Shop UK Site 
DIY Dinosaur Fossils!
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Oct 8, 2018 | STEM
Happy National Fossil Day! Why are fossils so important? Fossils have helped us discover plants and animal life a long time ago and continue to teach us about our world.
One of the most intriguing discoveries to people and most fascinating to children is the fossils that have helped us learn about dinosaurs. Playing with dinosaur figurines is a fun way to let children's (as well as adult's) imagination soar! In honor of National Fossil Day, we used dinosaur figurines and a salt dough mixture to recreate a fossil. Taking impressions of the dinosaurs and baking the salt dough mixture made our homemade fossils come alive!
Here are instructions on how to make your very own fossil creations.
Materials you'll need:
Mixing bowl
1 cup salt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup warm water
Parchment paper
Baking sheet
Oven
Paint and paintbrush (optional)
Salt Dough Mixture Instructions
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Begin by mixing the flour, salt and warm water together with your hands to get it to the right consistency.
The dough should stick together, but not feel sticky once mixed. If it feels too wet or sticky add a little more flour. If it feels crumbly or dry add a drop of water.
Separate the dough into small or large chunks depending on the number and size fossils you plan on making. Roll each chunk into a ball to smooth out any cracks. Then flatten each ball to 1/4" thick patty onto the parchment paper. The thicker the dough the longer it will take in the oven to harden and dry.
Now it's time to take impressions using the dinosaurs figurines
Lay the dinosaur on its side and press down into the salt dough mixture. Carefully take the figurine out of the dough and you will see the remains of the dinosaur body.
Once you finish taking impressions of the dinosaurs, bake the dough in the oven at 200 degrees F for 3 hours. After 3 hours, flip the impression face down and place it back in the oven for another 1-2 hours if its not fully cooked. Each oven varies so bake longer if you feel necessary.
Allow the dinosaur fossils to cool overnight. Once your fossils cool you can paint them. We chose some earthy colors to reflect where the fossils could have been found.
Here are some key points to share and explore with a child learning about fossils for the first time
- Fossils are formed over thousands of years
- Many fossils are made from animals and plants that are no longer alive or on earth anymore (extinct)
- Fossils are an imprint of an animals body, bone, footprint, or plant that was once living turned into rock
- Scientists and Paleontologist study fossils to learn more about plants and animals that were once living
Pretend to be a scientist
While my son was at school I buried the homemade fossils in the sandbox. He couldn't wait to pretend we were scientists and search for the fossilized dinos. When he found a dinosaur fossil in the sand we discussed what we noticed about each imprint.
Fossil Match
Another fun way to use the fossils is to match the imprint with the correct dinosaur. Placing the dinosaurs in the correct imprint made for a fun matching game!
I hope your fossil making experience is the perfect mix of fun and educational like ours was!
DIY Space Sensory Bin!
READ MORE
Bright Science! DIY Layers of the Sun Craft
Is it getting hot in here? Since those Firelytes love the heat, we thought we’d go an adventure with them to the hottest spot in our galaxy: the SUN!
The Sun is a spot of constant fascination for scientists and space-lovers alike. On August 12, 2018, NASA launched the historic Park Solar Probe. Its mission is to revolutionize our understanding of the Sun. Parker will be able to travel through the Sun’s atmosphere, closer to it than any spacecraft before!
Layers of the Sun
Core
How fast is that? Well, fast enough to get from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. in one second!
And what about the heat? Parker’s outer solar shield will be up against temperatures of about 2,500 degree Fahrenheit, but inside the probe it will stay a comfortable room temperature. The Sun is the only star we can study up close. As the source of light and heat for the Earth, the more scientists study it, the more we can understand how life on Earth developed. Solar wind, or the flow of gases from the Sun, can cause disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field. All good stuff to find out – Parker is going to help scientists do it.
READ MORE
Beaker Creatures DIY Halloween Slime!
October marks the beginning of our favorite time of year! We pull out all of our Halloween decorations and transform our entire house for a month before we transition to Fall and finally holiday décor. Along with the festive setting in our home, I also begin themed activities to excite our girls and encourage them to get into the holiday spirit. One of their favorite Halloween projects is creating various types of spook-tacular slime! This is an incredibly low prep activity that results in hours of fun sensory play.
The three base ingredients are water, glue, and liquid starch.
Liquid starch can be found in the laundry section of your local store and only costs a couple of dollars. As for the glue, you can use either white or clear glue. White will result in opaque slime, while the clear will be more see through. In addition to the base ingredients, choose any food coloring, glitter or add ins that match the theme! My girls chose orange and purple food coloring, various glitter, googly eyes and our beloved Beaker Creatures.
First, empty two, 5 ounce bottles of glue into a bowl. Once they are empty, fill the bottles with water and pour that into the bowl as well. Stir the mixture until it is smooth.
At this point, add in your food coloring. This is the only step you can do this at, so make sure you add enough! As you will see below, our first batch looked very orange initially, but I should have added more food coloring. By the end, it was a faint orange color (but the girls didn’t care).
Pour in any mix-ins – my oldest chose googly eyes and green + purple glitter. Stir until the items are mostly incorporated.
Next, add in 8 ounces of liquid starch and begin to stir. The mixture will begin to turn into a hard blob
.
At this point you can help your child and begin to knead the slime with your hands. If it’s pretty sticky, add in a little more starch. Knead some more and continue adding starch until the slime can be handled easily. It will still have some stick to it, but you should be able to pull it off the table in one piece. Depending on the brand of glue you use, the amount of starch will vary. I’ve found that 8 ounces is always the best amount to start with.
We added in our Beaker Creatures and the fun began! My youngest daughter also created a batch of purple slime from white glue. That batch made it’s way into the party as well.
My daughters will play with slime for hours! We store our slime for a few days of play in a Ziploc bag. If it’s a little sticky, just add some liquid starch again. We hope you enjoy this spook-tacular sensory activity as much as we do!
Save it for later!
READ MORE
