We loved Mamasaurus by Stephan Lomp so much that we still refer to any salad greens as tender leaves. So, when I heard that Papasaurus was published this year I jumped at it. And for Father’s Day? Perfect. I’ll have a review about that fabulous dinosaur tale a bit closer to actual Father’s Day. So keep an eye out on the blog.
To keep with our literary theme we decided to make our own Papasaurus and Babysaurus shirts and a fun little dinosaur card. The most difficult piece of this was keeping Bug from chatting to my husband about our projects. It’ll take some on-the-spot thinking on my part but I think I’m equal to the challenge.
Matching Daddy-Child Dinosaur Shirts
Supplies:
- 2 matching colored shirts (1 Dad size/ 1 kid size)
- Fabric paint markers
- Cardstock
- Printer
- X-acto knife
- Cutting board
- Tape
- Cardboard
Instructions:
Start by throwing your shirts in the wash. Now, you’ll make the stencil. 
First, print out the dinosaur silhouettes and tape them over the cardstock. Make sure you’ll have enough space to give your little one a good sized border so it’s not too easy to go over the side and color on the t-shirt beyond the stencil. 
Once the print out is placed properly, tape it down and cut it out using the X-acto knife on a cutting board. If you don’t use a cutting board have something there to protect the surface you’re working on. Then, you’ll separate the stencils. Place a piece of carboard inside the shirt to stretch out the shirt enough so that it will be easier to write on. This will also protect the back of the shirt. 
Tape the stencil on the shirt where desired (I couldn’t find my masking tape, so you’ll have to believe me when I say I used Scotch tape) and have your little one color in the shirt. 
With the Dad Brontosaurus I found I needed to hold down the tail piece on the stencil so it didn’t move around too much. If the stencil space isn’t filled in enough it’s hard to make out the shape, so really encourage your little one to scribble their hearts out. 
Once complete repeat on the smaller shirt. 
I turned my stencils so they were facing each other. Or I guess facing away from each other depending on how Bug and my husband stand. Doesn’t matter it’s cute. I also flipped the shirt so Bug had easier access and less of a chance of accidentally coloring the t shirt.
Then print out Papasaurus and ____saurus. I used a 120 pt font “The Elves and the Secret Garden” (who comes up with these names?) which is available for free on dafont.com. Make sure you have a straight line to follow before you begin the lettering and that it’s centered. If your shirts are white then you can easily slide the paper underneath and trace it. The grey isn’t as easy for that. So, I ended up free-handing it. They turned out crazy cute. We can’t wait for Father’s Day.
