Imagine a Friend Activity and “My Dinosaur” Book Review

by Ashley Beecher

Often we associate little boys with dinosaurs, but in My Dinosaur, by Mark Alan Weatherby, a little girl spends a night playing with her dinosaur friend. They do everything from playing hide-and-seek to drinking from the river before the dinosaur returns her to bed.

I love how this book encourages imagination, but that’s only the beginning. As a child, I had a big brother obsessed with dinosaurs, but I was so excited that the book had a little girl with a dinosaur friend. Most dinosaur books (when I was a kid) were about boys.

Another point, which I appreciate so much as an adult, is that the little girl points out at the end that her dinosaur has left, but she knows she will see him again. One of my children really struggles with new places and new people. These situations cause my child (and many others) major anxiety. This book reassures children that the people we care about come back, even if they have to leave sometimes.

To buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Create an imaginary friend of your own and a story about what you do together. What does your imaginary friend look like? What are their favorite things? How are you the same as your imaginary friend and how are you different? Consider these questions and more as you bring your imaginary friend to life on the page and through your own story.

Supplies:

Free Imagine a Friend Printouts (see below), crayons or colored pencils, writing utensil

Directions:

1. On the first page, draw your imaginary friend and give that friend a name (younger children might need help writing the name on the line).
2. On the following three pages, circle one picture describing what you and your imaginary friend will do together. You can also color all the pictures.
3. On the last page, write (or ask someone to help write) the answers you circled on the correct line. Then read the story out loud. You can even act it out while someone reads it to you!

Different Variations:

• For Older Children: Use the comic version of the printout. Instead of circling their answers, they can write and draw the adventures with their imaginary friend in comic form using the boxes provided.