Dinosaur Train

From PBS KIDS - The Pteranodon family rides a special 'Night Train" to another part of the Cretaceous Time Period, where they meet a Troodontid "cousin" of the Conductor's, Sidney Sinovenator, who knows more about the stars than anyone. Sidney takes the family up to his favorite stargazing spot, "Starry Hill," and teaches the kids why the stars seem to move across the night sky. When the kids build their own version of a nest on the beach, below their actual family nest up on the cliff, they get the idea to turn their beach nest into a clubhouse. Shiny thinks that a clubhouse needs a club, and "the Nature Trackers" club is born! The kids decide to make their club about getting outside, getting into nature, and making new discoveries. The only problem is: which kid is in charge of the club?

From PBS KIDS - Shiny gets over her fear of snakes when Tiny challenges the Nature Trackers to meet the ultimate snake: the Sanajeh, a huge Cretaceous snake from what is now India. Dad takes the kids on the Dinosaur Train to find Sana Sanajeh, who may be huge, but turns out to be quite friendly. Once Shiny and Sana become friends, Shiny returns home with the knowledge that snakes aren't scary -- they're just another part of nature. Tiny is horrified when her favorite buttercups all wilt, so Mom takes her and the family to the Big Pond, where she remembers seeing a whole lot of buttercups in bloom. On the way there, the Conductor gives the kids a visual lesson in "Nature's Life Cycle," explaining how a flower grows, blossoms, then wilts, and returns its seeds to the ground, to start the cycle all over again. Tiny finds her flowers at the Big Pond, both blooming and wilting, and can see nature's life cycle in action.

From PBS KIDS - Buddy, an adopted T. rex, wishes he knew more about his T. rex ancestors. So, Dad takes him and Tiny on the Dinosaur Train back to the early Cretaceous, to visit an ancestor: an earlier version of Tyrannosaurus rex called Raptorex. Rodney Raptorex is a kid who won't grow up to be as big as Buddy will, but the two boys find that they not only have a lot of differences, they have a lot in common, too. The kids are stuck cooped up in the nest for a long, rainy spell which leads to them fighting. Mom tells them that the rain has stopped enough that they can leave the nest -- but she gives them an assignment: to go find their own "calm space," where they can calm down enough to get along with each other again. It works -- each kid finds something in nature that helps him or her to calm down and be friends again.

From PBS KIDS - The kids visit the Big Pond to attend the Biome Block Party. While attempting to win the leaf-necklace contest, Keenan Chirostemotes claims the Pteranodon sibs can't compete for the prize for "dinosaur" with the most leaves because they are not dinosaurs. This launches the kids into a song called "That's Not a Dinosaur", as all the non-dinosaurs sing their piece. In the end, the game rules are changed to include all creatures, even non-dinosaurs, in all the contests! The Nature Trackers go on a visit to the Big Pond, where Tiny hopes to see her favorite flowers. The Conductor tells her that if the kids gather seeds at the pond, they can bring them home and plant a garden full of those same flowers at the family nest! The kids all get into it, gathering seeds and bringing them home, where they plant a garden, and meet its new inhabitants, including Sammy, a friendly slug, who explains that slugs, spiders, and butterflies all help to make a garden complete.

From PBS KIDS - Mom takes the kids on a playdate with Tank Triceratops to the desert, where they meet a distant relative of Tank's, an early Ceratopsian named Penelope Protoceratops. The Conductor points out that Penelope lives in a part of the world that gets a lot of earthquakes, and sure enough, the kids experience their first quake with Penelope. Mom and the Conductor have prepared the kids with excellent advice about what to do in an earthquake, so everyone does fine. When the family rides the Dinosaur Train, they learn that a new car has been added -- a Nursery Car, with dozens of eggs in little, padded nests, attended by their expectant moms and dads. The kids watch the eggs hatch, and try to guess which hatchling goes with which dinosaur parent.

