Easy Dinosaur Fossils to Make with Kids

Dinosaurs are one of those themes that seem to inspire children around the world, and my two are no different. So having a dinosaur-themed day at home, we set about making some Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils using a simple salt dough recipe, some toys and painting to make them look like rocks.

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What you need to make these Fossils with Kids

• Salt dough using either the microwave method or our classic recipe
• Toy Dinosaurs from your collection
• Acrylic Paints or if you don’t have these normal ready-mixed paints and coat after they are dry with some White/School/PVA glue

Creating Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils

When you have made your salt dough split it into 8 similar sized clumps give out to the children.

Although we have children’s rolling pins J and T both prefer to use my heavier weight rolling pin. They found it easier to get a smooth, even finish. With the fossils, you want a fairly thick dough – approx. 2cm (almost a 3/4 of an inch) thick.

With a flat top, carefully press in the model dinosaurs (the miniature dinosaurs are great because of the details like spikes and plates on them), and after experimenting with our dinosaur box these produced the best effect in the dough.

To cure the dough before painting, follow the directions for either the microwave dough or classic oven-baked dough.

Once the dough has cooled down we set about painting – acrylic paints work best but don’t worry if you don’t have any: you can use normal ready-mixed paint mixed with some white glue (PVA/School Glue),  and this will work too.

I set out a selection of colours that could be mixed into rock sort of colours, so browns, black, white and different greens, and then provided 1 paint brush. Mixing the colours gave the best rock-look to the fossils,  especially once dried.

Fossil Resources to Extend this Activity Further

Encourage more reading and investigation into fossils, rocks and earth science with our favourite earth science books to read to and for kids of all ages.

I’ve found that following the lead with your child’s interest can lead to amazing discoveries for both of you. Throughout this activity I have added further activity suggestions you can find here on Rainy Day Mum however, we are limited as there are only so many hours in the day so these resources from supplies we use and recommend can be used to extend this even further.

There is nothing better than getting hands-on holding real fossils in your hands and although the local natural history museum is a good place to start it’s possible to purchase a fossil set that gives information about the fossils and real samples of them.

If your children are fans of dinosaurs this Dinosaur Discovery kit from Green Kids Crafts is a great way to encourage the topic with 5 projects for science and arts and crafts it is a hit in our house.

We are big fans of National Geographic and their kid’s resources here and have brought this Fossil Mine Dig Kit a couple of times now one for each child and it’s gone down a hit. Unlike some of the other versions that contain a plastic dinosaur to piece together, this contains real fossils a big bonus with my kids holding prehistory in their hands.

Looking for book inspiration for your dino fans then check out our Dinosaur Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers

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