Welcome to Dinovember

Summary

Every November, a family orchestrates a playful month-long event where plastic dinosaur toys come to life overnight, engaging their children's imagination and sense of wonder.

Abstract

During Dinovember, a family creatively stages scenes featuring their children's plastic dinosaurs to appear as if the toys have come to life while the kids sleep. This tradition starts with simple acts like the dinosaurs making a mess with cereal and escalates to more elaborate scenarios, including drawing on walls and playing with other toys. The parents' intention is to foster a sense of mystery and imagination in their children, countering the instant gratification of technology like iPads and Netflix. They emphasize the importance of childhood wonder and encourage other families to participate by sharing photos with the hashtag #dinovember on social media. The event has become so popular that it has been adapted into children's books.

Opinions

The family values the power of imagination and creativity in childhood, especially in the digital age.
They believe that childhood should

Welcome to Dinovember

A month-long imagination invasion.

Every year, my wife and I devote the month of November to convincing our children that, while they sleep, their plastic dinosaur figures come to life.

It began modestly enough. The kids woke up to discover that the dinosaurs had gotten into a box of cereal and made a mess on the kitchen table.

“Can we still have that cereal for breakfast, Daddy?”

The next morning, the dinos had climbed onto the kitchen counter to raid the fruit bowl.

The morning after that, they had managed to breach the refrigerator and help themselves to a carton of eggs. “Uh-oh,” we heard our girls whisper. “Mom and Dad are not going to like this.”

Things quickly escalated from there. More often than not, the dinos’ antics were less than tidy. They are dinosaurs, after all.

“Don’t let Mom and Dad see this—the dinos drew on the wall!”

“Mom and Dad, you should really lock the kitchen.”

To be fair, they did clean up after themselves from time to time.

Usually, though, the dinosaurs are just like anybody else—looking to have a good time.

“The dinos are really good at tin-foil, Daddy.”

Why do we do this? Because in the age of iPads and Netflix, we don’t want our kids to lose their sense of wonder and imagination. In a time when the answers to all the world’s questions are a web-search away, we want our kids to experience a little mystery. All it takes is some time and energy, creativity, and a few plastic dinosaurs.

Childhood is fleeting, so let’s make sure it’s fun while it lasts.

If you’d like to follow along with Dinovember, join our Facebook page. If you join in with your own family, post your pics on Twitter or Facebook (set to ‘public’ so we can see them!) using the hashtag #dinovember.

UPDATE 10/28/14: Welcome to Dinovember has been adapted into a full-length book! Featuring the full story of Dinovember plus 80 new photos, What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night is available now.

UPDATE 10/20/15: Check out our new children’s book What the Dinosaurs Did Last Night: A Very Messy Adventure (pictured left!)