Few things can get children excited like dinosaurs. These giants from long ago have a unique way of capturing the young imagination. Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice, which opens December 19, will take visitors back in time to explore the late Cretaceous Period when dinosaurs last roamed the earth. Once in the exhibit, they will discover dinosaur habitats to better understand how these mysterious animals lived, and use inquiry skills to examine what the dinosaurs left behind.

Typically, children encounter dinosaurs on the pages of a book or as petrified bones behind a glass wall. At Minnesota Children’s Museum, they’ll see them face-to-face, literally able to immerse themselves into an entire prehistoric world. A key component of this exhibit is the construction of two sculpted dinosaurs, a Troodon and the larger Edmontosaurus. These original pieces will give children the rare opportunity to have a true hands-on encounter with life-sized and life-like dinosaurs.

“The exhibit builds on children’s fascination with dinosaurs,” states Mary Weiland, the Museum’s exhibit developer. “It combines large motor skills with dramatic play for unique whole-body, age-appropriate activities, like sitting in a nest of Troodon eggs; clambering through a bog walk; touching large, realistic, sculpted dinosaurs; and donning vests and goggles to uncover fossils.”