Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils Project

Project Summary:

This salt dough dinosaur fossils project is a fantastic project which introduces children to the concept of fossils. The project uses a simple salt dough recipe and all you need are a few mini dinosaur toys to create the fossil imprints.

Project Details: Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils Project

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You will need mini dinosaur toys. Amazon have an excellent selection of mini dinosaur figure sets which can be used in all kinds of craft projects, click on the links below to view details:

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Step 1 – Prepare the materials

If you choose to make your own salt dough it can be easily prepared with a simple recipe of 4 cups of plain flour, 1 cup of salt and approximately 1 cup of water. Mix the ingredients together and knead the mixture to form a soft dough.

Step 2 – Roll out the salt dough

Once the salt dough has been prepared use a rolling pin to roll the salt dough out to a medium thickness on a board. Then you can then use a circular cookie cutter to cut circle shapes out of the dough.

Step 3 – Create the dinosaur imprint

You will need mini dinosaur toys for this step. After you have created the circular salt dough shape, choose a mini dinosaur toy and firmly press the dinosaur into the salt dough. Once this has been completed, gently remove the dinosaur from the dough; this will leave the imprint of the dinosaur embedded within the salt dough.

Step 4 – Create a hole to hang the fossil

The next step is to use a straw to press a hole through the dinosaur fossil, this can be later used to thread twine or ribbon through for hanging.

Step 5 – Dry the fossil

Once the fossils have been completed you may choose to leave them to dry overnight or alternatively you can place them on a baking tray and bake for approximately 20 mins at 180 degrees (this may take longer based on individual ovens), until the salt dough becomes hard. Alternatively you can leave them to air dry which may take a few days based on the thickness of the salt dough.

Step 6 – Display the fossils

When the fossils are dry you can tread twine through the hole of each fossil. You can then choose to hang them as a display or alternatively the children can use them in lots of games including hide-and-seek games and dinosaur treasure trail games!