🦖 Dino Train

A dinosaur train game for little ones

Dino Train is a gentle matching game for preschoolers and young children, set in a sunny land of smoking volcanoes, palm trees and ferns. The Dino Express, a smiling little engine with three carriages, pulls into a station where five friendly dinosaurs are waiting on the platform. Every dinosaur wants a ride, but each carriage is looking for a particular passenger. Your child's job is to find the right dinosaur for each carriage.

The carriage waiting to be filled sparkles, and a friendly voice reads out the question: find the blue dinosaur, where is the triceratops, or which dinosaur has three eggs? When your child taps the right one, it jumps up in a happy arc and lands in the carriage with a shower of stars. A wrong tap never loses anything. The dinosaur just shakes its head and the voice says try again.

Colours, dinosaurs and counting

There are four ways to play. Colours asks children to match a colour swatch on the carriage to a dinosaur of the same colour: red, blue, green, yellow, purple or orange. Dino Match shows a dinosaur silhouette on the carriage and asks for that kind of dinosaur, from the big-headed T. rex and the frilly triceratops to the spiky stegosaurus, the long-necked brachiosaurus and the flapping pterodactyl. Counting Eggs puts a number of eggs on the carriage and asks which dinosaur is carrying the same number. Mix It Up switches between all three at every station.

When all three carriages are full, the train blows its whistle and chuffs away through the scenery to the next station. Five stations make a trip, the stops along the top of the screen fill up with stars as you go, and every finished trip earns three stars. Stars unlock new colours for the Dino Express: Volcano Red and Ice Age Blue.

Why it's great for preschoolers

Dino Train practises early learning skills that matter at ages three to six: recognising and naming colours, telling different shapes apart, one-to-one counting up to five, and listening to a spoken instruction. Because the questions are read aloud, children who can't read yet can play on their own. There are no timers, no scores to beat and no way to lose, so it's calm and confidence-building, and dinosaurs and trains together are hard for little ones to resist.

Dino Train is free, needs no account, and keeps its stars only in your own browser. It works with a tap on a tablet or phone, or a mouse click on a computer. It is our own game and is not connected to any television show. See the Parents & Safety page for privacy details. For more early learning, try Toy Train Builder or browse the Train Games hub.

Frequently asked questions