How to Make Dinosaur Fossils
Do you study dinosaurs with your students? I am blown away by the level of engagement when studying dinosaurs! My 3 year old son is absolutely OBSESSED with dinosaurs right now. He plays with dinosaurs, wants a dinosaur birthday party, makes dino sounds… If you can think it, he probably does it!
Since dinosaurs are such a high interest topic right now, I created an entire Dinosaur Themed Toddler School Curriculum Unit. My favorite project we completed during the unit was making dinosaur fossils. Although this project was part of my toddler unit, it is also perfect for my first grade classroom! You can read more about dinosaur activities in this post.
Dinosaur Fossil Salt Dough Recipe
To make dinosaur fossils, you only need a few things to get started: flour, salt (we used kosher salt), water, and mini dinosaurs. That’s it! See the recipe and instructions below:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup salt
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup warm water
Directions:
Combine flour and salt together in a medium sized bowl. Then, add water and mix. Knead with your hands until you have a ball of dough. After making dough, roll out a small ball and press down with the palm of your hand.
Have the child press small dinosaurs into the dough, but gently enough that the dinosaur does not go all the way through the dough.
Remove the dinosaur after pressing to reveal a “dinosaur fossil.” Bake in a 350 degree oven until the dough starts to turn brown. This may take 30-60 minutes depending on the size and thickness of the dough.
We found that the dinosaur fossils look the most realistic when they are not painted. But… We had lots of fun painting our dinosaur fossils! If you have a 2-3 year old child, make sure to check out my Dinosaur Themed Toddler School Curriculum Unit for lots of fun ideas to do at home with your child or in a preschool classroom. I hope you have tons of fun learning about dinosaurs!
If you want to plan even more activities for your little ones, you can download my free guide here for activities, ideas, and planning pages:
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Written on January 31st, 2019 by Laurin Brainard