7 Dinosaur Movies Your Kids Will Love

Tracks and fossils hidden millions of years ago will reappear in your living room with these dinosaur movies your kids will love.

Reviewed and approved by the pediatrician Marcela Alejandra Caffulli.

Written by Maria del Mar Garcia Martin

Last update: 27 December, 2022

We welcome you back to your home theater with the following dinosaur movies that your kids will love. In addition, they’ll teach them essential aspects about these extinct animals of the past, but that remain alive in the hearts of the little ones. If you’re curious and want to get into a time machine and travel between 231 and 243 million years ago, write down the following titles of dinosaur movies to watch with your family.

7 dinosaur movies your kids will love

1. The Land Before Time, one of the most famous dinosaur movies your kids will love (1988, +5 years old)

Littlefoot, our faithful friend Apatosaurus (longneck), feels lost after a huge earthquake that has extinguished his entire species, except him. Along the way, despite an established law that dinosaurs only deal with their own kind, he doesn’t lose faith or hope and faces an adventure through the desolate lands together with his faithful friends.

At the time, Steven Spielberg set the film in a period of enormous leaf shortage. So, entire herds of herbivores were forced to make a grueling journey to the legendary Great Valley. This was a paradise safe from predators and full of different types of plants and water.

Will the friends make it to their destination? You can only find out if you dare to watch it.

2. We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story (1993, +6 years old)

An orange T. Rex lived wildly in its natural habitat millions of years ago. But one fine day, Captain Neweyes decides to travel back in time with his time machine and bring a few dinosaurs to Earth. But after endowing them with intelligence with some magic cereal.

When they arrive in the Big Apple, the animals create a buzz among youngsters and everything seems to be going great. However, Captain Big Eyes’ brother has a better plan: To use them for his circus show.

This is another adventure, also by Steven Spielberg, with the participation of Universal Studios, that will delight the little ones in your home. In addition, it has the most original songs and soundtracks that you and your kids can dance to.

3. Jurassic Park, one of the mythical dinosaur movies that your children will love (1993, +13 years old)

This is one of the most critically acclaimed films for being one of the best science fiction and adventure movies in history. This is how we would define this masterpiece by the great Steven Spielberg, who included some of the most realistic images in its production.

The plot consists of the cloning of dinosaurs on a lost island designed for tourist visits. However, to test the feasibility of the project, several scientists and experts are invited to give their opinion.

The truth is that the matter doesn’t go too well and nature makes its way in the worst possible scenario; it seems that the security system installed isn’t strong enough to stop the animals.

It’s interesting to know that several teachers made an article for the Journal of Chemical Education demonstrating to their students that Crichton’s fantasy (author of the book on which the film was based) was not new. In fact, it was suggested in 1963 by Nobel laureate Linus Pauling and Emile Zuckerkand, in the manuscript Chemical Paleogenetics: Molecular ‘Restoration Studies’ of Extinct Life Forms.

4. Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009, +7 years old)

The third installment of the most famous Ice Age saga returns with the same characters. In this case, Manny the mammoth, Diego the sabertooth tiger, and the rest of the group will have to rescue Sid, the sloth, from the depths of the underground world.

However, Sid gets hold of three dinosaur eggs that he refuses to return in order to raise them himself, something that’s going to mean a lot of headaches for his friends and that they’ll have to remedy before they get caught.

5. The Good Dinosaur, one of the modern dinosaur movies your kids will love for sure (2015, +7 years old)

In this great adventure, dinosaurs aren’t exterminated 65 million years ago. However, the little Apatosaurus, Arlo, will have to resort to the help of his new friend (a small Neanderthal) to find his family.

A perfect movie to learn from those who are different from us, overcome our fears, and above all, value the great power of friendship.

6. Dino King: Journey to Fire Mountain (2019, +7 years)

We also want to present to you a Korean film directed by Han Sang-ho in which Speckles and his son (both dinosaurs) survive during the Cretaceous period every day: They eat, drink, and learn from nature… However, there are also enemies that they must face with cunning.

In this dramatically epic story, the big T. Rex takes their little boy away, and Speckles will have to face numerous obstacles to get him back. Will he succeed?

7. Dinosaur (2000, +7 years)

The plot begins with a colony of lemurs living peacefully on an island paradise where they find a dinosaur egg. When the shell hatches, a small iguanodont appears. The lemurs welcome him and name him Aladar.

Peace and tranquility will disappear in the area when the meteor shower arrives. At that moment, Aladar and his family will have to flee to save themselves, and they’ll meet their own kind. He’ll face the boss, find love, and know what it means to feel like a dinosaur, without leaving behind his family of lemurs.

At the same time, it’s worth mentioning that Steve Brussate, a renowned paleontologist, chose this as one of his favorite dinosaur movies. Why? Because it incorporates some of the most amazing images that match the dialogue of humanized animals, in addition to respecting the original story of their extinction.

Enjoy these dinosaur movies at home with your children

There’s no better way to spend family time than on the couch with a good movie. And if you also add titles with educational content, your little ones can learn twice as much. That’s according to a study published in 2014 by the Electronic Journal of History:

In short, some are more imaginative, others more real, but what’s certain is that they all give an approach to prehistory that children will enjoy together with you. Do you want to be as strong as them? Let the movie afternoon begin!