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    Home » Crafts & DIY » How to Make Dinosaur Fossils with Kids

    How to Make Dinosaur Fossils with Kids

    Crafts & DIY

    This post may contain affiliate links view our disclosure

    When I started planning activities to do at my son’s birthday party I knew I had to have something fun that both the boys and girls would like. Teaching him how to make dinosaur fossils was the perfect activity!

    If you’re planning a dinosaur themed party or just have a fan of dinosaurs in your family, this is a great project to do together!

    How to make dinosaur fossils for kids - this DIY activity for kids is great for all ages, especially preschool. You can create a homemade dinosaur dig and explore together!

    How to Make Dinosaur Fossils

    After searching around a bit we found a great recipe for do-it-yourself dinosaur fossils! As soon as I showed my son the fossils he was all aboard. And then when I told him he’d have to help make them he quickly ran to grab the measuring cups and flour.

    The fossils were a big hit at the party and the kids took turns finding them all over the indoor play place we were at. Then they took all of the fossils to two buckets we had set out and started opening their fossils to reveal tiny plastic dinos inside.

    Materials to make homemade dinosaur fossils

    DIY Dinosaur Fossils Materials

    • 1 cup flour
    • 1 cup dirt
    • 1/2 cup sand (play sand works the best)
    • 1 cup water
    • 12 tiny plastic dinosaurs
    • Baking sheet covered with plastic wrap

    Realistic Looking Dinosaur FiguresRealistic Looking Dinosaur Figures

    Making dinosaur fossils with dirt

    How to Make Dinosaur Fossils

    1. Pour flour, dirt and sand into a large bowl.

    2. Add water to the dirt mixture and stir.

    You want to stir until it’s a thick, muddy, batter consistency. You can add more dirt, sand and flour as needed if your mixture is too liquidy.

    Mixing up dirt to make homemade dinosaur fossils

    3. Dip the dinos in the mixture and coat them well.

    4. Place dinosaurs on a plastic wrap lined baking sheet.

    5. Cover each one with a little more of the dirt mixture to make sure each one is coated well.

    Cover any parts of the dinosaur that might be sticking out.

    Drying DIY dinosaur fossils in the sun

    6. Set the tray in the sun for a few hours until they are completely dry on top.

    7. Flip each fossil over and let the other side dry completely.

    8. Let the kids have fun breaking the fossils apart to find the hidden dinosaurs!

    Kids playing with homemade dinosaur fossils

    Whether you’re having a dinosaur themed birthday party, learning more about dinosaurs or just looking for something fun to do with the kids, learning how to make dinosaur fossils is always a blast!

    If you’re looking for some good children’s books to go along with this project, these are a few of our favorites:

    Little Kids First Big Book of DinosaursLittle Kids First Big Book of DinosaursDinosaur A-Z: For kids who really love dinosaurs!Dinosaur A-Z: For kids who really love dinosaurs!My Big Dinosaur BookMy Big Dinosaur BookWhat the Dinosaurs Did Last NightWhat the Dinosaurs Did Last Night

    If your animal-loving kids love getting their hands into things and being creative, you should try our ocean slime recipe too!

    (Huge thanks to Danielle from A Crafty Spoonful for sharing how to make dinosaur fossils!)

    How to make dinosaur fossils for kids - this DIY activity for kids is great for all ages, especially preschool. You can create a homemade dinosaur dig and explore together!

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    Filed Under: Crafts & DIY Tagged With: messy play

    About Danielle

    Danielle is a work-at-home-mom o f two beautiful kids and writes at Simmworks Family Blog. She loves to blog about her family, healthy living, going green and crafting.

    Comments

    1. orangeheromama says

      March 21, 2012 at 7:47 am

      wow! this is a brilliant idea!!!

      Reply
    2. Cristina says

      March 21, 2012 at 7:56 am

      This is an AWESOME idea! I will have to try it out with the boys this summer!

      Reply
    3. Nicole (Mama to 4 Blessings) says

      March 21, 2012 at 8:06 am

      oh how fun! My kids and I did something similar last year! Great post!

      Reply
    4. Maggie @ Tethered Mommy says

      March 21, 2012 at 9:01 am

      These are SO COOL! I want to make these just to make them. LOL

      Reply
    5. Danielle says

      March 21, 2012 at 9:58 am

      A great thing about this craft is that we can do it with many different toys, not just dinosaurs! My son decided he wanted to make a few car fossils for his cousin’s birthday and they loved breaking them apart.

      Reply
    6. Kelly says

      March 21, 2012 at 3:37 pm

      Oh Fun! That would also make a great game at a birthday party!

      Reply
    7. jodi zimmerman says

      March 21, 2012 at 5:35 pm

      What a great idea! I will be watching 4 kids this summer and I think they will all love it…all ages and sexes!! yay

      Reply
    8. Henrietta says

      March 21, 2012 at 7:31 pm

      Great idea! My son would have loved this when he was little!

      Reply
    9. Greta says

      March 21, 2012 at 11:22 pm

      We broke these apart one year in school. I’m thinking around grade 2 or 3.

      Reply
    10. Debbie says

      March 9, 2013 at 3:05 pm

      You could make these edible. Use a chocolate cookie dough and gummi animals. That would be fun.

      Reply
    11. Kathy says

      May 4, 2021 at 2:53 pm

      Are you able to make these in advance? Are they hard to break? Thanks,

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. A Dinosaur Birthday Party for Kids - So Festive! says:
      February 5, 2015 at 11:05 pm

      […] These dinosaur fossils were a HUGE hit.  We buried them in a sandbox along with some plastic fossils and let the kids go to town searching for them.  For the recipe go here. […]

      Reply

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