Calling all future paleontologists! Join Ella and Annie in our DIY clay fossil activity, where you will be making your own colorful bug and dinosaur fossils. What is a fossil? Fossils are bones of an animal that were buried very deep in dirt and eventually turned to rock with the surrounding soil. What do paleontologists do? Well, they study fossils of course!
Kids absolutely LOVE learning about fossils. Make our clay fossils and bury them in sand. Let your kids carefully excavate for their homemade clay bug and dinosaur fossils! We decided to paint the fossils with acrylic paint and make them bright and colorful. You could also leave them the natural clay color which probably makes them harder to discover in the sand!
Mold clay into small golf ball sized balls. Add water to soften clay. Using a rolling pin, roll out clay and use the round cookie cutter to cut out circles for the fossils.
Gently press one of the figurines into the center of the clay circle. Do not press too hard or the figurine will go through to the other side. Pull off the figurine from the clay circle and set aside. Repeat with each bug or dinosaur figurine you want to use.
Let the clay fossils air dry for 2-3 days. I placed ours in the sun during the day which helped speed up the drying time. Drying time depends on how thick you make the clay circles. Once the clay fossils have dried, paint the clay fossils with colorful acrylic paint. Dry for a few hours and let the playing begin!
Craft and Photos by Shauna of Ella and Annie