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Indoor activity

Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils

Become a palaeontologist! Mix simple salt dough and press toy dinosaurs into it to create ancient, museum-worthy fossils.

Ages 3-12 2-3 hours Education 8/10

Materials

  • Plain Flour
  • Salt
  • Toy Dinosaur
  • Water

Illustrated Steps

1

Mix the Fossil Dough

Combine flour, salt, and water in a bowl. Knead it together to make a smooth dough.

2

Shape the Rocks

Roll small balls of dough and flatten them into thick discs on a smooth surface.

3

Make the Impression

Press your toy dinosaur firmly into the dough and lift it away to leave a fossil mark.

4

Bake and Excavate

Bake the dough discs in the oven until rock hard, then cool them down for play.

What You’ll Create

You and your little palaeontologists will step back in time to the Jurassic era! 🌋 By mixing a simple, magical salt dough, you’ll craft realistic-looking ancient fossils right at your kitchen table. Once baked, these tough little discs look just like real archaeological finds, complete with the footprints and skeletons of your favourite Toy Dinosaur!

How to Set It Up

Step 1: Mix the Fossil Dough

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of Plain Flour, half a cup of Salt, and half a cup of Water. Knead the mixture with your hands until it forms a smooth, firm ball of dough.

Step 2: Shape the Rocks

Pinch off small handfuls of the dough and roll them into balls. Place them on a flat surface and gently flatten them with the palm of your hand to create smooth, round rocks about 1cm thick.

Step 3: Make the Impression

Take your Toy Dinosaur and firmly press its feet, tail, or side into the dough rocks. Carefully peel the dinosaur away to reveal a perfect, ancient impression left behind!

Step 4: Bake and Excavate

⚠️ Adult Helper Needed — Place the fossils on a baking tray and ask a grown-up to bake them in the oven at 120°C for 2 hours until rock hard. Once cool, your fossils are ready to be discovered!

Have fun!

  • 🕵️ Hide the baked fossils in a sandbox or a tub of dirt and use a small brush to ’excavate’ them!
  • 🎨 Paint the fossils with watered-down brown paint to make them look like genuine ancient stone.
  • 🔍 Try pressing leaves or shells into the dough to create different types of natural fossils.
  • 🦖 Challenge friends to guess which dinosaur made which footprint.

Why It’s Amazing

  • Sensory Play: Kneading the dough provides deep pressure feedback, which is incredibly calming. 🧘
  • Fine Motor Skills: Pinching, rolling, and pressing the dough strengthens the tiny muscles in hands and fingers. 🖐️
  • Scientific Imagination: Introduces early concepts of history, archaeology, and how fossils are formed over millions of years. 🌍

Pro Tips

For ages 3–5: Let them go wild with the stamping! It doesn’t have to be perfect; they will love just seeing the marks appear in the dough.

For ages 5–8: Encourage them to make a complete ‘skeleton’ by pressing different parts of the dinosaur in a line.

For ages 8–12: Have them research real dinosaur footprints and try to recreate them, or paint the finished fossils with realistic rocky details using sponges and grey paint.