Ages 5 to 10 · checked September 28, 2026
Dinosaur gifts that aren't toys
They have the plastic T. rex, the dinosaur pyjamas and every encyclopedia going. So give them something real: a fossil that really is millions of years old, a night asleep next to the dinosaurs, a morning on a beach finding their own, or a book about the people who dig them up.
Before you scroll
- We read every age rule, date and voucher on the official page on September 28, 2026. Sleepovers sell out and dates move, so check the page before you pay.
- We don't sell any of this, apart from one book of ours in a labelled box, and there are no affiliate links.
- There are no prices here, because they change faster than we could keep up.
At a glance
What kind of present?
| If you want | Look at |
|---|---|
| Something to unwrap on Christmas morning | Fossil shark teeth, An ammonite or When Sue Found Sue |
| A big experience this winter | Dozin' with the Dinos, Dino Snores for Kids or Fossil walk with the Lyme Regis Museum |
| Something to look forward to in spring | Fossil hunting walk from Charmouth, Quarry dig at Edelman Fossil Park or The New York museum sleepover |
| A present that lasts all year | AMNH membership (New York), Natural History Museum membership (London) or Field Museum membership (Chicago) |
| A gift for a 5 year old | Fossil shark teeth, Quarry dig at Edelman Fossil Park or Step-by-Step Drawing Dinosaurs |
| A book they won't already have | Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs!, Stone Girl, Bone Girl or Dinosaurs Are Back (ours) |
Something to unwrap on the day
A real fossil
For a child who already knows every name, holding something that really is millions of years old is a different thing from another model. Small fossils are affordable, and the big museum shops sell the real thing. Just read the label, because museum shops sell replicas too.
Fossil shark teeth
From a museum shop
- Good for
- Any age past putting things in mouths
- Give it
- Wrapped, on the day
Shark teeth make a sensible first real fossil: small, tough, and easy to recognise. The Natural History Museum in London sells a set of three genuine fossil shark teeth from different sharks, and the American Museum of Natural History sells a trio with a shark tooth, an ammonite and an orthoceras.
Good to know: They're small. Put them in a little box with a card saying what each one is and how old it is.
An ammonite
From a museum shop
- Good for
- Any age
- Give it
- Wrapped, on the day
Ammonites are the spiral shells of sea animals that lived alongside the dinosaurs and died out with them. They look good on a shelf, and a child who has hunted on a beach will recognise one. The American Museum of Natural History shop sells natural ammonites and polished ones.
Good to know: Read the description before you buy. The London museum's "Ammonite Fossilstone" is carved marble and says so: it's a lovely object, but it isn't a fossil.
A mosasaur tooth
From a museum shop
- Good for
- Older fact lovers
- Give it
- Wrapped, on the day
The American Museum of Natural History shop sells a real mosasaur tooth still set in its rock. Mosasaurs were huge sea reptiles, not dinosaurs, and the shop says so. A child who knows the difference will enjoy telling everyone.
What about a real piece of dinosaur bone?
- Our advice
- Only with paperwork
- Museum shops
- None we checked sell it
None of the four museum shops we checked sells real dinosaur bone. There is a legal trade, and there's also a lot that isn't legal. Mongolia has banned private ownership and export of its dinosaur fossils since 1924. In the US, dinosaur bones found on federal land belong to the public, and in Alberta every fossil belongs to the province.
Good to know: If you do buy one, the American Museum of Natural History's advice is to buy from a reputable dealer and get it in writing that the seller owns it and that it was dug up and exported legally, including under the laws of the country it came from. Ask what it is, where it was found, how old it is, and whether any part is glued, restored or replica. Put the answers on the receipt.
An envelope under the tree
A night at the museum
Falling asleep a few metres from a T. rex skeleton is about as close as a child can get to the real thing. None of these three sells a voucher, so the present is the booking itself: buy the tickets, print them, and put them in an envelope. They sell out, and each one has firm age rules.
A Night at the Museum sleepover
American Museum of Natural History, New York
- Ages
- 6 to 12, with an adult
- Dates
- Jan to Mar 2027 go on sale Oct 28
- Give it
- The booking, in an envelope
A monthly overnight with flashlight tours of the fossil halls, a scavenger hunt and a bedtime story, then sleeping bags in the galleries, some of them under the blue whale. Every child goes home with a keepsake.
