Dinosaurs In Love Tiktok

[Jenn Smotherman]

Petersenfilmed the TikTok, which now has nearly 10 million views on the platform, during a slow day at the law firm where she works when she's not volunteering. She initially wanted to refilm the scenes where she was crying, but told herself that few people were likely to see the TikTok anyway, posted it to the app, and set her phone down for the rest of the day.

It wasn't until she got a text from her dad (who is one of Petersen's biggest fans and had been religiously tracking the popularity of a previous viral dinosaur TikTok she posted this summer) that she realized the video had blown up.

It was a natural fit for Petersen's TikTok, where she's previously posted about her love of dinosaurs and her volunteer work as a paleontologist, which allows her to travel to sites in southern Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming to scout for dinosaur bones.

After Petersen and a team of other volunteers transport the bones back to the Natural History Museum of Utah, Petersen helps clean them and put the dinosaur skeletons together for display, like a "65 million-year-old puzzle."

While she didn't go to school for paleontology (she's a certified paralegal), Petersen said she fell in love with the field after she interned at the Natural History Museum when she was 18 and said it's something she has considered going back to school for someday.

Petersen said she loved to act when she was growing up, but was so devastated when a high school teacher told her that she'd never be as good of an actor as her brother and sister that she quit doing it entirely.

But easily the most life-changing aspect of her viral success, Petersen said, came after she opened up about her the financial and emotional toll she's experienced as a result of breast cancer, which she was diagnosed with after finding a tumor in her breast at 19.

The type of breast cancer Petersen has had is one typically seen in much older women, and with no family history of breast cancer. Petersen said she and her doctors were at a loss to explain the tumor.

Having seen other people who go viral ask for assistance for things like student loans, Petersen decided to share her story and link to her Cash App in a tweet. The response, she said through tears, has been overwhelming.

"I'm willing to make that sacrifice if it helps somebody else in the future, but that sacrifice has been viciously expensive," Petersen said. "I'm so beyond overwhelmed with all of the love that people have given to me. I literally owe my life to a dinosaur pun and will forever be in debt to this stupid joke from the '80s."

There are so many dino-themed surprises loaded up inside this Jurassic World-themed egg, including lava slime, a trio of buildable dinosaurs, a vehicle and a playmat. "I loved the green slime around the dinosaur and using the tool to dig out the fossil," one of our tiny testers reported. "I loved taking the pieces apart and putting them back together again. I have been playing this every day since I got it." Ages 3+

Why settle for one dinosaur toy when you can have 24? This advent calendar comes with tons of figures and accessories, all with the level of detail Schleich is known for. Behind the doors, they'll find a Velociraptor, a baby Stegosaurus, a baby T-Rex, an Archaeopteryx and a Saichania, along with a researcher and other items. If you don't want to go the advent calendar route, Schleich has tons of figures for dino fans, from amazingly detailed single dinosaurs to the imaginative Dinosaur Volcano Play Set to the limited-edition T-Rex made to celebrate FAO Schwarz's 160th anniversary. Ages 4+

This dinosaur gift keeps the A in STEAM. The magnetic pieces let kids make different dinosaur mosaics (or whatever art they'd like). "I like the shiny pieces," one kid tester reported. "I like the dinosaurs. The colors are fun." It comes with 10 patterns, two make-your-own backgrounds, 300 magnetic shapes and a case to store everything in. Ages 3+

Whether or not they've seen the Jurassic World movies, they'll thrill to all that comes with this LEGO set. It comes with structures that are easy for preschoolers to build, including an airport, a helicopter, a dinosaur transport cage and a fence that collapses during the dinosaur "breakouts." In addition, the set comes with figures of Owen Grady, Zia Rodriguez a wildlife guard and, of course, a T-Rex. Ages 4+

Good Housekeeping Institute experts have long been fans of Crayola's line of Scribble Scrubbie toys because of the replay value: Kids can color in and draw designs on these white dinos, wash them off and then color them in all over again! This set comes with four dinosaurs, a waterfall play area, three markers, three bottles of color drops and a brush. Ages 3+

Rumble and Bumble, this little triceratops pair, can help preschoolers learn to code without any screens necessary. They come with a storybook full of activities that teach them the basics of coding. They can also play fetch, hide and seek and other games, and they come with more than 20 pieces in a play set that can also be used for open-ended imaginative play. Ages 4+

This smiling dino makes it easy for kids to practice numbers, counting, colors, shapes and foods. "Feed" it the different tokens, and it'll react differently depending on which one is used. Rotating the spinning disc makes it play different songs, and the buttons offer sounds and songs featuring the different shapes, colors and numbers. Ages 1+

This plush is a perfect baby gift, but even adults have been known to collect Jellycat stuffed animals, because they're ultra-soft and super satisfying to hug. There's also a larger, floppier, darker green version. Ages 0+

If Professor Maxwell's larger VR Dinosaurs set is out of your budget, this offers a smaller, more affordable way to explore the prehistoric world in augmented reality. First, kids can use the included tools to dig out a dinosaur fossil. Then, they don the app-enabled VR goggles to see what the world looked like when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Ages 8+

When they're done with this puzzle, they'll have created something that they can proudly display on a dresser or shelf. It's also made from recycled cardboard and printed with vegetable inks. Ages 3+

For the Playmobil Dino Rise line, dinosaurs are armored and ready for battle! In this set, a robot dinosaur, equipped with a projectile catapult, is ready to launch an attack, but Jaden and his raptors are ready to defend. The set includes a Jaden figure, a miner, two velociraptors, the dino robot, two cannons with projectiles, energy crystals, and other accessories. Ages 5+

Even the littlest builders can get in on the fun with this Jurassic World DUPLO set. The nursery comes with three baby dinosaurs (along with a Claire Dearing) and enough pieces to build a habitat for each of them. There's also a DUPLO version of the T-Rex breakout if you want to expand the world even further. Ages 2+

These work for stocking stuffers, goodie bag favors, Easter baskets and other places where you might need just-a-little something. The dozen dino eggs each have a different type of dinosaur inside, including a Pterodactyl, an Ankylosaurus, a Dilophosaurus, a Tyrannosaurus, a Stegosaurus, a Diplodocus and others. The kit also comes with dig-out tools and cards with facts about each one. Ages 6+

Perfect for a rainy-day activity, this inexpensive origami set comes with 24 different sheets featuring dinosaur motifs. Kids can fold them into prehistoric scenes, and then finish them off with the included stickers. Ages 4+

Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; she previously wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found dominating the audio round at her local bar trivia night or tweeting about movies.

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