My daughter likes dinosaurs. She really likes them. I think this is largely because of the book ‘How do dinosaurs say goodnight?’. I am not sure, but regardless, she loves those crazy creatures. A few weeks back I took her to a dinosaur exhibit.
She of course loved it. There was a wide range of dinosaur related displays, rides & activities. One of the kid’s activities there was a sandbox with fossilized rock at the bottom. It had paint brushes to brush off the sand to uncover the fossils. Mai really enjoyed this. I thought this would be an easy enough activity to make a home. It took a few weeks, but today we finally tackled this sensory box & the results were great.
What you will need:
A large Rubbermaid container
Hardening modeling Clay – I made my own off of this recipe from Wiki- http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Modeling-Clay-at-Home
Play Sand
Paint Brushes
Corn Starch
Dinosaur figurines
An old sheet or a drop cloth
Instructions:
Get your molding clay ready. Knead & roll out to the desired shapes.
Using your dinosaurs make imprints into the clay with their feet & their bodies.
Let your clay harden according to it’s recipe directions or package directions.
Once your imprinted clay is hardened & cooled, place at the bottom of your Rubbermaid container.
Pour play sand on top of your clay imprints. I mixed the sand with cornstarch to lighten the texture of the sand.
Add your dinosaurs and paint brushes. Lay down an old sheet or drop cloth to collect any sand that may escape.
Dinosaurs!
Brush the sand & reveal your fossils.
My adorable daughter is showing me the mama dinosaur holding her baby dinosaur. So cute!
This is fun!
Mai loved this activity. We played with it after supper & up until bath time. She was so deep into her new role as archaeologist that mommy was able to bake, do the dishes & pick up all of her toys. It was a good night. Mai even helped mommy sweep up after.
Related topics:
http://expatfamilyq8.com/2014/02/26/cocoa-cloud-dough/
http://expatfamilyq8.com/2014/02/22/coloured-corn-sensory-box/
http://teachingtwos.com/2014/02/13/february-sensory-box/
http://lifelessonplans.org/farm-sensory-bin/
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22 comments
Very cute and looked like Mai had a great time with this one. Great job Mama on this cute activity!! 🙂
She loves it. She has characterized all of the dinosaurs too as a family member. Lol! There’s nanna dinosaur and uncle Pete dinosaur.
Oh my gosh my daughter would LOVE this. I need to try it! You are such a cool mom. 🙂
Thanks Salt. My daughter just loves this. She loves sensory play and add the dinosaurs and she is in her glory.
That is really cool. My girls are very into dinosaurs and fossils
Thanks Debi!
my son loves dinos and we’ve gone some great places to “dig fossils” –this would be fun to do at home–thanks for the great idea
Your welcome. My daughter loves this. I hope your son does too.
I love the sensory activities that you do!
Thank you!! They are fun to do with the munchkin. 🙂
My son would absolutely love this! Thank you for linking up with Tuesday Tutorials #pintorials 🙂
I have a boy who loves dinosaurs. I’m sure he’d get a real kick out of doing this. Thanks for sharing. #pintorials
What a clever idea and I know this is an activity most children of various ages would enjoy. It is a great way to introduce Paleontology to older kids too.
I did something similiar to this with my kids years ago and they loved it! Great way to learn!
That is awesome that she loves dinosaurs! Maybe she will be a paleontologist when she grows up! 😉 Wish they had exhibits like this where I live, my boys would love to see dinosaur stuff.
My son would love this !! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Such a cute idea! When she gets older it might even be fun to make car tracks and then play a matching game to the wheels that made the track. I love that book as well; it’s so cute!
This is a great idea! We went to that same dinosaur exhibit when it came near us last year. My daughter wanted nothing to do with taking that cool T-Rex photo though! lol!
Fantastic idea we love dinosaurs.
This is a great craft idea! It’s educational and fun at the same time. Initially I thought “this would be cool but I don’t have clay” but then I was so excited to see that you included a recipe for making your own! I am going to try this out with my nephews who are Dino-obsessed!
WOW! I absolutely loved this. What a great idea. Your daughter is adorable. I loved the pictures too, they really made it a journey seeing how the project went. 🙂
My toddler LOVES dinosaurs (probably from the ton of dinos his daddy buys him!). This sensory box would be right up his alley! My only concern of course is him eating the dough…since he’s at the stage where everything goes in the mouth! Will have to give it a try nonetheless, thanks for sharing!