Good to know: The October, November and December 2026 nights are already sold out. The next dates are 22 January, 6 February, 26 February and 13 March 2027, on general sale from 28 October at 10:30 am New York time. Children under 8 need one adult each.
Dino Snores for Kids
Natural History Museum, London
- Ages
- 7 to 11 only
- Dates
- 19 Dec 2026, then Jan to Mar 2027
- Give it
- The booking, in an envelope
An evening of torchlit exploring and shows, then camp beds in a gallery and breakfast in the morning. The VIP option puts your beds around Sophie the Stegosaurus.
Good to know: The age rule is strict: children must be 7 to 11 on the night, and tickets for anyone outside that are not refunded. Dates listed today: 7 November and 19 December 2026, 30 January, 19 February and 19 March 2027. It sells out, and there are no refunds.
Dozin' with the Dinos
Field Museum, Chicago
- Ages
- 6 to 12, with an adult
- Dates
- 6 Nov 2026 to 26 Mar 2027
- Give it
- The booking, in an envelope
A family overnight in the exhibitions, with a snack, breakfast and museum entry the next day. The upgraded tickets let you sleep near the dinosaurs in Evolving Planet or in the gallery of SUE the T. rex.
Good to know: The whole season is in winter, which makes it the easiest of the three to give for Christmas. No children under 6, and all sales are final.
A voucher now, a beach later
Go fossil hunting for real
A guided hunt where your child finds a real fossil and takes it home. These three sell gift vouchers or gift cards, and at all three you keep what you find.
Fossil walk with the Lyme Regis Museum
Jurassic Coast, Dorset, England
- Ages
- 6 and up
- When
- All year, winter included
- Give it
- Family gift voucher
Two and a half to three hours on the beach with the museum's fossil experts, in the town where Mary Anning found her sea monsters. Museum entry is included, and your finds go home with you.
Good to know: Walks run every month, with dates on 27 December 2026 and through January and February, so it can even be used over the holidays. The beach is uneven and slippery, children under 6 can't come, and you stay off the cliffs.
Fossil hunting walk from Charmouth
Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre, Dorset, England
- Ages
- Any, with a paying adult
- When
- Book for spring or summer
- Give it
- Family voucher, valid 12 months
A 90 minute hunt on Charmouth beach with the Centre's wardens, looking through the loose shingle for ammonites and belemnites. Whatever you find is yours to keep.
Good to know: The walks listed today end on 31 October, so this is a voucher for next year. Book a month ahead in busy times. The fossil code here is simple: hunt the loose stones on the beach, never the cliffs, and report anything important to the Centre.
Quarry dig at Edelman Fossil Park
Rowan University, Mantua, New Jersey
- Ages
- 3 and up, with a grown-up
- When
- Digs March to November
- Give it
- Gift card or gift membership
About an hour digging for real 66 million year old fossils, like shark teeth and pieces of sea turtles and mosasaurs, in an old pit that's still an active research site. You keep your finds, and every dig comes with a fossil to take home.
Good to know: There's no digging in winter, but the museum next door is open. Wear boots and bring a change of clothes.
Digs and dinosaur tracks to plan for summer
Each of these is worth the trip, but none of them works as a Christmas gift, because they only run in summer, or there's nothing to put in an envelope. Put one in the family calendar instead.
- Dig for a Day, Wyoming Dinosaur Center, Thermopolis, Wyoming. A full day on a working sauropod dig, ages 3 and up with a parent. Summer only (25 May to 6 September in 2026), and any dinosaur bone you find stays at the Center, with your name in its records.
- Express Dig and Dig Experience, Royal Tyrrell Museum, Drumheller, Alberta. Uncover real fossils with real tools indoors from age 5, or do the outdoor badlands dig from age 7. Both run in summer and early autumn only.
- Fossil Safari, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. A bus to a real fossil site to see dinosaur bones where they lie. All ages, no digging. Programs run April to October.
