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dinosaur

Create your own fossils out of salt dough!Looking to spark fun and learning for a young dinosaur-loving adventurer? Use tools to excavate bones just like a real paleontologist with a <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/paleontologist-starter-kit/5844" target="_self">Paleontologist Starter Kit</a> from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo Store</a>!

Fossils are how we know anything about living things from the ancient world, like dinosaurs. Fossils form under just the right conditions, when a dead animal or plant is encased in dirt and sediment. Over hundreds of years, the living thing’s organic matter is traced or replaced by minerals. The fossil rock that remains can last for hundreds of millions of years, longer than any tissue from the living thing itself.The only trouble with fossils is that they need the right conditions to form, and they take a looong time to make. But what if you could make your own fossils in under two hours? Try out this project to find out how!

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Mix 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of salt together in the mixing bowl. 

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Gradually add 1 cup of water, stirring as you go, until you have a dough-like consistency. We added several drops of red, yellow, and blue food coloring to make a greenish water that turns the dough brown. 

Don’t make the dough too wet! You may not need a whole cup of water.  

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Form the dough into a ball, dust it with flour, and knead it for at least 5 minutes.

The longer you knead your dough, the smoother it will be. If your dough gets too sticky, add more flour to the dough, your hands, or your kneading surface. 

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Roll your dough out to about ½-inch to ¼-inch thickness. 

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Cut circles out of the dough using either a cookie cutter or a glass. 

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Press your dinosaurs into the dough. Then, carefully remove them. Either let your dinosaur fossils air dry, or bake them in the oven at 200 degrees for 2-3 hours.

Paleontologists (scientists who study ancient life like dinosaurs) call the kind of fossil you just made a mold fossil. That’s because the sediment (the dough) formed a mold around the dinosaur body, preserving an imprint of it.

There are lots of other kinds of fossils, though. The dinosaur bones you see arranged and built into skeletons are permineralized fossils. Compression fossils turn plants like ferns into a thin film on a rock. The next time you visit a natural history museum, see how many different kinds of fossils you can find!

flour

salt

water

plastic dinosaurs

food coloring

mixing bowl

cutting board

rolling pins

cookie cutters

oven

Salt Dough Dinosaur Fossils

arts & crafts

Handmade Christmas Gifts & Cards

You can make your own all-natural, moisturizing glycerin soap with just one ingredient and a microwave. Then, add in some fun decorations, like tiny dinos,&nbsp;to make bath time a little more fun!

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If you’re interested in making more super cool melt-and-pour soap, check out our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/crystal-ombre-soap-making-project-kit/2728?utm_source=Google-u&utm_medium=SHOPPING&utm_content=&utm_campaign=GGL_SHOPPING_NAMER_US_Prospecting_Store_DR_All_ENG&utm_term=&utm_ad=310764414219&utm_adset=62549269635&utm_placement=&gclid=CjwKCAjwuvmHBhAxEiwAWAYj-Hb2CUG-jUo6PBN76Nb1yRSUJP0XYyf_6JcLEZNEtAqbTV3EZrEprxoC-PoQAvD_BwE">Crystal Ombre Soap Making</a> kit, available in the KiwiCo Store!

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Melt the glycerin in a glass measuring cup or microwave-safe container with a spout. Heat in 20-second intervals until thoroughly melted, stirring with a metal or wood utensil in between heats.

Ask your grownup assistant for help– the glycerin is pretty hot!

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Fill your molds halfway with a layer of melted glycerin. Let it sit for about five minutes.

If the remaining&nbsp;glycerin starts to harden while you wait, pop it back in the microwave!

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Place your dinos or other decorations&nbsp;into the molds. Then, carefully fill the molds with&nbsp;more&nbsp;glycerin. Be careful not to overfill! It is better to under-fill than overfill.&nbsp;If you have air bubbles after pouring, gently tap the bottom of the mold.

If you have air bubbles after pouring, gently tap the bottom of the mold.

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Wait about an hour (or longer, depending on the size of your molds) until the surface of your soap cools and hardens. Then, pop the soap out of the silicone molds.

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(Optional) Carve the soap into an egg shape using clay tools!

Soap has been keeping humans clean for quite a long time! In the 1700s, the first bars of soap were mass produced and advertised as a way to stay clean and healthy. Through this DIY, you’ll explore a soap making process called “melt and pour”. Lots of soap makers use this technique because it’s easy and customizable. Makers can focus their attention on the look of their soap instead of working out the chemistry. 
But if you are interested in the chemistry of soap’s super cleaning powers, look no further than <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ35Zlx_T_w" target="_blank">our video explaining how soap keeps us clean</a>!

Clay Tools Set (optional)

Glycerin Soap Block

Silicone Mold

Plastic Dinosaur Toys

Dinosaur Soap

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Go back to school in style with a dinosaur pencil toppers!

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Roll some clay into two small balls. One of them should&nbsp;slightly bigger than the other. The smaller ball will be the dinosaur head and the bigger will be the body!

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On the bigger ball, pinch one end and shape excess clay into&nbsp;a tail.

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On the bottom, pinch the clay two times on each side to&nbsp;shape four legs.

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On the smaller ball, use a clay tool to squish down some clay to form the neck frill of the triceratops.

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Triceratops had a big, bony frill that extended&nbsp;from the back of its skull and around its neck. Paleontologists believe that the&nbsp;frill acted as a shield, protecting the dinosaurs from predators!&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Gently press down on the neck frill with&nbsp;a clay tool to add texture.&nbsp;

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Roll two&nbsp;tiny balls of black clay and stick them on the head&nbsp;for eyes.

