Are your little ones obsessed with dinosaurs? Mine too. There’s something about these giant prehistoric creatures that captures kids’ imaginations like nothing else — and that makes dinosaur yoga one of the most engaging themes you can bring into your classroom or yoga space.
This dinosaur yoga for kids lesson plan is packed with everything you need for a roaring good time: a dino stomp warm-up song, volcano yoga pose breathing, creative dinosaur poses, a read-aloud with movement, games, a simple art activity, and a calming guided meditation to wind things down. It’s designed for toddlers and preschoolers, but honestly, early elementary kids love it too.
Let’s stomp right in!
Dinosaur Greeting: Create Your Dino Name
Start your dino themed yoga class by helping each child come up with their very own dinosaur name! Have them take their real name (or a silly word they love) and add a dinosaur ending to it:
- -saurus (like Tyrannosaurus)
- -raptor (like Velociraptor)
- -dactyl (like Pterodactyl)
- -nadon (like Iguanadon)
- -docus (like Diplodocus)
So you might have a “Lilyraptor” or a “Maxasaurus” in your group! Go around the circle and let each child introduce themselves with their dinosaur name.
Then teach them the T-Rex Handshake — hold your arms in close to your body with tiny little T-Rex claws and try to shake hands with a friend. It’s hilarious and gets everyone giggling right away.
Mindfulness Centering: Dinosaur Listening Ears
Before you get into the active parts of your dinosaur yoga lesson, bring the group together with a quick listening exercise.
Ring a singing bowl (or a chime or bell) and have the kids listen until the sound completely disappears. Here’s the fun twist: ask them to pretend they have different dinosaur ears each time you ring it!
- “What if you had giant Brontosaurus ears? Could you hear the sound even longer?”
- “Now try tiny Velociraptor ears. Can you still hear it?”
- “How about Triceratops ears — what do those sound like?”
This is a simple way to practice focused listening and gets kids engaged in mindfulness without them even realizing it.
Breathing Exercise: Volcano Breath
Volcano breath is one of my favorite dinosaur exercises because it’s active, dramatic, and kids absolutely love it.
How to do Volcano Breath:
- Start seated or in a low squat
- Rub your hands together really fast to make them HOT like lava
- Place your hot hands on your belly
- Take a deep breath in through your nose
- Breathe out through your mouth as you EXPLODE your arms up overhead — jump up if you’re squatting!
- Slowly bring your arms back down and settle back into your squat or seat
Repeat this 3–5 times. You can start small and quiet (“a little volcano rumbling…”) and build up to the biggest eruption ever. The volcano yoga pose is a fantastic way to channel big energy while still teaching breath control.
Bonus breathing option: If you want something calmer, try Butterfly Breath. Link your thumbs together and spread your fingers wide like butterfly wings. Breathe in as you open your wings wide, and breathe out as you bring them together. This one is great for transitioning into quieter activities.
Warm-Up: The Dino Stomp Song!
Time to get those bodies moving with this dinosaur stomp song! Start standing in Dinosaur Pose — legs wide apart, fold forward, and hold onto your ankles.
Sing or chant along with these movements:
- “Dinosaur, dinosaur, turn around” — Turn in a circle, stomping slowly
- “Dinosaur, dinosaur, stomp the ground” — Big, loud stomps with your feet
- “Dinosaur, dinosaur, show your claws” — Hold up big scary claws in front of you
- “Dinosaur, dinosaur, chomp your jaws” — Chomp your arms open and shut, BIG!
- “Dinosaur, dinosaur, turn around” — Back to Dinosaur Pose and turn slowly
- “Dinosaur, dinosaur, sit back down” — Sit down in criss-cross applesauce
You can repeat this a few times, getting faster each round. Kids love the repetition and it’s a great way to burn off initial wiggles before your yoga flow.
Dinosaur Yoga Poses: A Prehistoric Yoga Flow
Now it’s time for some dinosaur themed yoga poses! This flow takes kids on a journey through a prehistoric landscape. Move through each pose quickly and with breath, using the dinosaur imagery to keep them engaged. After one or two times you can pause in certain poses and ask some of the mindfulness prompts from below.
- Volcano Pose — Stand with feet wider than hips, reach your arms up high (you’re a volcano about to erupt!)
- Waterfall — From Volcano Pose, sweep your arms down like water flowing over the sides, binging your feet together.
- River — Forward fold, let your arms hang loose and sway like a prehistoric river
- Dinosaur Egg — Crouch down and curl into a tiny ball (you’re a baby dino inside an egg!)
- Plank Pose — Press up into a strong plank (the ground is rumbling!)
