KIDS/SNEAK PEEK : DINO EXHIBIT WITH A RUSSIAN ACCENT.

Byline: - Nancy Hewitt

Dinosaurs are roaming the earth again - sort of. On Saturday, one of the largest international dinosaur exhibits - the Great Russian Dinosaurs, which includes 17 complete skeletons and 22 skulls - arrives at the Natural History Museum for a short stay.

This exhibit features dinosaur fossils and a variety of mammal-like reptiles discovered in Russia dating back to the late Cretaceous period - 65 million to 145 million years ago.

Go back in time as you view a tarbosaurus bataar skeleton, skull and brain case. This reptile was related to the tyrannosaurus. Then check out the skeleton of a gallimimus bullatus, an ostrich-like and toothless dinosaur. Then there's a tarchia skull from this rare armored dinosaur.

Mammal-like reptiles lived during the Permian period - 245 million to 290 million years ago. Examples of these creatures include an inostrancevia alexandri, a creature the size of a large bear with 5-inch-long saber-like teeth; the skull of an estemmenosuchus mirabilis, a reptile with horns reminiscent of a moose and the skeleton of a mongolemys, an ancient aquatic turtle that lived during the time of dinosaurs.

After viewing the exhibit, kids and adults can touch dinosaur teeth, claws and bones from the Dino Touch Cart, or kids can participate in daily dinosaur craft activities - from creating dancing dinosaurs to doing fossil rubbings.

The exhibit comes from Moscow's Paleontological Institute and Museum and is on display through May 2. The museum is at 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. Admission is $8 for adults, $5.50 for students and seniors, and $2 for children age 5 to 12; children under age 5 are free. Information: [phone].

Doll making

Learn about the tradition of wrap dolls and make your own doll to take home from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Natural History Museum.

Cost of this workshop is $20 for museum members, $25 for nonmembers. The museum is at 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. Information: [phone]; reservations: [phone].

Thrills and spills

Join author and illustrator Julie Mammano at 11 a.m. Saturday at Pages Books for Children and Young Adults Inc.

Mammano, dressed in snowboarding gear and equipped with snowboard and drawing pens, encourages listeners age 3 to 8 to escape with her to the land of imagination when she shares her high-energy book ``Rhinos Who Snowboard.''

Pages is at 18399 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana. Information: [phone].

Strike up the band

Clap, stomp and sing along to the newest ``Blue's Clues'' video ``Rhythm and Blue'' at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at participating ZanyBrainy stores.

Instruments are provided for all participants. Stores are found in Thousand Oaks at Northgate Center, 111 S. Westlake Blvd., Suite 101, [phone]; Pasadena, Hastings Village, 3393 E. Foothill Blvd., [phone]; Valencia, Town Center Drive, 24201 Valencia Blvd., [phone].

Saving animals

Each week Sam, Noah and Elissa, three teen-agers who are dedicated to saving animals - domestic and wild, big and small - can be found volunteering at an animal refuge center under the direction of a devoted veterinarian.

The weekly program is called ``Adventures of A.R.K.'' A.R.K. stands for animal rescue kids, and is shown at 10 a.m. Sundays on the Discovery Channel.

In this week's program, the A.R.K. trio save an abandoned chimpanzee from life in a research lab.

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Photo: You can learn about the tradition of wrap dolls and make your own doll to take home Saturday at the Natural History Museum.