Fun Dinosaur Dig Activity
In my house it doesn’t matter if you are male or female, dinosaurs are a favorite! The kids love learning about, drawing, imitating, and creating dinosaurs of all sizes and shapes.
I thought a fossil dig would be a fun to add to our dinosaur unit study, a great way to keep little hands busy and leave an impression on their minds. You can buy kits online but you can save yourself a considerable amount of money by making your own (plus you can include a dino or dino skeleton of your choosing).
You might want to make up several and keep them on hand for rainy days when the kids need a special activity to keep them busy.
Check out more fun dinosaur activities kids will love here.
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Recommended Dinosaur Books for Kids
Discover the world of dinosaurs and see how they lived in their time with these colorfully illustrated dinosaur books your kids will love.
Dinosaur! (Knowledge Encyclopedias)Tiny T. Rex and the Impossible Hug (Dinosaur Books, Dinosaur Books for Kids, Dinosaur Picture Books, Read Aloud Family Books, Books for Young Children)How to Catch a DinosaurOh Say Can You Say Di-no-saur?: All About Dinosaurs (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library)Dinosaurs: A Visual Encyclopedia, 2nd EditionDinosaur Lady: The Daring Discoveries of Mary Anning, the First Paleontologist (Women in Science Biographies, Fossil Books for Kids, Feminist Picture Books, Dinosaur Gifts for Kids)
Do your kids love reading books but just don’t have the time to read them all yourself? Grab an Audible subscription to find amazing audiobooks that your kids can listen to on their own. You can get up to two free audiobooks when you sign up for the first time.
If audiobooks aren’t you’re thing, see what cool books you can find on Kindle and your kids will have a huge library ready at their fingertips.
Dinosaur fossil dig supplies
- Plastic dinosaurs and fossils
- 2 cups clean potting soil
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ½ cup sand
- 1 ½ cups water
- Container
- Excavation tools
I found this little cake pan at Dollar Tree and it is the perfect size for several small dinosaur skeletons let’s at least 2 children at a time work on it, it is also reusable. You can halve the recipe and use smaller containers for individual use if you like. You can also find small bags of sand and soil in the floral department at the Dollar Tree making this a very frugal project that you can make over and over.
>> Get more simple homeschool science experiments!
Recommended Dinosaur Excavation Kits
These cool dinosaur eggs and fossils are two great options for your Dinosaur Dig Activity. Kids will love if you have placed variety of Dino Things that they can dig.
Dinosaur Dig Directions
Combine all the ingredients in the container you are going to use until well combined. Your mixture should be somewhere between damp and dripping wet,you may need to add a bit more water or dirt/sand, depending on the types you use.
Press your skeletons/dinosaurs into the bottom of the pan and cover them up well with your mixture. Set out in the sun to dry or make it the night before and let it dry out all night and until you are ready for the activity.
Once your mixture is dry, it will be semi hard and crumbly.
This is much easier to break through than the plaster version so it is great for younger children.
I set ours out with spoons for digging and paintbrushes to help gently clear away dirt in the “delicate bones” of the dinosaur.
Add some books nearby to peak the kids interest, you will likely see them looking through trying to match the bones they found.
More Dinosaur Activities
Your dinosaur-lover will love this awesome printable where they can learn more about their favorite dinosaurs while they practice their writing and research skills, too.
Your little dino-lover will have a blast as they try these dinosaur science experiments that will teach them about chemical reactions, states of matter, and more while learning about the different types of dinosaurs.
Get your supplies ready for some fun and engaging dinosaur-themed arts and crafts!
Best Dinosaur Books for Kids by Imagination Soup
How to Make a Paper Mache Dinosaur Land
Dot to Dot Dinosaurs by Homeschool Preschool
Great idea! We had a little plaster one that took forever to excavate, and I did most of the work! This sounds much more manageable for little ones.
That’s usually what happens with our plaster ones too.