Each year on November 1, my children wake up to a note with this message, welcoming them to one of our family’s favorite silly traditions: Dinovember.
The note is tucked among a collection of toy dinosaurs that somehow came alive overnight. And, after 12 years of this annual tradition, my kids know that each morning for the rest of November they will find these same dinosaurs somewhere in our home doing something a bit out of the ordinary. The month-long romp with toy prehistoric reptiles was created in 2012 by midwest husband-and-wife Refe and Susan Tuma, who offer all kinds of activities and books to help families celebrate on their i r Dinovember website.
The dinos arrive to devour the Halloween candy (Photo courtesy Allison Peterson)
Magic comes to our house
When my now-teenagers were toddlers, I wanted a fun way to bring some magic into our home. At the time, our youngest son was enthralled by all things dinosaur. When I read about Dinovember in a Facebook post,, I knew I wanted to try it. Our first Dinovember was in 2014, and it was such a success that we have celebrated every Dinovember since then.
Over the years, our Dinovember traditions have changed a bit, but the basic formula stays the same. Each November morning, a group of toy dinosaurs will be doing…something. Some days the dinos get into mischief, like toilet-papering rooms or lining up every shoe in our household. Other days they bring us mementos to celebrate special occasions and holidays. For instance, every year the dinos bring us flags for Veterans Day to wave at a Veterans Day parade or take to a military cemetery. At least once a month, the dinos also bring us dino-inspired treats like dino-chicken nuggets or dinosaur footprint “fossil” cookies.
Our dino-nudge to celebrate Veterans (Photo courtesy Allison Peterson)
Hello and good-bye
We also have the same first- and last-day Dinovember traditions.
On the first day of November, our dinos always get into the kids’ Halloween candy and leave a trail of candy wrappers (Don’t worry, kids, the dinos put on gloves and dig the used wrappers out of the garbage can on Halloween night so they won’t actually deplete your Halloween candy supply). They’re very thoughtful dinos. For their going-away token on the last day of November, our dinos always leave another note. In this note,, the dinos bid farewell and leave a small gift to help children begin celebrating the winter holiday season, usually new pajamas or advent calendars.
One of my favorite things about the Dinovember tradition is that it’s manageable to tie into daily life, even when things get hectic.
Since the dinos can do anything, literally, it takes little planning or elaborate setup (Parent pro tip: Set an alarm on your phone for just after the kids’ bedtime each night as a reminder to put the dinos away). Inspiration for the daily dino setups can come from anything: the kids’ toys, doll accessories and toy vehicles are some of our favorite props.
Different rooms of the house also come into play: What mischief can the dinos get into in the bathroom? And, holidays or family events (Thanksgiving and Veterans Day get a roar during Dinovember). I also appreciate that Dinovember doesn’t interfere with other big calendar events like back to school or major winter holidays; November is the perfect bridge month to do something fun with fewer outside commitments.
Dinos take over the bathroom (Photo courtesy Allison Peterson)
Still playing after more than a decade
As my kids have gotten older, our Dinovember traditions have evolved. Where once I could use any of the dozens of plastic dinosaurs cast about our playroom, I now store a small collection of toy dinosaurs that will rejoin our family each November. The magic of Dinovember has changed, too. Now that my kids are all tweens and teens, they know Dinovember is a game, but one, importantly, they still enjoy playing. In the early days, my husband or I always helped set up the dinosaurs, but now our kids sometimes take turns setting up the dinosaurs for each other.
Some November mornings I get more eye rolls than excited shouts of glee when the dinos are discovered. Still, I catch those big teenagers smiling and laughing at this silly game.
Dinovember is part of our family now, and I love that we still bring it back each year. It has taught me that family memories are created in the little moments. Sometimes these moments are silly or strange, but they bring us together.
Dinovember brings fun and good reading. Dinos love tacos too (Photo courtesy Allison Peterson)
