When I was a kid, I thought toy dinosaurs were the best. I was never interested in dinosaur toys until we went to the natural history Museum. We lived in a small town outside of Chicago, so going to the Chicago Museum of Natural History was a big excursion for us. We actually spent a weekend in town, going to several museums. I was young at the time, but I still remember the dinosaur exhibit vividly. It was one of the most impressive things I had ever seen. There is something about dinosaurs that really makes an impression on the kid. Seeing those giant skeletons towering above you is like nothing else in the world.

My parents let me get a couple dinosaur toys in the gift shop. They were nothing special – little plastic dinosaur figurines – but I loved them. I would play make-believe with them, pretending that these little, 2 inch tall dinosaur toys were big enough to eat my little sister. Of course, she would always fight back. She had a plush dinosaur toy – a stuffed animal that was a peculiar combination of a fearsome and adorable. She absolutely loved it, but then again she was at the age where kids absolutely love anything that is cute and fluffy.

Now that my own kid is getting to that dinosaur age, I have contemplated taking him to the natural history museum like my parents did for me. The other day, he asked for a t rex toy when we were in a learning toys store. I never really thought about how educational dinosaur toys were before, but now that I think about it, they really are.

Once I got interested as dinosaurs as a kid, I started studying everything I could find on them. Soon, I knew a fair amount about fossils and the different ages of geology. In some ways, it doesn't even matter what kids get interested in. As long as they are willing to study it and become excited about it, they can learn a lot. Not only did my dinosaur toys teach me about the dinosaurs, but they taught me about learning itself. For the first time in my whole life, I was doing research on my own. My parents were willing to get me all the dinosaur books I could ask for, and so I would always give them little lectures on them. I just hope that my kid gets as excited as I did!

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