The love for dinosaurs in children is undeniable, as seen in the excitement that these prehistoric creatures spark in them. Although these beasts are extinct, kids learn about them through different avenues, including books and film.
For this reason, most children have an idea of a dinosaur’s outlook, which prompts more curiosity. If your child has an intense interest in dinosaurs, you can tell by how they get engrossed in dinosaur movies like Jurassic Park. Celebrating special events in family dinosaur costumes is another way to have fun.
If you are among the parents with kids who love dinosaurs, the following read clarifies why your child loves dinosaurs.
May have an extremely intense interest
Extremely intense interests are common among preschool-aged children and are more prevalent in boys than girls. It is a phenomenon where a child develops a keen interest in a particular subject. It can be a newfound excitement over cars, dinosaurs, fiction characters.
When this happens, kids become more observant and attentive to their area of interest. For example, a child may need to master all the dinosaur names, their era of existence, and their habitat. By doing this, children become brighter and better at processing information.
Not only are children inclined towards learning, but they also ensure they collect facts. However, this fact-collecting may fade away as these kids transition from home to working around the school schedule. Fortunately, parents can salvage the situation by nurturing and supporting their interests.
Taps into the super-sensitivities or over-excitabilities
Children manifest most forms of over-excitability, including the psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational and emotional. Because of this, they view the world differently and in a more multi-sided manner. A love for dinosaurs is linked to different overexcitabilities, including intellectual and imaginational.
For example, children who love books and conducting background research about these prehistoric creatures are high in intellectual OE. They desire to seek the truth, gain as much information as possible and analyze knowledge. Such children are deep thinkers, and they thrive in finding answers to these extinct monitor lizards.
Most children who are obsessed with dinosaurs have a high imaginational OE. Such kids delve deep into fantasies and may have difficulties differentiating between facts and fiction. Dinosaurs offer a perfect escape zone for such kids into their worlds and imaginations.
Allow children to come to terms with something scary
The foreboding features of dinosaurs, including sharp teeth, long tails, gigantic limbs and claws, are with no doubt horrific for any child. However, children find reassurance knowing that these prehistoric creatures no longer exist on the face of the earth. They can comfortably play games while wearing hidden leg costumes to make the dinosaur experience more realistic. As children grow fond of dinosaurs, they indirectly learn to face their fears in life.
Thanks to different media such as movies and documentaries, children know how dinosaurs look. Some TV programs present dinosaurs in a different light as friendly creatures making it easier for children to develop a love and familiarity with the extinct creatures.
Explore their imagination
Developing a love for a creature you have never seen before makes children focus on their imagination. Through activities such as playing with dinosaur toys, reading books and asking several questions, children think deeper and create all the ideas about dinosaurs in their heads. They understand how those species became extinct and learn more about animals’ adaptation and survival tactics.
They enjoy learning
While most kids’ obsession with dinosaurs stems from pure love, others have a keen interest in these prehistoric creatures because of their quest to learn. With so much information from books and videos, children can discover tons of information about dinosaurs than they would from adults. Kids who enjoy gaining knowledge may delve into researching dinosaurs.
From memorizing the long names to mastering the different timelines, children independently source for such information, which gives them satisfaction. Besides making kids knowledgeable, reading about dinosaurs is a great way to cultivate a learning culture in children. If your child enjoys dinosaur books, support their enthusiasm in every possible way.
If you have been wondering about your child’s dinosaur obsession, you now have great insight into why these prehistoric creatures are thrilling to them. Most if not all of these reasons are positive and contribute to your child’s intelligence.