Easy Crochet Dinosaur Keychain Patterns for Beginners 🧵

If you’ve been looking for a fun, quick, and adorable crochet project that doesn’t require weeks of dedication or a mountain of yarn, you’ve just found your new obsession. Crochet dinosaur keychains are the perfect beginner-friendly project — they’re small, they work up fast, and the finished result is so charming that you’ll want to make one for every person you know. Whether you’re completely new to crochet or you’ve been at it for a while and want a satisfying small project to fill your evenings, this guide walks you through everything you need to know.

From choosing the right materials to understanding basic stitches and following a simple pattern from start to finish, this post covers it all. By the end, you’ll feel confident enough to make your first little dino and maybe even customize it with your own color choices and creative touches.

Why Crochet Dinosaur Keychains Are Perfect for Beginners

Before diving into the patterns themselves, it’s worth taking a moment to talk about why this particular project is so well-suited for people who are just starting out.

First, the size works in your favor. Because keychains are small, any mistakes you make are barely noticeable and they don’t take long to fix. If you drop a stitch or miscounted a round, you haven’t lost hours of work — you can simply unravel a few rows and start again without frustration.

Second, small amigurumi-style projects like these teach you the most important crochet skills all at once. You’ll learn how to work in the round, how to do increases and decreases, how to stuff your work, and how to join separate pieces together. These are the exact skills that carry over into larger, more complex projects down the road.

Third, the materials are inexpensive and minimal. You really only need a small amount of yarn in a few colors, one or two hooks, some polyfill stuffing, and a keychain ring. Most beginners can gather everything they need for under ten dollars, which makes this a very low-stakes way to practice and improve.

And finally, dinosaurs are just fun. They appeal to people of all ages, which means you can gift these little keychains to kids, teenagers, adults, and anyone in between. They make wonderful handmade gifts, craft fair items, bag charms, zipper pulls, and stocking stuffers. Once you start making them, it’s hard to stop.

Materials You’ll Need

Getting your materials together before you sit down to crochet is always a good idea. Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll want to have on hand.

Yarn: For keychains this size, sport weight or DK weight yarn works beautifully. You could also use worsted weight if you prefer a slightly chunkier finished product. Choose a main color for the body of your dinosaur and a secondary color for the belly or spines if your design calls for them. Acrylic yarn is the most beginner-friendly because it’s affordable, widely available, and easy to work with. Popular choices include brands like Red Heart Super Saver, Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice, or Paintbox Simply DK.

Crochet Hook: Match your hook size to your yarn weight. For sport or DK weight, a 3.5mm or 4mm hook works well. For worsted weight, try a 4.5mm or 5mm hook. When making amigurumi, many crocheters prefer to go one size down from the recommended hook size on the yarn label to create a tighter stitch that prevents the stuffing from showing through.

Polyfill Stuffing: A small amount of polyfill or toy stuffing is all you need to give your dinosaur its shape. You can find this at any craft store, or you can repurpose stuffing from an old pillow.

Safety Eyes: These little plastic eyes snap into place and give your dinosaur personality. The most common sizes for small keychains are 6mm or 8mm. If you’re making keychains for very young children, consider embroidering the eyes with black yarn instead, as safety eyes can be a choking hazard.

Yarn Needle: Also called a tapestry needle or darning needle, you’ll use this to sew pieces together and weave in your ends.

Keychain Ring or Lobster Clasp: This is what transforms your little crocheted animal into an actual keychain. You can find these at craft stores, dollar stores, or online in bulk packs.

Stitch Marker: A simple stitch marker helps you keep track of the beginning of each round, which is especially important when working in the round without joining.

Scissors: Any pair will do.

Basic Stitches and Techniques to Know

If you’re brand new to crochet, there are just a few techniques you need to understand before attempting this project. Don’t be intimidated — these really are beginner-friendly skills that you can pick up in a single afternoon.

Magic Ring (Magic Circle): Most amigurumi patterns start with a magic ring, which allows you to pull your beginning stitches into a tight circle with no hole in the center. There are great video tutorials on YouTube if you find it easier to learn this one visually. Alternatively, you can start with a chain of 2 and work your first round into the second chain from the hook.

