instructions for specific projects are listed below.
Activity: Shadow Dinosaurs
Supplies: Butcher paper, markers, dinosaurs
Activity: Making Mary Anning
Supplies: Clay or Playdough, stencil, butter knife
Activity: Dinosaur Eggs
Supplies: Plastic eggs, baking soda, vinegar
Activity: Dino in a Jar
Supplies: Small dinos, environment props, jar
Activity: Shadow Art
Supplies: Butcher paper, markers, dinosaurs
Activity: Polar Dinosaurs
Supplies: Polar dinosaurs, “Snow”, water and container, rocks, little trees, grass, ponds
Activity: Pinecone Stegosaurus
Supplies: Pine cones, salt dough (Salt Dough Fossils), markers
Salt Dough Fossils
Supplies: Small plastic dinosaurs, flour, salt, warm water, measuring cups, and spoons
Dinosaur Ornament
Supplies: Construction paper, White glue, Glue sticks, Glitter glue, Popsicle Sticks, Cotton balls, Feathers, Kids’ scissors, Pencils, Crayons, Pom poms, Buttons
Dinosaur Wreath
Time to craft a dinosaur wreath for the door of your choosing!
Supplies: Paper plates, scissors, crayons, and glue, template available here
Turkey-dactyl
Is your Thanksgiving turkey a living dinosaur?
Supplies: Construction paper, White glue, Glue sticks, Glitter glue, Popsicle Sticks, Cotton balls, Feathers, Kids’ scissors, Pencils, Crayons, Pom poms, Buttons
Shape-a-saurus
Learn your shapes while having fun crafting a geometric dinosaur!
Template: Shape-a-saurus template
Supplies: Printer paper, pencil, glue, scissors, googly eyes (optional: crayons, markers, feathers, stickers, tissue paper, paint, glitter, pom-poms)