Dinosaur Fossils Play: Get Your Prehistoric Craft on with this cool activity! A perfect cheap activity for a dinosaur themed birthday party…
Making a dinosaur fossil out of plaster of Paris is loads of fun for any little dino enthusiast. It’s surprisingly cheap and easy to make and doesn’t involve too much mess. The final fossil looks really impressive and can be kept as a treasure.
You will need:
*Plaster of Paris (buy from a discount craft store or any art shop)
*Disposable container and disposable spoon to mix the plaster
*Water
*Plastic dinosaur
*Tub (This will be the same size as your final fossil and should be a little bigger than the plastic dinosaur)
*Play dough
How to make it:
Step 1: Press play dough into the bottom of the tub.
Step 2: Press a plastic dinosaur into the play dough and then lift out. You should see a good imprint of the dinosaur in the play dough.
Step 3: Mix the plaster with water in a disposable container according to the instructions on your pack of plaster. We used about 2 parts plaster to 1 part water. The final consistency should be like pancake batter.
Step 4: Pour the plaster into the tub over the top of the play dough, ensuring you have at least a centimetre thickness of plaster above the play dough. Tap gently to release any bubbles.
Step 5: Allow to dry for around 24 hours, then pop the plaster fossil out of the tub and peel off any play dough to reveal your dinosaur fossil (as shown above).
Throw out your disposable container with any excess plaster rather than washing down the sink – you won’t want to have plaster drying in the sink pipe work!
Why not try creating other types of fossils? Sea shells or plastic insects could also be pressed into the play dough instead of a dinosaur to make lots of different shapes.
Dinosaur parties are a hot theme for kids this year as well, this is a great craft activity for a dino-dig birthday party! Here’s a fab party example from pizzazzerie.com to build on your ideas!