Single Crochet (sc): This is the main stitch used in amigurumi and keychain patterns. It’s the simplest of all crochet stitches and creates a firm, tight fabric that’s ideal for stuffed pieces.

Increase (inc): Working two single crochets into the same stitch creates an increase, which adds stitches to your round and makes the piece wider.

Decrease (dec): The invisible decrease is the most common technique in amigurumi. It combines two stitches into one, reducing your stitch count and making the piece narrower. This is what shapes the head, body, and limbs of your dinosaur.

Working in the Round (Continuous Rounds): Rather than joining each round and starting a new one with a chain, most amigurumi patterns ask you to work in a continuous spiral. Place your stitch marker at the beginning of each round and move it up as you go.

Slip Stitch (sl st): Used occasionally to finish off a piece or to join rounds.

Fasten Off and Weave In Ends: When you’re done with a piece, cut your yarn leaving a tail of about six inches, pull the tail through the last loop, and use your yarn needle to weave it in and out of the surrounding stitches to secure it.

Easy T-Rex Keychain Pattern

This classic T-Rex design is one of the most beloved dinosaur keychain patterns among beginners. It features a large round head with tiny arms, a stout body, and little legs, all worked in the same way. The pattern is written using US crochet terms.

Abbreviations used: MR = magic ring, sc = single crochet, inc = increase, dec = decrease, sl st = slip stitch, st = stitch, rnd = round

Head:

Start with your main color yarn.

Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc into ring. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: inc in each st around. (12 sts)
Rnd 3: (sc, inc) repeat around. (18 sts)
Rnd 4: (sc 2, inc) repeat around. (24 sts)
Rnd 5–8: sc in each st around. (24 sts)

Insert safety eyes between rounds 5 and 6, approximately 5–6 stitches apart. If you’re embroidering eyes instead, note the placement for later.

Rnd 9: (sc 2, dec) repeat around. (18 sts)

Begin stuffing the head firmly but not too tightly.

Rnd 10: (sc, dec) repeat around. (12 sts)
Rnd 11: dec around. (6 sts)

Fasten off and leave a long tail to close the opening and sew pieces later.

Body:

Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: inc in each st. (12 sts)
Rnd 3: (sc, inc) repeat. (18 sts)
Rnd 4–7: sc around. (18 sts)
Rnd 8: (sc, dec) repeat. (12 sts)
Rnd 9: sc around. (12 sts)

Stuff body. Fasten off leaving a long tail.

Arms (make 2):

Rnd 1: MR, 4 sc. (4 sts)
Rnd 2–4: sc around. (4 sts)

Leave unstuffed. Fasten off with a long tail for sewing.

Legs (make 2):

Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: inc in each st. (12 sts)
Rnd 3–5: sc around. (12 sts)
Rnd 6: (sc, dec) repeat. (8 sts)
Rnd 7–9: sc around. (8 sts)

Stuff legs. Fasten off with a long tail.

Spines (optional, make 3–5):

Using a contrasting color, chain 4. Sl st back along the chain. Fasten off.

Assembly:

Sew the head to the top of the body using the long tail and your yarn needle. Position the arms on either side of the upper body and sew them on. Attach the legs to the bottom of the body. Sew the spines along the top of the head and back. Attach a keychain ring to the top of the head through a stitch at the very top, or sew a small loop of yarn and thread the ring through that.

Easy Brontosaurus Keychain Pattern

The Brontosaurus (or Apatosaurus, if you want to be scientifically precise) is a wonderful variation because its long neck and small head create a slightly different shape that’s just as satisfying to make.

For this pattern, you’ll work the body as a single elongated piece, then add a long neck and small head.

Body:

Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: inc in each st. (12 sts)
Rnd 3: (sc, inc) repeat. (18 sts)
Rnd 4: (sc 2, inc) repeat. (24 sts)
Rnd 5–9: sc around. (24 sts)
Rnd 10: (sc 2, dec) repeat. (18 sts)
Rnd 11–12: sc around. (18 sts)
Rnd 13: (sc, dec) repeat. (12 sts)

Stuff. Fasten off with a long tail.