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Roll a piece of white clay into a horn shape with a flat bottom, and stick it on the nose area. Roll two smaller horns and stick them above each eye.

Adding a little water to the ends of the horns will help make the clay stickier!&nbsp;

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Carefully smush the bottom of the&nbsp;body onto a pencil. Leave it to dry overnight.&nbsp;

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Try making a&nbsp;Stegosaurus or a different type of dino for your next pencil topper!

Rainbow Air-Dry Clay

Clay Tools Set

Pencils

Dinosaur Pencil Toppers

indoor game

animals

pretend play

What left that footprint? Solve the mystery to find out and become a play dough detective. 

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Gather a few plastic animals or figurines from your toy area and play dough. Have your child help you roll 6 play dough balls and flatten them with your palm. 

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I picked 3 dinosaurs. When he wasn't looking, I pushed them into the play dough to make footprints. I left the pink play dough without footprints so he could use it to experiment with.  I set it all up and called him over and said, "Look dinosaurs were here. They left footprints! Can you figure out which dinosaur left which footprint?" There's nothing like a mystery to get a child's attention! He used the dinosaurs to make his own sets of footprints and then matched them up to solve the mystery. 

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Right away he wanted to do it again, but he wanted me to make it harder for him by having 4 insects to choose from and only 3 sets of prints. 

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The insects were more of a challenge and it was so neat to see the prints in the play dough. 

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We did this activity over and over again. He even made a mystery for me to solve and one for his sister too. It was a fun, new way to play with play dough!

play dough

small plastic animals or figurines 

magnifying glass

Be a Play Dough Detective

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sensory activity

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On a trip to Michael's a few months ago, my daughter  talked me into buying a $5 set of dinosaur skulls.  We played with them at the beach this summer, pretending to be paleontologists digging up fossils in the sand.  I rediscovered them again this week as I was doing our quarterly playroom purge, and as we head into winter, I thought it would be fun to move our fossil excavation to the Ice Caps.

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To get us set up, I filled Dixie cups with water and dropped the dinosaur skulls in.  Two of them I stuck right into the freezer; the other two I tried filling first with a bit of water (1/4" or so), freezing for 30 minutes, and then adding the dino skulls and more water--so we'd have a thicker layer of ice on top of the skulls.  To be honest, it didn't seem to make a huge difference in the outcome, so I'd say you could go either way.


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After 24 hours in the freezer, we popped them right out of the Dixie Cups.  I placed them on top of a paper towel on a baking sheet to contain the melting ice.


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My daughter and I discussed what tools a paleontologist would use to excavate fossils from ice.  We decided on a (kid) knife, metal spoon, a pumpkin carver, and hot water.  She started out using a straw to drop the water on the ice (a pipette or water dropper would be even better, if you have one)...


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...but decided that was too slow, so we started spooning on. to speed things up a bit.


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After 10 minutes or so, we started to see some results!  She was very excited to see the fossils starting to emerge...


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At this point, my daughter decided it was time to move to the Big Gun, so she grabbed the little pumpkin carving tool left over from Halloween (I watched her to make sure she was good to handle this on her own.) 

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She continued until she had almost completely freed the fossil from the ice.  She was so proud of her paleontology skills! 

snack cups

toy plastic animals

Ice Excavation

egg projects

My son jumps at the chance to wash his hands. Want to know my secret? Together, we created this dinosaur egg soap, which my son loves using. Read on to see how you can  make your own! (They make fun gifts and party favors, too.) 

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My kids set out the oval soap molds out on the counter and placed a plastic dinosaur in each mold. 

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We then melted the soap. I cut up the glycerin into smaller pieces to help it melt quicker, and my son added the pieces to a microwave-safe measuring cup. We then placed the cup in the microwave and heated it for one minute at a time. After each minute, we took out the cup (with pot holders!) then used a spoon to give the soap a stir.) We kept checking in on on our soap, and kept stirring, until the soap was liquid-y. For us, this took about three minutes.

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Once the soap went from solid to liquid, I held the handle and let my son give the mixture a final stir. 

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My son added a 1/4 tsp of cucumber melon soap scent to the melted soap. He loved the scent and said it smelled like candy. 

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Now it was time to pour the melted soap into the mold. This should be a grownup step! As I poured the soap into the mold, my son oohed and ahhed.

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Once all the molds were full, we let the soap set for several hours. 

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Once the soap had set, I slid a butter knife along the side of the soap and the plastic edges.   The soap popped right out. My son was so excited to see his dinosaur "eggs"! 

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We packaged up four of the soaps to give as gifts. Then we put one into my son's bathroom. He loves washing with it and can't wait for the dinosaur to come out! 

small plastic dinosaurs

soap molds (oval)

measuring cup (microwave-safe)

soap scent (optional)

spoon

Dinosaur Egg Soap

indoor project

Looking in my pantry is always the best way to create some fun sensory play in our house. New textures and smells are so engaging and fun to play with. On this day my two-year old had so much fun with some cornmeal and dino's!

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Cornmeal has such a nice texture. When I was looking for something to be an indoor sand box I knew cornmeal would work perfectly. I first tried a cake pan and had to pull out a large baking sheet. Grayson needed much more digging room than the cake pan could offer!

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We filled the baking sheet with cornmeal and added the dinosaurs and a few cookie cutters to make fun prints. He loved every minute of this and my five-year old eventually joined in too.

10 fun dinosaur projects for kids

Screen-free fun!