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Home / Early Learning / Literacy / Dinosaur Emergent Reader Free Printable

Dinosaur Emergent Reader Free Printable

Shared by Mary Catherine 28 Comments

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.

three views of a printable dinosaur book in a pinnable collage with the text dinosaur emergent reader

Table of Contents

  • Dinosaur Emergent Reader
    • How to Prep the Dinosaur Printable Book
    • Introduce the Dinosaur Emergent Reader
    • Ways to Extend the Bookmaking Activity
    • What’s the Big Deal about Making Your Own Emergent Readers?
  • Preschool Dinosaur Theme Lesson Plans
  • More Dinosaur Theme Activities for Kids
  • Get the Free Printable Dinosaur Emergent Reader

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.

Free printable dinosaur emergent reader pages in color and black-and-white

Related: Dinosaur Play Dough Mats

I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

How to Prep the Dinosaur Printable Book

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).

Step 1 for putting a dinosaur emergent reader together

Related: Dinosaur Play Dough Mat Free Printable

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.

Step 2 for assembling dinosaur emergent reader

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.

Step 3 for assembling a dinosaur emergent reader

Related: Dinosaur Activities for Kids

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.

Printable dinosaur emergent reader and crayons

Related: Counting Flowers Book

Introduce the Dinosaur Emergent Reader

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.

Coloring in pages of a printable dinosaur emergent reader

Related: Dinosaur Sensory Bin

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.
Color version of printable dinosaur emergent reader

Related: Snow Paint Sensory Bin with Dinosaurs

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.

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.

preschool dinosaur lesson plans cover

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.

Not a member? No worries! Enter your information in the form to join us. You’ll get the printable sent to your inbox as a welcome gift.

This lets you access the form in a new tab if that’s easier for you!

If you run into any problems, be sure to check out my help page for some tips.

two images of a colorful dinosaur book and the text dinosaur emergent reader

Originally published February 2018.

Filed Under: Literacy Tagged With: Book Making, Colors, Dinosaurs, Free Printable

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Comments

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  1. Shifa says

    February 23, 2018 at 5:21 am

    Wonder ful

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      February 23, 2018 at 5:27 pm

      Thank you! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Kathryn says

    March 24, 2019 at 10:36 pm

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      March 25, 2019 at 6:57 pm

      You’re welcome! Let me know what the kids think of the dinosaur book!

      Reply
  3. Jan says

    March 2, 2020 at 1:57 pm

    I’m excited to use this with my PreK students! Thanks you so very much!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      March 2, 2020 at 2:39 pm

      Happy to hear that! Let me know how it goes. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Karey Thomas says

    July 18, 2020 at 2:09 pm

    Sooooo Awesome!!!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      July 21, 2020 at 6:09 pm

      Thank you! I hope the kids love it!

      Reply
  5. Leslie says

    September 10, 2020 at 11:32 pm

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 27, 2020 at 5:39 pm

      You’re welcome! Happy to help!

      Reply
  6. Gesmina Varu Damelip says

    September 13, 2020 at 11:06 pm

    thank you 🙂

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 27, 2020 at 5:38 pm

      You’re so welcome! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Corrie says

    November 13, 2020 at 12:34 pm

    Thank you

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      November 13, 2020 at 2:03 pm

      You’re welcome! I hope the kids enjoy the book. 🙂

      Reply
  8. Deb says

    February 5, 2021 at 12:30 pm

    Would love to print this book.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      February 7, 2021 at 4:13 pm

      Hey Deb, There’s a space at the bottom of the post where you can enter your information so the book is sent to you!

      Reply
  9. Brenda says

    April 2, 2021 at 2:45 pm

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      April 7, 2021 at 9:05 pm

      You’re welcome! Let me know what the kids think of the book. 🙂

      Reply
  10. Brenda Balchik says

    August 29, 2021 at 9:11 am

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      September 8, 2021 at 9:33 am

      You’re very welcome! I hope the kids enjoy it.

      Reply
  11. Nozomi says

    November 9, 2021 at 8:49 pm

    Thank you so much!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      November 12, 2021 at 9:37 pm

      You’re welcome!! Let me know what the kids think of it!

      Reply
  12. Karla Westbury says

    May 27, 2022 at 12:01 am

    Such great ideas..

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      May 28, 2022 at 10:22 am

      Thanks, Karla! Let me know what the kids think of the dinosaur printable book. It’s been a hit over here!

      Reply
  13. Kristina says

    August 26, 2022 at 12:59 pm

    Love this site!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      August 26, 2022 at 11:02 pm

      Thank you so much, Kristina! I’m so happy to hear you love it here at Fun-A-Day. 🙂 I hope your kids have a blast with the dinosaur printable book!

      Reply
  14. Karen says

    November 28, 2022 at 5:52 pm

    Great emergent book! Kids would love it.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      November 28, 2022 at 6:05 pm

      Thanks, Karen! Let me know what the kids think once you give it a go. 🙂

      Reply
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My name is Mary Catherine, and I love to share meaningful {and fun} learning activities for kiddos! Feel free to browse and stay awhile!

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