- Crocodile Dinosaur — Lower to your belly and lift into Baby Cobra (snap those jaws!)
- Giant Dinosaur Snake — Press up higher into Upward Dog (you’re a giant ancient snake!)
- Stegosaurus — Press back into Downward Dog (your spine is full of plates!)
- Triceratops — Come to Tabletop Pose (move your head around — you have three horns!)
- Butterfly — Sit down, bring the soles of your feet together, and flap your giant wings (arms) to the sides.
Mindfulness Prompts for Your Flow
Weave these questions in between poses to keep kids thinking and imagining:
- How big do you think dinosaurs were? Stretch your arms as wide as you can!
- Where do you think dinosaurs lived?
- Which dinosaur do you think has the scariest face? Show me!
- How long were a T-Rex’s arms? (Show them — they were tiny!)
- How fast could dinosaurs run?
- Which is YOUR favorite dinosaur?
- If you were a dinosaur, which one would you be?
Dinosaur Yoga Book: Dinosaurs Galore! by Giles Andreae
One of my favorite parts of any kids yoga lesson plan is pairing a great book with yoga poses. Dinosaurs Galore! by Giles Andrae is a perfect dinosaur yoga book because it introduces a different dinosaur on each page, giving you natural pauses to move.
Before you start reading, look at the first page together. Ask the kids: What shapes do you see? What sounds might you hear in this place? How does the weather feel?
Then, as you read through each dinosaur, try these poses:
Long-necked dinosaurs – Camel Pose
Stand up on your knees with your arms way up high and reach your neck up long! Imagine you are eating leaves off of tall trees.
Tyrannosaurus Rex — Pyramid Pose
Step your feet wide apart and fold forward so your body makes a big triangle shape. Now stand back up tall, tuck your arms in close with tiny T-Rex claws, and chomp your jaws open and shut! Show me your scariest T-Rex face! This is t-rex yoga at its fiercest.
Ankylosaurus — Turtle Pose
Sit down with the soles of your feet together and fold your whole body forward over your legs, tucking yourself in tight. You’re an Ankylosaurus with a big, hard shell on your back — nothing can get through! Can you make yourself as small and round as a rock?
Velociraptor — Run in Place
Velociraptors are FAST! Bend your knees, hold your arms up with sharp claws out, and run run run in place as fast as you can! For a calmer option, try Pyramid Pose with bent knees and claws out, creeping forward like you’re sneaking up on something.
Microraptor — Toe Stand
This dinosaur was SO tiny! Stand on your tippy toes and make yourself as small as you can. Tuck your elbows in tight and flap little chicken wing arms. How tiny can you get? Microraptors were only about the size of a crow!
Diplodocus — Camel Pose to Happy Baby
Start up on your knees in Camel Pose again, reaching that long Diplodocus neck up high. Then carefully lie back and flip over into Happy Baby — grab your feet and rock side to side. You’re a big silly Diplodocus rolling on your back!
Spinosaurus — Cat Pose
Come to hands and knees and round your back up as high as you can, like a big arch. That’s the giant sail on the Spinosaurus’s back! Breathe in and flatten your back, breathe out and arch it up again. Can you make your sail go up and down?
Triceratops — Tabletop Pose
Stay on your hands and knees in a strong Tabletop Pose. Now move your head all around — you’ve got three big horns up there! Lower your arms to bend down closer to the ground and pretend you’re digging in the dirt with your horns.
Brontosaurus — Tree Pose
Stand on one foot and bring the other foot to your ankle or calf. Reach your arms up high like the tallest tree branches. You’re a Brontosaurus stretching way up to eat leaves at the very tip-top! Look all around from up there — you can see everything because you’re SO tall.
Pteranodon — Airplane Pose
Stand on one leg and tip your body forward, stretching your arms out wide like giant wings. You’re a Pteranodon soaring through the sky! For a bigger challenge, try Warrior 3 and see how long you can fly. Swoosh around and look at the ground far below you.
Ichthyosaurus — Dolphin Pose or Locust Pose
This dinosaur lived in the ocean! Try Dolphin Pose (like Downward Dog but on your forearms) and pretend you’re diving under the waves. Or lie on your belly and lift your arms and legs up into Locust Pose — you’re swimming through a prehistoric sea!
Stegosaurus — Triangle Pose
Step your feet wide apart and reach one arm down to your shin while the other arm stretches straight up. Those are the big bony plates running along a Stegosaurus’s back! Switch sides so you can show off plates on both sides.