From PBS KIDS - When a forest fire comes to woods not far from the family nest at Pteranodon Terrace, the family takes the Dinosaur Train to visit a nearby area where a fire has already been, and the Conductor leads the kids on a Nature Tracker hike through the woods to see how new life is growing back -- even after the forest fire's devastation. Buddy and Tiny ride the Dinosaur Train for a playdate with their old friend Petey Peteinosaurus, and learn that the train has added a new Aviary Car, for their various flying passengers. Suddenly, they are joined by a lost bird named Judy Jehelornis, who was displaced by the recent forest fires, and can't remember where her home is. Buddy, Tiny, and Petey act as detectives to figure out from clues where Judy's home is, and the Conductor makes sure she's brought safely home on the train.

From PBS KIDS - When the weather has been extremely dry for several weeks, all the water holes at Pteranodon Terrace dry up. The Lambeosaurus family decides to move away in search of water, which upsets the kids. Dad and Mom decide to take the kids to the Big Pond on a camping trip, where they will wait out the drought and return home when it rains again. Don doesn't want to leave his home, even temporarily, and decides to perfect a "rain dance" that will make the rain return. Dad learns that he's been chosen to compete in the big annual Fishing Contest at the Big Misty Sea, and is one of three contestants. The whole family rides there on the Dinosaur Train to cheer Dad on. They learn that the contestants are Dad, the Old Spinosaurus, and Dad's childhood friend and rival, a huge raptor named Marco Megaraptor. The three all end up fighting over Chester, the legendary biggest fish in the Big Misty Sea.

From PBS KIDS - The long-awaited rains finally return to Pteranodon Terrace, but grow into a huge rainstorm that grows even bigger -- into a hurricane! Dad hasn't seen it blow like this since he was a kid. They seek shelter, and Don discovers an entrance to a cave below their nest, where not only the Pteranodons, but also their other neighbors, the Lambeorsaurus family and Cindy Cimolestes, all take shelter for the night. In the morning, the storm has passed, but everyone must pitch in to rebuild their various nests. The family is cleaning up the mess left over from the hurricane, and discover that a raft of logs has washed up two refugees from across the Western Interior Sea -- a turtle named Aidan Adocus, and a small mammal named Tommy Ptilodus. Our family learns of their adventure, crossing the sea in the storm, and washing up at Pteranodon Terrace. They decide to take their new friends to the Dinosaur Train, and ride back with them to their home in Appalachia.

From PBS KIDS - Dad takes the kids on a special Night Train to Troodon Town, where the Troodons have decorated their Roundhouse into a "haunted house" for a spooky party. The kids end up meeting a strange new nocturnal creature -- a mammal named Vlad Volaticotherium, who was hiding in the roundhouse trying to get some sleep. The Pteranodon family learns more about the customs of their neighbors, the Lambeosaurus family, when they are invited for the first time to accompany them to the Big Pond to celebrate "Gourd Day" -- a kind of Mesozoic Halloween. The kids see their first pumpkins, and Larry Lambeosaurus even shows our family how to hollow them out and carve faces into them.

From PBS KIDS - When the Pteranodon family travels back to the North Pole, Don declares that it's his "winter wish" to see snow fall again. When a big blizzard comes, and even the Dinosaur Train gets snowed in, Don worries that his wish brought the blizzard. He's especially worried for his new friend, Soren Sauronitholestes, who is sitting on a nest of her eggs, out in the blizzard. But everything turns out all right: Dad explains that wishing for something doesn't make it happen, and the well-adapted, warm-blooded, feather-covered Soren successfully hatches her babies. While visiting the North Pole, the Conductor suggests that the family stop off at Aurora Borealis Station on an enormous frozen lake to see the Aurora Borealis, where the Northern Troodons celebrate a "Festival of Lights." While the kids wait for night to fall and view the Aurora Borealis, they work up an ice-skating show to entertain Mom and Dad. Everyone joins in to sing "Solstice Time is Here" and skate under the lights!