A dinosaur world, help needed from creative people

[Whitebluebell]

I know that there are some wonderfully creative people on this board, so any ideas would be appreciated. My DC aged 4 is dinosaur obsessed, one track mind. Currently DC has just Dinosaur toys and plays with them on the windowsill (low one) or floor. For Christmas, I'd like to create some sort of dinosaur play area, I was thinking about some AstroTurf and maybe buying a Schleich research centre or volcano. I'd thought about building a stone cave but have a 2 year old who would put stones in their mouth. Any other ideas for a little dinosaur world?

That's a lovely idea!

Off the top of my head, some kind of forest or jungle section would be good - there are a few different things you could do, from sticking paper craft trees (cheap and cute from Baker Ross) or even getting those toy trees you get for model trains?

A cave seems like a really good idea but I understand the concern re stones - could you make a paper mache one? (Papier Mache? sp!)

You could even get the materials for that and part of the present could be him helping to make up some bits!

Another idea I thought could be a pretend watering hole - I have to dash but I'll try and look up some solutions for that if you like

Oooh, thus sounds fab!

You could build something in a big, deep plastic tray - ikea Trofast, litter tray, Tuff tray??

papier machee volcano

Could use plaster of Paris to make the ground and set in pebbles etc for different surfaces, and make space to set in a lake (takeaway tub, you'll need to be able to take it out to change the water) - paint the plaster od Paris murky green her!

Camo netting for undergrowth??

I would invest in a tuff tray and stand (they are used extensively in early years), you would then be able to set up different things as often as you like.
For out Dino obsessed kids at work I often use-
leaves and twigs
drift wood (nice and smooth so no splinters)
pine cones
different fabrics usually blue, green, brown
fake grass
we have a plastic cave and volcano
those little plastic eggs you get at easter
dinosaur bones and fossils (you can buy toy ones) paint brushes and spades to dig them up
shredded paper
bark
soil
If you want to get messy then soaked chia seeds or cornflour and water with some food colouring make a good swamp.
I would go on Pinterest and Google dinosaur tuff trays x

Some amazing ideas there, thank you all. I'm looking forward to making it now! I do have a tuff tray, I may clean it up to create Dino land!

I've not attempted papier mache since primary school, may have a go, could be an interesting addition!

My kids love building dinosaur worlds. The tuff tray is a good idea. If you can include a pool of water to be a swamp that would be fun. Fake plants and astro turf to create a jungle is good. The Schleich research centre is brilliant - well worth the money.

In my garden I have a small raised bed that I have built into hills and troughs and let weeds grow in and a water tray filled with muddy water next to it that little ones love playing dinosaurs in. It's very messy but it's a lot of fun.

You can get toy caves from various places. Yellow Door does a nice one.

Type in Dinosaur World in Pinterest OP. Some good ideas on there too.

Play mobil

I know it’s not quite the same but I got my 4 year old a large but not tall storage box with clip on lid from b&m, got 2 pack of green gelli Baff for grass effect and one blue for water, bought a wee volcano to pop in, and different plastic dinosaurs fence posts trees bushes and off road cars etc in b&m then made a sensory dinosaur world themed box out of it and when he’s done clip the lid on and store away. He absolutely loves it and will play for hours. It was about £25 all together

I saw this op and thought of you.

www.amazon.co.uk/Dinosaur-Dinasour-Dinosaurs-Toddler-Birthday/dp/B09CQ7GTVL?ref=dlx_deals_gd_dcl_img_19_1b4697fc_dt_sl6_26

You could paint a big white bed sheet with different zones, desert, forest, hills, etc if you want to make it a really big world.

Also, you could freeze plastic dinosaurs in ice cubes (or even one big massive block of ice) that he needs to chip away at and melt to get them out.

How about you tie some pterodactyl figures to a branch of a tree that you could over hang over the world (tie with nylon or thin cotton)

You gotta have a papier mache volcano in there somewhere too!

In case you dont have time/space to make your own paper mache volcano, you can buy them ready made from Hobbycraft (presumably for doing baking soda in) www.hobbycraft.co.uk/mache-volcano-20cm/6145071000.html

My eldest was obsessed with dinosaurs at that age. I used to build up things like his train sets, playmobil and Toot Toot drivers and then have the dinosaurs terrorise them. He had a gang of dinosaurs that were naughty and would steal all of the Playmobil people's cakes.

My son was dinosaur-obsessed at this age and his favourite thing was his dinosaur Playmobil sets. I bought them second hand on eBay and had them all set up for him to see on the morning of his birthday (although would obviously work for Christmas too). There is an amazing volcano set which has a landslide effect…

It’s one of the few toys he still loves now.

We also made Dino bones out of salt dough. Really cheap & effective

Garden centers sell little squares of fake grass as testers. Get a couple and use these as part of the play.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/913908142/3d-area-rugs-carpettundraforestmoss
https://www.demilked.com/upcycle-wool-carpet-forest-moss-alexandra-kehayoglou/

Something like this looks amazing, but way too expense. Some you could replicate with a cheap rugs as a base and cut/sew them to make layers, sew on home made wool/pompoms, if you are very crafty.

The tuff tray idea is great- if you go on sites like Vinted or Early Years resources you can find loads of good stuff!

Play silks are brilliant, with a blue one you can create a huge sea or a green one you can make grass or a huge mountain over a wooden rainbow or any other toy you have. Red you can use for volcano lava etc.

(And use them for a cape when not being used for those!)

I read this, and thought "oh, I did an amazing dino world craft project with DS once". So I dug out the photo, and with hindsight, it was shit. Gutted 😅.

The cat peed in it, and it got binned after a fortnight, which was lucky, as it was huge. DS loved building it, but didn't really play with it afterwards.

Maybe you could make it an activity to build it together, if he is crafty?

Thank you so much everyone, sorry I'm not sure how to reply individually. I would say he's more destructive rather than the type to sit quietly Crafting with me 😂. I love the fact that Hobbycraft have a pre made volcano as I'm always shattered by the time they've gone to bed so may end up with a rather interesting volcano if I attempt it myself.

I love some of the ideas on here and have already started sourcing bits and pieces. I do love the Dino land photo above and at least the cat liked it 🙂