Best Walking Dinosaur Toy/Electronic Pet: Windy City Novelties LED Light Up and Walking Realistic Dinosaur with Sound

When this toy promises realistic dinosaur sound, they weren’t kidding! Windy City’s Walking Dino was a hit with our kid testers, who loved the walking/talking/light up mojo here. But the loud sound has its detractors. Here are the pros and cons:

What we liked

• Walks on carpet and hardwood. We liked how this toy worked well on various surfaces.

• Bright LEDS! Cool feature for night time play, said our kid testers.

What could be improved

• Volume control, please! This dinosaur is LOUD! So loud that some parents scheme to give this toy to friend’s kiddos as a revenge scheme for some misdeed their friend did. Unfortunately, there is no volume control . . . and there is no silent mode. Hence, if this toy is on, the lights, movement and sounds are all on at the same time! Hint: some folks use a small bandaid to cover the speaker in the tail to muffle the sound.

• Scary for younger babies. Follow this toy’s recommendation: age 3 and up. The sound, lights and movement are probably too much for a younger child.

Best Dinosaur Activity Playset: TEMI Dinosaur Toys Figures with Activity Play Mat

We picked the TEMI Dinosaur Activity Playmat as the best activity playmat gift for dino fans—it hit all the right notes for our testers.

What we liked:

• Nine dinosaurs, felt play mat plus trees and rocks. The dinos are about 6″ tall and the playmat is a generous 27″ by 31″.

• Good quality and sturdy toys. Other dino playsets we tested have flimsier action figures or smaller playmats.

What could use improvement

• A few parts of this playlet don’t stand up on their own. In our testing, one of the dinosaurs didn’t stand up on its own. And a tree or two also failed the standing test.

• Some photos make it seem larger than reality. A few parents complained that the online pictures of this activity mat/dinosaurs make it look larger than what it actually is. Here are some photos to help you make up your mind on this:

Here’s a manufacturer photo of the TEMI Dinosaur Activity Playmat:

And here’s what it looks like in reality:

Our thoughts: the manufacturer photo is clearly photoshopped—note the writing on the pillow is upside down. And we see the point about size perspective. However, the actual mat and realistic dinosaurs provide excellent play, in our opinion and testing.

Best Dinosaur Science Kit: National Geographic Dino Fossil Dig Kit

Got a future paleontologist in the house? We tested several educational science dinosaur kits before picking this one as the best of the bunch: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Dino Fossil Dig Kit – Excavate 3 real fossils including Dinosaur Bones & Mosasaur Teeth. Here are the results from our testing.

What we liked:

• Yes, there are actual dinosaur bones in this kit. The goal for kids is to dig these items out of a rock—the kit includes tools, a magnifying glass and a booklet that explains more about paleontology. FYI: The fossils are quite small.

• Our testers just loved this kit—it provided both fun and learning, which is the point of science kits!

What could use improvement:

• Some kits do not contain all the promised fossils. While the kit we purchased did contain all the items, we see complaints from other parents that the kit was missing fossils. National Geographic could do a better job at quality control here.

• Messy. There is quite a bit of dirt and debris here—this might be a good project for outside on a nice day.

• Plastic tools hard to use. One of our testers said the plastic tools included with the kit were too flimsy to dig out the fossils. We also see a few reports that entire rocks that contained embedded fossils fell apart when removed from the box. Again, quality control here is frustrating.

• Best for older kids. Any kid over age three can use this, but the maker says kids 8 and up might get more out of the science/STEM learning aspect of this science kit. And we see that point: it can take an hour or more to dig out the fossils—so older kiddos with more patience will probably be happier with this fossil dig kit.

Best Dinosaur Stuffed Animal: Wild Republic

If you are looking for a simple dinosaur stuffed animal, our top recommendation here is the Wild Republic Triceratops Plush, Dinosaur Stuffed Animal. We had our kid testers evaluate a half dozen different stuffed dinosaurs before settling on this one. Here is an overview:

What we liked:

• Weighted bottom so it sits upright. Other dinosaur plush animals we tested lacked this feature.

• The right balance of soft versus cuddly. At 12″, this toys just the right size—not too small, nor too big, judged our testers.

What could use improvement:

• Surface clean only. Yes, some stuffed animals can be machine washed—but not this one. Just keep in mind.

• Easy to bend the crown. This dinosaur’s top frill easily bends—and oddly is hard to straighten back out.

Bottom line: affordable price, cute and cuddly—we recommend this dinosaur plush toy.

Why Trust Us

We’ve been rating and reviewing baby gear, including activity toys, since 1994. We do hands-on testing—we buy the products with our own money and evaluate with an eye toward safety, ease of use and affordability.

Here’s another key point: we don’t take money from the brands we review. No free samples, no sponsors, no “partnerships.” Baby Bargains is your independent and unbiased source for expert baby gear reviews.