My oldest child has been very interested in dinosaurs since he was a toddler. Even though he’s going on 7, whenever I ask him if there’s anything he’d like to learn more about, “dinosaurs” is always at the top of his list. Over a year ago, I made these free dinosaur cards and lapbook to support his enthusiasm for the subject. Ever since, I’ve been wanting to make some more paleontology-themed material, but I just never got around to it.
Recently I was reading the book Fly Guy Presents: Dinosaurs with my 1st grader. He’s a big fan of the Fly Guy easy reader series, but we were unfamiliar with the “Fly Guy Presents” non-fiction series. We’ll definitely be checking out more. The dinosaur book was perfect for his level of understanding and the inspiration for these Montessori-inspired multi-part cards.
The 12 paleontology cards in this set are almost entirely from this book. The only one I added was “ammonite” since my son has an ammonite fossil. To use them, your child can match the split cards for an independent study activity or kids can get into groups for a memory style matching game. The control cards contain all the information in one place and can be used to check that their pairs are correct.
Recommended Age Range: Kindergarten, Elementary
Time Required: ~30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Free printable, less than $2 to laminate
Materials:
- Paper for printing Paleontology Cards and corresponding control cards. (Note that the last page of each document does not need to be printed as it just contains legal information regarding sharing and image sources.)
- 12 thermal laminating pouches
Supplies & Tools:
- Laminator
- Paper trimmer or scissors
Instructions:
- Print the Paleontology Cards and the corresponding control cards.
- Laminate them using thermal laminating pouches (optional, could also print on card stock, use contact paper to laminate, or not laminate them at all).
- Cut them out.
Enjoy watching your kids become amateur paleontologists!
Click here for more Paleontology activities for kids.
Related Links
History Activities for Kids
Social Science Activities for Kids
Learning Activities for Kids
Michelle has a PhD in Engineering from Stanford University and a Bachelor's Degree from the California Institute of Technology. 
I’m trying to click on the links so I can print but it won’t let me print them. Help!!
Hi, Ciara! The links you want are listed in the materials and the first step of the instructions. Depending on your connection speed, it might be better to right click them and “Save as” if you’re on a PC so that you can save them without having to open the files first. I’m not sure if Macs have something similar. Let me know if you’re still having trouble!
Thankyou! Love dinosaurs! Xxx
I’m so glad you were able to use my resource! :)
Thank you so much. I really love the cards for my classroom.
I’m so glad they are helpful! 😄