Song of the Week

The Best Dinosaur Songs for Kids:

Featuring The Dinosaur Collection!

I bet when you think “Dinosaur songs for kids” you think BARNEY. But are there any songs about dinosaurs that aren’t from Barney? I’m here to tell you – yes! There are so many other great Dino options out there! For this week’s Song of the Week, we’re looking at the best songs about dinosaurs that are both silly and educational!

Brontosaurus

Let’s start with one of our Music Class songs that has a very funny story: “Brontosaurus.” Did you know that for more than a century, scientists didn’t think Brontosauruses actually existed?

“The first of the Brontosaurus genus was named in 1879 by famed paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh... In 1903, however, paleontologist Elmer Riggs found that Brontosaurus was apparently the same as the genus Apatosaurus, which Marsh had first described in 1877. In such cases the rules of scientific nomenclature state that the oldest name has priority, dooming Brontosaurus to another extinction.” *full article here

Then, in the spring of 2015, scientists said wait it’s back! They spent years researching and combing through fossils to ultimately decide that Brontosauruses were different enough from Apatosauruses to be named their own species. Thus the “Thunder Lizard” survived to thunder through another day! All of this had an unusually significant effect on The Music Class team – who were busy re-recording “Brontosaurs” due to the insistence of our own Dino advocate Ms. Jen who had been telling Rob for years that Brontosauruses weren’t real. We had just finished the process of renaming and re-recording the song in 2015 – right before it was announced that Brontosauruses were, in fact, a real thing. Below you will find an EXCLUSIVE, NEVER BEFORE RELEASED CLIP of the “Apatosaurus” verse now doomed to never make it onto The Dinosaur Collection.

I think we can safely say that all of us are happy that Brontosaurus was re-instated as a real dinosaur, which is a more satisfying ending than Pluto’s demotion from planet to dwarf planet.

Sam the Dinosaur

The other Music Class Dino song that is not scientifically accurate in the slightest is “Sam the Dinosaur!” It tells the story of a dinosaur named Sam who is afraid of a mouse. Sam is minding his own business sweeping the floor, and swimming in his pool, and looking for a snack, when the mouse shows up and causes him to run, screaming, away from his housework. A story like this could only have come from the wild imagination of me (Raina) as a 9-year-old. This is one of the songs that I wrote as a kid! It makes me so happy to sing this song with my classes now and see how much the children still love it. :) Please enjoy my class’s video of “Sam the Dinosaur” and join in acting out the song with us!!

Let’s end this blog with five other awesome dinosaur songs for your family to enjoy!

1. The Johnny Cash Dinosaur Song

Did you know Johnny Cash wrote a Dinosaur song? It’s exactly what you’d imagine when you think ‘Johnny Cash wrote a dinosaur song.’ It’s so lovely. Take a listen.

2. The Land Before Time Theme Song

Get ready for some serious nostalgia (and maybe tears) watching The Land Before Time theme song. One of the great things about having kids is you get to enjoy the things you loved as kids all over again, right??