Discovering Dinosaurs: A Fun Fossil Hunt Adventure for Kids

Concepts

• Simple Concept: Fossils are old bones and footprints from animals that lived long ago, like dinosaurs! To find them, you have to dig, like you’re digging for treasure.

• Advanced Concept: Fossils form when the hard parts from animals and plants get buried by mud or sand, which is called sediment. Over millions of years, the sediment hardens and turns to rock, creating fossils that paleontologists study to understand life from long ago!

Materials

• Container

• Sand or Dirt

• Fossils*

• Tiny brush

*There are many ways to represent a fossil. You can use tiny dinosaur toys and press them into play-doh, then let the play-doh dry. You can also buy “dinosaur bone” toys to represent a fossil. Or you can create a salt dough and make impressions with toy dinosaurs, shells, or leaves.

Instructions

1. Create your own fossil if you are not using prepurchased “fossils” (look above for notes on creating your own fossil).

2. Place a layer of sand on the bottom of the container.

3. Put your fossils on top of the sand.

4. Add more sand to completely cover the fossils.

5. Use a tiny brush to carefully wipe away the sand and uncover the fossils. Tip: Have fun facts prepared for each fossil to teach your little one about different dinosaurs.