Tired of hearing T-Rex facts? We have good news - science says kids with 'intense interest' in dinosaurs have higher intelligence

According to research, children with an interest in dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals may have higher intelligence.

If you are, or have been, a parent to young children, you’ll be familiar with their inquisitive minds. Yes, you might wish for just five minutes of peace when they ask what seems like endless questions, or reel off a list of fantastic facts they’ve found, but having a child who’s so interested in finding out new things can have its advantages. Particularly, it turns out, if they love their dinosaurs. 

A study by the University of Indiana and the University of Wisconsin has suggested that kids with an intense interest in prehistoric animals like dinosaurs may exhibit greater intellect. Researchers have linked this to improved attention, better information processing, and complex thinking. 

And Kenneth Lacovara, a palaeontologist, told CNN that interests like dinosaurs empower children, giving them a sense of authority. Given that the children in the study who were interested in dinosaurs were found to be more intelligent than other children the same age, it sounds like he may be on to something. Even if you might not want to hear what seems like the millionth dinosaur fact that day, you might be helping your child to feel more grown up and authoritative. 

As your children get older, and develop more of their own interests and passions, do your best to encourage them. If they’re a dinosaur aficionado, why not show them how to make a paper dinosaur, or sit down to watch this David Attenborough documentary from 2022 together? But even if they aren’t interested in dinosaurs, it’s still a good idea to encourage your child’s interests in the world around them, and it’ll certainly help them at school, too. 

In other family news, are you or your kids smart enough to crack Prince George’s Eton entry test? And, here’s how to teach kids to think for themselves - and why schools train kids out of their natural ability to think independently.