- Dinosaur tracks in the river, Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose, Texas. Real tracks in the bed of the Paluxy River. Open all year, but the tracks are only visible when the river is low, so check before you drive.
- Dinosaur Ridge, Morrison, Colorado. More than 250 tracks and bones along a paved 1.1 mile walk. Open all year, with shorter winter hours, and snow can close it.
A present that lasts all year
A museum membership
For a family near a big natural history museum, a year of visits beats one more thing on the shelf. Entry to several of these museums is free anyway, so the membership buys the extras, like paid exhibitions and cheaper sleepovers.
Family membership
American Museum of Natural History, New York
- Covers
- 2 adults and 4 children
- Give it
- Gift membership, from the museum shop
Free entry every visit, including special exhibitions and shows, and a members' entrance.
Good to know: The card is posted, which takes 7 to 10 business days, so order by early December.
Gift membership
Natural History Museum, London
- Covers
- Up to 4 children under 17
- Give it
- Gift pack or printable email
Entry to the museum is free, so membership covers the paid exhibitions, a members' room, a magazine for children, and cheaper Dino Snores tickets.
Good to know: The recipient has 24 months to activate it, and the year starts on activation.
Gift membership
Field Museum, Chicago
- Covers
- The household's children and grandchildren, 17 and under
- Give it
- Online, or by phone
Free entry, special exhibitions, member nights, and member prices for Dozin' with the Dinos.
Gift membership
Australian Museum, Sydney
- Covers
- 1 or 2 adults and up to 4 children under 18
- Give it
- Emailed code, to print
The Dinosaurs gallery is free anyway. Membership adds paid exhibitions, cheaper children's programs and behind-the-scenes events.
Good to know: It has to be activated within 6 months of buying.
Family membership
Royal Tyrrell Museum, Drumheller, Alberta
- Covers
- 2 adults and their children under 17
- Give it
- Phone the museum
A year of visits to Canada's big dinosaur museum in the Alberta badlands, plus one free program.
Good to know: The website doesn't say you can buy it as a gift, so phone the membership department on 403-820-6222. The museum is closed 21, 24, 25 and 28 December 2026 and 1 January 2027, and every visit needs a timed ticket.
Not another encyclopedia
Books about finding dinosaurs
The encyclopedias tell a child what dinosaurs were. These tell them how people found out, which is the next thing a fact lover wants to know.
When Sue Found Sue: Sue Hendrickson Discovers Her T. Rex
Toni Buzzeo, illustrated by Diana Sudyka
- Ages
- 4 to 8
- Kind
- Picture book, 32 pages
- Published
- Abrams, 2019
The true story of a woman who was good at finding things from childhood on, and who in 1990 in South Dakota found SUE, one of the biggest and most complete T. rex skeletons ever dug up. SUE now stands in the Field Museum in Chicago, which makes this a good pair with a Dozin' with the Dinos booking.
Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs!
Kathleen V. Kudlinski, illustrated by S. D. Schindler
- Ages
- 6 to 8
- Kind
- Picture book, 32 pages
- Published
- Dutton, 2005 (now Puffin)
A tour of the things people used to believe about dinosaurs, from dragon bones in ancient China to sauropods that had to live in water, and how new finds proved them wrong. For a child who knows all the facts, the best part is the ending: some of today's facts will change too.
Stone Girl, Bone Girl: The Story of Mary Anning of Lyme Regis
Laurence Anholt, illustrated by Sheila Moxley
- Ages
- Not given by the publisher
- Kind
- Picture book, 32 pages
- Published
- First in 1999, now Frances Lincoln
The life of Mary Anning, the girl from Lyme Regis who found a whole "sea monster" as a child and kept on finding, and whose work changed science long before she got the credit. It goes very well with a Lyme Regis fossil walk voucher.
Step-by-Step Drawing Dinosaurs
Fiona Watt, illustrated by Candice Whatmore
- Ages
- 4 and up
- Kind
- Drawing book, 96 pages
- Published
- Usborne, 2016
Simple steps for drawing T. rex, Triceratops and lots of other prehistoric animals, with space on every page to try. Good for the child who draws dinosaurs on everything already.
Want a story instead? We keep a list of dinosaur story books for ages 5 to 8, with how scary each one gets.
