Replica and real fossils are displayed throughout I Dig Dinos in downtown Griffith. The store offers hands-on activities for children. ( I Dig Dinos)

Back in the day, dinosaurs didn’t have to deal with pesky things like doors.

But in these modern times an entryway can pose a bit of challenge for dinosaur models or a giant raptor.

“We actually had to have a handyman take off the door and kind of shimmy and maneuver stuff in,” store co-owner Kevin Pete said. “It was not easy.”

When I Dig Dinos in downtown Griffith moved into its retail space at Main and Broad streets earlier this year, there were more than a few double takes from passersby.

“Lots of cars stuck at the train that look or people riding bikes past because the bike trail is right there that kind of turn their head,” Pete said. “It’s pretty funny.”

Opening this past March, the hands-on interactive store I Dig Dinos is the brainchild of Pete and his business partner, Ruben Luna.

“We’re both dads and we wanted to get into kids’ entertainment. We had a few ideas. Most of them were dinosaur-involved,” said Pete, who lives in Munster. “I loved dinosaurs since I was a kid. ‘Jurassic Park’ was my favorite movie. I still remember seeing it in the theaters when I was 7.”

Growing up, Pete loved going to the Field Museum in Chicago, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and Dinosaur World in Cave City, Kentucky.

“I’m basically a dinosaur nerd,” he said.

He started out with a fossil collection and “it got kind of big.

Region Rex, the store mascot at I Dig Dinos in downtown Griffith, rides the animatronic Randy the Utahraptor ride. (I Dig Dinos)

“My wife was pushing me to do something with it,” Pete joked. “I wanted to start collecting models and I thought putting them on display would be a great idea for the store.”

As he and Luna brainstormed ideas they wanted an interactive experience for children that is quick and easy for families to visit.

“So you don’t have to do this grand thing where it’s really fun to go to the zoo or museum, but it can be really hard to work out nap time and whatnot hauling the kids out,” Pete said. “So we just thought something quick and local would be a great idea. I’ve always loved museum gift shops, so I just thought a really nice museum gift shop with interactive stations for kids would be a good idea.”

The 2,500 square-foot store is decorated like a prehistoric setting, with full-size dinosaur models, dinosaur head mounts and fossils on display. Unlike a museum though, it’s OK to pet the dinosaurs.

“You can touch anything you want. It’s a kids’ store at the end of the day,” Pete said. “I know how kids are. We don’t get mad at anybody. You often hear their parents say don’t touch, but we’re like ‘oh, you can go ahead.’ Because it’s supposed to be fun.”

For a $5 fee children can dig through sand to excavate real fossils from the Cretaceous period, and for $7.99-$9.99 sift through mine rough for gems.

“With both you get to fill a bag and take it home with you,” Pete said. “We have identification charts where they can take them home and identify them either at the store or at home.”

Other activities include crack a geode ($2.99-$12.99), along with the more crafty sand art ($4.99-$9.99) or make their own plush dinosaur or animal ($19.99-$29.99).

“We have a real fossil touch table with Pleistocene era Indiana fossils. So they’re as old as 40,000 years old and there for kids to touch,” Pete said.

Young paleontologists can inspect the fossils with a magnifying glass and under a microscope.

“We wanted to keep it so it’s a hands-on experience,” he said. “So they’re not looking at a screen or reading about it in a book. They can touch it, it’s tangible, right there in front of them.”

Real fossils are displayed in cases and for sale as well. Among the authentic fossils for sale are Terrasaurus, Spinosaurus, Mosasaur and raptor teeth. Also woolly mammoth tusks and teeth.

While the store is geared toward children — birthday parties and field trips are available — it’s not unusual for an adult fossil collector to stop in as well to add to their collection.

“We buy fossils from the Badlands to Morocco,” Pete said. “We get them from all over the world. And toys from all over the country.”

For sale are earth science and craft kits, along with explorer kits to get kids outside in nature.

The store offers plenty of photo-ops, with visitors often sticking their head inside a giant T-Rex mouth or riding Randy the giant animatronic Utahraptor ($5). It was Randy that had the most trouble fitting through the door to the store when he arrived from Texas.

“I’ve seen them before at a couple of other exhibits and I just thought it would be a good idea to put a saddle on it, make it more cowboy-themed like a dino ranch,” Pete said. “It’d be fun for the kids and they get to wear a cowboy hat if they want for a photo op, and there’s lassos. So it’s kind of like a horse ride, like an ode to the coin-operated kiddie horse rides.”

Where: 100 S. Broad St., Griffith

When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, closed major holidays

Information: 219-595-5498; idigdinosnwi.com/

Kathy Cichon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.