Neck:

Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: inc in each st. (12 sts)
Rnd 3–10: sc around. (12 sts)

Leave lightly stuffed. Fasten off with a long tail.

Head:

Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: inc in each st. (12 sts)
Rnd 3–5: sc around. (12 sts)
Rnd 6: dec around. (6 sts)

Insert safety eyes between rounds 3 and 4.
Stuff. Fasten off.

Legs (make 4):

Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc. (6 sts)
Rnd 2–5: sc around. (6 sts)

Stuff lightly. Fasten off.

Tail:

Rnd 1: MR, 4 sc. (4 sts)
Rnd 2–8: sc around. (4 sts)

Leave unstuffed for a floppy tail or stuff lightly for a stiffer one. Fasten off.

Assembly:

Sew the neck to the top front of the body. Sew the head to the top of the neck. Attach all four legs, two on each side of the body. Sew the tail to the back end of the body. Attach your keychain ring to the top of the neck or the top of the back.

Easy Stegosaurus Keychain Pattern

The Stegosaurus is probably the most visually striking dinosaur keychain you can make because of its distinctive back plates. For this version, the plates are made as small separate triangular pieces sewn along the back.

Body and Head (worked as one piece):

Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: inc in each st. (12 sts)
Rnd 3: (sc, inc) repeat. (18 sts)
Rnd 4–8: sc around. (18 sts)
Rnd 9: (sc, dec) repeat. (12 sts)

Begin stuffing.

Rnd 10: sc around. (12 sts)
Rnd 11: (sc, inc) repeat. (18 sts)
Rnd 12–14: sc around. (18 sts)
Rnd 15: (sc, dec) repeat. (12 sts)
Rnd 16: dec around. (6 sts)

Insert safety eyes between rounds 13 and 14.
Finish stuffing. Fasten off.

Back Plates (make 4–6 in a contrasting color):

Chain 5. Starting in the second chain from hook: sc, hdc, dc, dc. Fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing.

Legs (make 4):

Same as the Brontosaurus legs above.

Tail:

Rnd 1: MR, 6 sc. (6 sts)
Rnd 2–6: sc around. (6 sts)
Rnd 7: dec around. (3 sts)

Fasten off.

Assembly:

Sew legs to underside of body. Sew tail to back end. Sew back plates along the spine, starting just behind the head and spacing them evenly down the back. Attach keychain ring to the top of the back between the plates.

Tips for Making Your Dinosaur Keychains Even Better

Now that you have the patterns, here are some practical tips that will help your finished pieces look more polished and professional.

Use the right tension. When making amigurumi, a tighter tension prevents stuffing from poking through the stitches. If you can see the white stuffing between your stitches, try going down a hook size.

Don’t overstuff. It’s tempting to pack in as much stuffing as possible, but overstuffing can distort your shape and make the seams strain. Fill your pieces until they hold their shape but still feel slightly soft when you squeeze them.

Close openings neatly. When you have 6 stitches left and are ready to close a piece, use your yarn needle to run the tail through the front loops of each remaining stitch, pull tight, and then weave the tail back through the piece before trimming. This creates a very clean, invisible closure.

Attach eyes before stuffing. Safety eyes must be inserted and snapped into place before you close up and stuff a piece, because the backing clips onto the inside of the work. Once the piece is stuffed, you can no longer get inside.

Sew limbs on securely. Use a ladder stitch or simple whip stitch to attach limbs, pulling firmly and stitching through the body several times before weaving off. Small pieces that are only lightly attached will eventually come loose, especially on a keychain that gets daily use.

Customize with color. There’s no rule that says your T-Rex has to be green or your Brontosaurus has to be brown. Use whatever colors make you happy — pastels, jewel tones, neons, variegated yarn for a speckled effect. Part of the joy of handmade items is making them completely your own.

Make a few at once. Once you’ve worked through the pattern a couple of times, you’ll start working faster and faster. Consider making multiples of the same piece (all the heads at once, then all the bodies) in an assembly-line style. This approach is especially efficient if you’re making a set of keychains as gifts.