Dinosaur prompts by age
“Use this prompt” fills in the generator and sets the detail level. Every page is drawn fresh, so if one misses, change one detail and try again.
| For | Prompt | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Ages 3 to 5Simple | a smiling baby Triceratops hatching from an egg, big simple shapes, no background One animal, large spaces, and a baby face keeps it friendly. |
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| Ages 6 to 9Medium | a Brachiosaurus eating leaves from a tall tree while a Stegosaurus grazes below, Late Jurassic plants Both lived in the Late Jurassic in what is now the USA, so this scene could have happened. |
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| Ages 6 to 9Medium | a Tyrannosaurus rex with scaly skin facing a Triceratops in a forest of ferns They lived at the same time and place, and preserved skin shows T. rex had scales. |
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| Ages 10 to 12Medium | a small feathered Velociraptor standing on a rock in a Mongolian desert Velociraptor was about 1.8 m long and is now thought to have had a feather-like covering. |
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| Teens and adultsDetailed | a Stegosaurus skeleton in a museum hall, every bone and back plate outlined A skeleton gives older children precise, countable detail. |
Which dinosaurs lived at the same time
Most dinosaur pictures mix animals that lived millions of years apart. If accuracy matters to your child, pair dinosaurs from the same period and place. Dates and finds below are from the Natural History Museum's Dino Directory.
| Dinosaur | When it lived | Fossils found in | Good scene partners |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyrannosaurus | Late Cretaceous, 68–66 million years ago | USA, Canada | Triceratops |
| Triceratops | Late Cretaceous, 68–66 million years ago | USA | Tyrannosaurus |
| Velociraptor | Late Cretaceous, 74–70 million years ago | Mongolia | Not T. rex: different time and continent |
| Stegosaurus | Late Jurassic, 152–145 million years ago | USA | Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus |
| Brachiosaurus | Late Jurassic, 152–145 million years ago | USA | Stegosaurus, Brontosaurus |
One surprise for children: more time separates Stegosaurus from Tyrannosaurus (at least 77 million years) than separates Tyrannosaurus from us (about 66 million years). A page with both is fun, but it is fantasy.
Famous animals that were not dinosaurs
Three favorites appear in almost every dinosaur coloring book, and none of them is a dinosaur:
- Pterosaurs such as Pteranodon were flying reptiles, related to dinosaurs but a separate group, and the first animals with backbones to fly.
- Marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and mosasaurs were not dinosaurs either.
- Dimetrodon, the one with a sail on its back, belongs to a group once called mammal-like reptiles and now called synapsids.
They still make good pages. For a class display, call the set “prehistoric reptiles” rather than “dinosaurs”.
How scientists picture them now
- Velociraptor was about 1.8 m long and weighed about 7 kg, half the size of the film version, and is now thought to have had a fine feather-like covering. Ask for “a small feathered Velociraptor”.
- Tyrannosaurus skin found so far shows scales, and there is no direct evidence of feathers. Ask for “scaly skin” for the current view.
- Film dinosaurs, the designs from the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World films, belong to the studio. Ask for the real animal by name instead.