Giganotosaurus — Dinosaur Pose
This is one of the BIGGEST dinosaurs ever! Stand with your legs wide, fold over and grab your ankles in Dinosaur Pose, then stomp stomp stomp around the room. Make the ground shake! How loud can your stomps be?
Sleeping Dinosaurs — Rest Pose
All those dinosaurs are tired now! Curl up however feels coziest to you and go to sleep. You can be a little dinosaur egg, or a big dinosaur lying on its side, or a pteranodon with its wings tucked in. This is the dinosaur pose sleep that every little dino needs after a big adventure. Shhh… the dinosaurs are resting.
Dinosaur Yoga Game: Dino Says & Dino Freeze
Dino Says
Just like “Simon Says” but with a prehistoric twist! You’re the lead dinosaur, and kids only move when you say “Dino says…”
- “Dino says… stomp like a T-Rex!”
- “Dino says… reach up tall like a Brontosaurus!”
- “Chomp your jaws!” (Oops — Dino didn’t say!)
This is a classic classroom dinosaur theme activity that works every single time.
Dino Freeze Dance
Put on some fun music (or just drum on the floor!) and call out dinosaur movements. When the music stops, everyone freezes and takes three deep breaths before the next direction.
Movement ideas:
- Stomp like a Brontosaurus
- Roll like a dinosaur egg
- Reach for the fruit in the trees like a Diplodocus
- Sway your tail like a Stegosaurus
- Creep low like an Ankylosaurus
- Wiggle like a prehistoric snake
- Run like a Velociraptor
- Fly like a Pteranodon
The freeze-and-breathe moments between each round are a great built-in regulation tool.
Dinosaur Art Activities
Dino Footprint Stamping
This one is so simple and toddlers go crazy for it. You just need:
- A shallow tray or plate with washable paint
- Large paper (butcher paper works great for a group activity)
- Toy dinosaurs with textured feet
Let kids dip the dinosaur toys into the paint and stomp them across the paper to make dinosaur prints! Talk about which dinosaurs make the biggest prints, which ones have claws, and what the footprints look like. You can also use the bottom of a child’s fist to make a “giant dino footprint” and then add little toe marks with their fingertips.
Fossil Hunt Sensory Table
Fill a sensory bin with sand, rice, or dried beans, and bury small toy dinosaurs, plastic “bones,” shells, and smooth stones inside. Give kids paintbrushes and small scoops to dig and “discover” fossils, just like real paleontologists!
You can make this even more engaging by:
- Freezing small dinosaur toys inside ice blocks and letting kids excavate them with warm water and tools
- Adding magnifying glasses for “examining” their finds
- Including a simple sorting mat where kids can place their discoveries
Both of these activities are low-prep, high-engagement, and tie beautifully into your classroom dinosaur theme.
Guided Meditation: A Dinosaur Adventure
Have the kids find a comfortable spot to sit or lie down. Use a soft, slow voice for this one.
Close your eyes and take a big deep breath in… and let it all out with a sigh.
Imagine you’re standing in a big green forest. It’s warm and sunny. You can feel a soft breeze and hear birds chirping in the tall, tall trees.
As you breathe in and out, a little baby dinosaur walks up to you. It’s small and round and wiggly, and it’s so happy to see you. It nuzzles right up to your hand.
Your new dinosaur friend wants to take you on an adventure. You gently climb onto its back and hold on. You can feel its strong, steady steps underneath you as it walks through the forest.
Up ahead, you see a tall, gentle Brontosaurus munching on leaves way up in the treetops. It looks down at you and blinks slowly, like it’s saying hello.
A little further along, a Triceratops peeks out from behind some ferns. It lowers its big head and nudges your hand. It wants to be friends, too.
Your dinosaur carries you to a quiet, sparkling lake. You slide off its back and look at your reflection in the still water. You look calm and happy.
Take one more deep breath. It’s time to say goodbye to your dinosaur friends. Wave to them and say thank you for the adventure.
Your little dinosaur carries you back through the forest to right where you started. You slide off its back, wiggle your fingers and toes, and whenever you’re ready, open your eyes.
Remind the kids that any time they want to feel calm, they can close their eyes and visit their dinosaur friend again.
Wrapping Up Your Dinosaur Yoga Lesson
And that’s a wrap on this dino themed yoga lesson plan! Whether you’re a kids yoga teacher, a classroom teacher adding movement into your day, or a parent looking for fun dinosaur exercises at home, I hope this gives you everything you need for a roaring good time.
If you loved this lesson plan, make sure to check out my other themed kids yoga posts and grab some free resources from my free resource library!
What’s your favorite dinosaur yoga pose? I’d love to hear — drop a comment below or tag me on Instagram @kumarahkidsyoga!
