About Dinosaurs

A set of custom dinosaur murals created by local picture book author and illustrator Yanfei Gao. invite visitors to a fun dinosaur play experience that includes a light table, volcano play surface, praxinoscope, and the chance to build a dinosaur skeleton at a paleontological dig site. Giant origami dinosaurs soar overhead. This exhibit opened in 2025.

Fun Facts
Muralist Yanfei “Effie” Gao was born and raised in Shanghai, China. She has loved drawing and painting since she was a child and taught herself to work in both watercolor and digital media. She now works as an author and freelance illustrator, based in Topeka, Kansas. Yanfei has written and illustrated four children’s picture books: ABC Dinosaurs, Roar! A Dinosaur Coloring book, The Odd and Odder Otters, and Mezo Island Tales: The Mysterious Eggling. All four books are currently available at the Discovery Shop.

The first of two murals depicts Kansas in the Cretaceous period, between 145 to 66 million years ago. During this time period, Kansas was covered by a warm, shallow sea. This sea teemed with amazing creatures, including some that were bigger than cars and flying reptiles that ruled the skies! The mural includes Kansas State fossils Tylosaurus and Pteranodon, alongside aquatic plants, ammonites, gar, and marine turtles.

The second mural shows dinosaurs at play in Gage Park! The Discovery Center is surrounded by a napping Brachiosaurus, and an Archaeopteryx waves from the treetops, Tyrannosaurus Rex and Parasaurolophus sail through scene, and a friendly group of smiling Pachycephalosaurus, Triceratops, and Stegosaurus welcomes visitors.

Brain Building
Imaginative play, Cooperation, Symbolic Thinking

Body Building
Small Muscle Development (Fine Motor)