Our own book
Dinosaurs Are Back: Spike in New Adventures
by Katia Sunn · ages 6 to 10 · paperback, 54 pages
Spike, a young Triceratops, sets out to find his stolen baby brother, and meets ten dinosaurs on the way, some friendly and some not. It's a mystery told in his own voice, about 15 minutes to read aloud, with a page of real dinosaur facts at the end.
It's on this page because each of the ten dinosaurs is also a 3D model. Scan the code on the page with a phone or tablet and the dinosaur stands in your room, in the browser, with no app. It's a book first, and the story works without the screen.
Before you choose it, know that there's real peril (a T. rex chase, a dark cave), it came out in September 2026 so it has no track record yet, and it's a paperback printed by Amazon.
Free, and it makes any of these better
Make the giving part of it
Pack a field kit
A notebook with their name and “Field Journal” on the cover, a pencil, a magnifying glass, a soft brush and a few small bags for specimens. Put the real fossil or the fossil walk voucher inside, and it stops being a notebook.
Hide it with a present hunt
Our free printable Christmas present hunt sends them round the house on rhyming clues from an elf, with the gift at the end. Christmas present hunt
Print a poster for the wall
Our free dinosaur size poster lines up the biggest dinosaurs against a school bus. It's a nice thing to roll up with a ribbon next to the main present. Dinosaur size poster
Questions
What parents ask
- What can I get a dinosaur-mad 7 year old for Christmas that isn't a toy?
- A genuine fossil from a museum shop, like a set of fossil shark teeth or an ammonite, gives them something real to unwrap on the day. For a bigger present, book a museum sleepover or a guided fossil hunt and give the booking in an envelope. A 7 year old is old enough for all three sleepovers on this page, including Dino Snores in London (ages 7 to 11).
- Are dinosaur dig kits real fossils?
- Not the ones we checked. The dig kits sold by the big museum shops are a block of plaster with model bones inside. The Natural History Museum's own T. rex excavation kit lists plaster of Paris, PVC and polypropylene, with a replica ammonite. They're fine as a toy, but if you want your child to hold something truly ancient, buy a small real fossil instead.
- Is it legal to buy a real dinosaur fossil?
- Small fossils like ammonites and shark teeth are sold openly by big museum shops. Dinosaur bone is trickier: Mongolia has banned private ownership and export of its dinosaur fossils since 1924, dinosaur bones from US federal land belong to the public, and in Alberta all fossils belong to the province. If you buy one, get written proof from a reputable dealer that it was collected and exported legally.
- What dinosaur experiences can a 5 year old do?
- Fewer than you'd hope. All three museum sleepovers start at 6 or 7, and the Lyme Regis fossil walks at 6. A 5 year old can do the Charmouth fossil hunting walks with a paying adult, the quarry dig at Edelman Fossil Park in New Jersey (from 3), or, in summer, the Royal Tyrrell Museum's indoor Express Dig (from 5).
- Can I give a museum sleepover as a Christmas present?
- Yes, but you give the booking, not a voucher: none of the three sells one. Buy early. The American Museum of Natural History's sleepovers are sold out until January, and its January to March 2027 dates go on sale on 28 October. The Field Museum's season runs all winter, from 6 November 2026 to 26 March 2027.
Checked September 28, 2026
How we chose
Parents of dinosaur-mad children ask the same thing every autumn: a Christmas present that isn't another toy, for a child who already owns every book. We looked for things that are real (real fossils, real museums, real beaches), that you can actually give in December, and that suit ages 5 to 10.
Every age rule, date, voucher and “you keep what you find” comes from the museum's, park's or publisher's own page, read on September 28, 2026. Where a place has no gift voucher or only runs in summer, we say so, and those went in the summer list instead. We checked places in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, and we'll check the dates again in December.
We make picture books, so the one thing here that earns us money is our own book, in its own labelled box. Nobody paid to be listed. Spotted a date that has changed, or a place we should add? Tell us at info@madeofyou.com.
More for dinosaur-mad kids, free
Dinosaur facts for kids, ten dinosaurs with a page each · dinosaur story books · dinosaur jokes · dinosaur riddles