Many preschoolers are fascinated by dinosaurs and this dinosaur dig for fossil puzzles is sure to excite and engage immature learners.

Dinosaur Dig for Fossil Puzzles

This week the PLAYful Preschool theme is dinosaurs! The team is bringing you and so many fun dinosaur activities y'all can practice with the preschoolers in your life. Don't forget to curl all the way down to the bottom of this mail and bank check out their activities as well. This is sure to be an heady #PlayfulPreschool calendar week!

This action uses a couple of simple ingredients that most of you have at dwelling house and turns them into an exciting dinosaur dig activity that is sure to delight the preschooler in your life. Evan LOVES dinosaurs and this activity took his interest in them to an all new high! It may seem like an elaborate or time-consuming activity to prep for, but information technology really is pretty elementary and worth some actress try anyway.

This activity teaches children almost fossils and the paleontologists who unearth them. It gives them a chance to explore these concepts in a hands-on way that is sure to leave an touch on and help them retain what they have learned. The puzzle portion of the activity too utilizes critical thinking skills.

Materials Needed: (this post contains chapter links)

Flour – 1 cup

Salt – 1 cup  *I found recipes that called for 1/ii cup instead of ane whole cup. I plan on trying that next time.

Water – About one/ii cup

Dinosaur Fossil Skeletons

Sand box or bin full of sand

Before starting the digging, nosotros read two books on the topic. The showtime is Dinosaur Bones by Bob Barner and the second is Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones by Byron Barton. They are perfect for preschoolers because of their simplicity, rhythm and illustrations.  However, both books are great for all ages. They were an excellent introduction to what fossils are and what paleontologists do. Evan and I highly recommend them!

Activity Prep:

1. Combine flour and salt.  Slowly add water until y'all accomplish a dough-like consistency. You tin can always add together a bit more water if one/two cup is non enough.

2. Knead the dough until information technology is smoothen. Separate into 5-half dozen chunks and roll each out on a lightly floured service. It needs to be near 1/2 inch thick and so that the skeletons don't poke through to the other side and make holes.

3. Press dinosaur skeletons down on the dough until you have a expert impression. Place on a cookie sheet. I lined mine with wax paper. Then use scissors to carefully cut the skeleton impression into 3 or 4 pieces.

Dinosaur Dig for Fossil Puzzles

4. Bake at 200 F for approximately iii hours. I checked every hour or so to make certain they were coming forth ok.

5. Let fossils cool completely after baking.

6. Hibernate fossils in a sand box or a bin filled with play sand.

Action Instructions:

I brought Evan out to the sand box and told him that we were going to become digging for dinosaur fossils. He then used the shovel and rake tool to dig the fossils out of the sand. Once he had found all the fossils in the sand we brought the inside to grit them off and piece them together.

Dinosaur Dig for Fossil Puzzles

Dinosaur Dig for Fossil Puzzles

Nosotros laid them out ane by one and Evan used the paintbrush to dust all the sand off them like a paleontologist would. So we began putting the pieces together. This was actually quite difficult, so I helped. We used the toy skeletons equally a guide for which pieces belonged where and we matched them upwardly to the complete fossils to verify that we were right.

Dinosaur Dig for Fossil Puzzles

Dinosaur Dig for Fossil Puzzles

This activity was so much fun! Evan was VERY excited about the whole procedure. I honey that he learned about fossils and paleontologists in a hands-on way that is likely to leave a lasting imprint!

If you like this activity, y'all are sure to Dearest our dinosaur fossil earthworks activeness as well!

Don't forget to check out all of the posts from the PLAYful Preschool team below!

Dinosaur Math Play by The Educators' Spin On Information technology
Dinosaur Theme for Preschool:  Hatching DINO Eggs – Early Math & Science.by The Preschool Toolbox
Dinosaur Activities:  Showtime Sound Fossil Matching past Growing Book by Book
Classification and Sorting of Dinosaurs past Rainy Twenty-four hour period Mum
Can You Be A Dinosaur? by Learning 2 Walk
Dinosaur Sensory Play by Still Playing School
Dino-Gourd Dinosaur Egg Hunt by Capri + 3
Dinosaur Hatching past Tiny Tots Adventures
Dinosaur Hunting with Paint by Powerful Mothering
Easily-on Play-based Dinosaur Activitiesby Raising Lifelong Learners
Dinosaur Habitat Sensory Play With Slime by Little Bins for Trivial Easily
Lawn Dinosaur Dig by The Kennedy Adventures

For fifty-fifty more ideas, bank check out my Dinosaur Theme Pinterest board!
Follow Mom Inspired Life's board Dinosaur Theme for Preschool on Pinterest.