This summer, dinosaurs are coming to Port Discovery! With a new exhibit opening May 26th (Memorial Day weekend), Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice will feature dinosaur habits and unique hands on experiences that children will enjoy. Check out some reasons why you should check out this exhibit, and enter to win four tickets for your family to visit!

Dinosaurs Are Coming To Port Discovery!

If you are looking for a summertime activity for your children, you should check out the brand new dinosaur exhibit coming to Port Discovery. This exhibit will have touchable dinosaurs children can interact with, touch, and even sit on! With a close up view of realistic dinosaurs, families will be transported back to the Cretaceous Period (145- 65 million years ago). While going face-to-face with the with the prehistoric world, children will meet dinosaurs of all sizes and shapes in a variety of environments and activities.

The exhibit features:

The Land of Fire: Visit the Montana of 70-million years ago and inspect realistic sculptures of the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex and the horned Triceratops. Discover the latest scientific thinking about the colors, textures, and look of these fearsome creatures. Crawl through a smoldering volcano that oozes lava on one side and is flanked by an icy river on the other!

Use good balance and coordination to climb up and down a squishy bog where the spongy surface replicates a forest floor. Become part of the dinosaur ecosystem by putting on a dragonfly, bee, or baby Troodon (small, two-legged dinosaur) costume and then fly, flutter, or crawl through the exhibit.

The Land of Ice: Trek north to what is present-day Alaska to learn about cold-weather dinosaurs. Take a picture with an Edmontosaurus (a four-legged herbivore) and inspect the nest of the Troodon! Learn about the dinosaur food chain and enjoy an “eye spy” game featuring some of the animals and plants of the period, such as the conifer tree and magnolia flower. An ice cave beckons you to climb, crawl, and slide through a frozen dinosaur habitat.

Field Research Station: In the Big Dig, put on goggles, grab some tools, and try to find the remains of ancient dinosaurs, including the Tyrannosaurus rex and ferocious Velociraptor. My children can’t wait to check out this part of the exhibit!

You can also play a matching game at the fossil identification table and try to figure out which fossils came from each dinosaur. Create stories about dinosaurs at a series of play tables featuring three-dimensional landscapes from the Cretaceous period and then view maps of North America to see how these have changed over 30 million years. Work together with friends and family to complete an oversize dinosaur puzzle. Then craft a dinosaur ecosystem using a variety of techniques, including fossil rubbings, partial tracings, and free-hand drawing!

Using new research about climates in which dinosaurs could survive and thrive, Dinosaurs: Land of Fire and Ice is the first child-centered exhibit in the country dedicated to expanding the understanding on dinosaur habitat and range. The discovery of numerous species of dinosaurs in the arctic is causing scientists to reconsider old theories about dinosaurs only living in tropical climates! Did you know that many dinosaurs, including Edmontosaurus and Troodon, lived in cold weather climates for at least part of the year? Discover this and many more fun facts at Port Discovery!

Over the summer, Mondays in July and August are Family Play Days. Since camp groups come during the week, weekends and Mondays are the least crowded time to visit with your family.

Port Discovery Ticket Giveaway

Enter to win a family set of four tickets to Port Discovery! To win, use the Rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you enjoyed reading this, also check out 12 Best Local Maryland Dishes to see where to eat at the Inner Harbor!

For more family outing ideas, follow Theresa’s Reviews on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Disclosure: The giveaway prize is provided by Port Discovery.