Big, Small, Short, Tall

One thing I really wanted to do for my son was to create a dinosaur collection that was all based on one scale (1/40th).  That way, he could look at his toys and immediately get a sense of the size differences between the dinosaurs in real life.  As an added bonus, Schleich gives you a 1/40th scale figure of a man to go along with their dinosaur figures.  So not only can my son compare the dinosaurs to each other, he can also compare them to me.

Even young children can understand the concept of scale.  All they need to do is compare the figures to each other and be able to say, "If Daddy was this big, then Carnotaurus would be this big, and Brachiosaurus would be this big!"

With that concept under their belt, they can begin to answer basic questions about the dinosaurs in their collection.  When my son was 3 years old, I gave him easier questions like "Who's taller?  Tyrannosaurus or Styracosaurus?" and "Who's longer?  Spinosaurus or Diplodocus?".  My son would place the dinosaurs side by side, compare them, and give me the answer.  I love simple games like these because it teaches kids how to make relative measurements while they're learning more about dinosaurs.

Small children might need help measuring the dinosaurs and this is a great way to get them interested in learning that skill.  For measuring height, they learn to stand the dinosaurs next to each other.  For measuring length, they learn to place the dinosaurs parallel to each other and line up either their heads or tails.

As your child gets more advanced, you can even introduce the concept of multiplication.  For example, you can show that Stegosaurus is about two times longer than Kentrosaurus.  You just need to use Kentrosaurus as a measuring stick and measure Stegosaurus.  Or you could show that Brachiosaurus is about 3 times as tall as Triceratops.

Now that my son has had his dinosaur collection for over a year, he's able to visualize the dinosaur sizes in his head.  He can tell me who's taller or who's longer without looking at the figures.  One day, out of the blue, I tried quizzing him on questions like this.  I was surprised that he got every one correct.  He loved playing this quiz game and it made him very proud that he knew so much about dinosaurs.