TriceraTOTs Preschool Program

Upcoming TriceraTOTs Sessions

Join us on the 2nd Thursday and/or Saturday of each month at the Martin G. Lockley Discovery Center for fun 30-minute craft and story time sessions!  Advance online registration is required as attendance is capped at 20 children. Two sessions are available at 9a.m. and 10 a.m. for each Thursday and Saturday event.

Registration: $5/participating child

*No sessions in January or July

NOTE: The June Program (Thursday and Saturday) will take place at the Main Dinosaur Ridge Visitor Center: 16831 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison, CO 80465 (near C-470 & Alameda).

All other programs are held at the Martin G. Lockley Discovery Center just inside Entrance 1 to Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre:
17681 W. Alameda Parkway, Golden, CO

2025 TriceraTOTs Schedule

Shape Up, Stegosaurus! 
Saturday, February 8
Thursday, February 13
Colorado’s State Fossil is best known for the plates along its back, so let’s make our own stegosaur while learning about shapes! Perhaps your stegosaur has square plates, circle, or even star-shaped plates? Come check it out!  

Tie-Dye Dinosaurs! 
Saturday, March 8
Thursday, March 13
What color were ancient creatures, anyway? Was a plesiosaur covered in bright swirls of green and pink? Was a T. rex covered in yellow dots and blue stripes? Today’s craft involves tie-dye coloring of ancient animals using food coloring, heavy paper, toothpicks and…shaving cream?! Come check it out! 

Colorado Squids?! 
Thursday, April 10
Saturday, April 12
Did you know that 92 million years ago, Colorado was covered by a saltwater sea? So many awesome critters lived in that sea, and some of the coolest were ammonites! Tots will learn about their hard shells, the fossils we have found, and then create our own Colorado, coil-shelled Squid! Come check it out! 

Protect Today’s Dinosaurs! 
Thursday, May 8
Saturday, May 10
Did you know today’s birds are actually dinosaurs?! They’re a special kind of meat-eating dinosaur. This spring and summer, many kinds of birds migrate from one place to another. Today we will help dinosaur descendants by creating fun, dinosaur-themed window sticky decals to show migrating birds that a window is pretty to look through, but not to fly into! Come check it out! 

Making Art with Nature! 
Thursday, June 12
Saturday, June 14
The natural world has so many beautiful colors, shapes, and patterns. Can you create an art piece with just what you find outside? Let’s do it! Today, we’re going to make a “Nature Picture” using just the things that we find right around our outdoor picnic area*. 

*This event will take place NOT at the Discovery Center, but at the Main Dinosaur Ridge Visitor Center on the covered patio behind the gift shop building. We’ll be outside for the full activity, under a shady, covered awning with picnic tables for our craft and story time. 

Meteorites from Space! 
Saturday, August 9
Thursday, August 14
Meteors fly through space until they meet our beautiful planet. Once they fall to Earth, they become meteorites, and there are so many different kinds of meteorites! Today, we’ll make our own space rocks! Come check it out! 

Layers Rock! 
Thursday, September 11
Saturday, September 13
The area on and around Dinosaur Ridge is covered in plants. If you were able to see past them, you would see an amazing tilted stack of rock layers, like pancakes of so many colors! Sedimentary rock layers begin as sand and dirt. Minerals can create amazing colors in rock including red, yellow, even pink! Today, we’re going to get hands-on with local rocks and create sand art so we can take the idea of those rocks home with us. Come check it out! 

Spider Silk! 
Thursday, October 9
Saturday, October 11
Spiders are amazing creatures that have lived on Earth more than 300 million years! Spiders coexisted with dinosaurs! Today, we’re going to learn about spider fossils and how some modern-day spiders have found ways to catch food – using amazing spider silk webs! 

Stegosaurus Salad – the Amazing Fern! 
Saturday, November 8
Thursday, November 13
Did you know ferns are amazing plants that have been around almost 400 million years? Here in Colorado 150 million years ago, our Colorado State Fossil, the Stegosaurus, LOVED to munch on ferns! We’ll make some fossil fern impressions and create a Jurassic fossil site replica with dough and props! Come check it out! 

Melting Snow Dinosaurs! 
Saturday, December 11
Thursday, December 13
We won’t be using the weather to melt our snow dinosaurs, we’ll be using a little bit of chemistry! Before we can melt them, however, we’ll decorate them. A heart of a dinosaur on the inside, a little nose here, some claws there, and then we’ll introduce baking soda “snow dinos” to a little bit of vinegar and watch them melt while learning about the chemical reaction and how it works! Come check it out! 

TriceraTOTs Videos

Check out the Facebook TriceraTOTs video library for fun activities you can do at home. Templates and instructions for specific projects are listed below.

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!

Template: Dinosaur Wreath Template

Supplies: Paper plates, scissors, crayons,  and glue,

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 pg. 1 |  Shape-a-saurus Template pg. 2

Supplies: Printer paper, pencil, glue, scissors, googly eyes (optional: crayons, markers, feathers, stickers, tissue paper, paint, glitter, pom-poms)