When Sam was a 5 year old, he loved everything to do with dinosaurs. He loved his Dinosaur Train interactive figures, watching several Netflix dinosaurs shows
on repeat and would go through dinosaur coloring pages with joy.
And while he loved all things dinosaur, he wasn’t as excited about the real thing. Jurassic Park was way too intense for him.
He definitely preferred watching his dinosaurs on Netflix and The Good Dinosaur over anything realistic.
I still remember the day we made our own dinosaur fossils. Oh, how happy that made him!
I had to republish this oldie goldie post from June 2015 to include dinosaur coloring pages for your littles.
And what better day than today- National Dinosaur Day!
How to Make a Dinosaur Fossils Craft
These are so easy to make and best of all, they look so realistic once dry.
Materials required to make the salt dough:
1 – 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (Start off by adding 1 cup)
1 – 1 1/2 cups salt (Start off by adding 1 cup)
1/2 cup water
You will also need mini dinosaur figurines. These can be bought at your local dollar store.
Instructions:
1. Mix the salt and flour together. Adding a little water at a time to make the dough.
2. Knead this properly till you have a clean (not sticky, like the photograph below) dough ball to work with.
Feel free to add more flour/salt if you feel the dough ball is too sticky. (This is where the additional 1/2 cup of flour and salt may be used)
3. Now make small balls and flatten the same between your palms, ensuring the dough is at least 0.5″ thick
4. Take a dinosaur figure and gently press the same into the dough.
Mommy Tip: Use wax paper under the dough to prevent the same from sticking. Plus it makes clean up so much easier at the end!
Make sure you can see the dinosaur’s impression on the dough clearly.
5. Once you’ve completed making impressions on your fossils-to-be, place them outside in the sun for a few hours.
(We’re in Texas and you know how scorching the sun can get, so ours were ready in 5 hours time.)
Or bake these in the oven, at 200 degrees Fahrenheit, for 2-3 hours. Basically, till the fossils are dry.
And there you have it, your dinosaur fossils are ready!
My kids experimented by painting a dinosaur and by covering one or two with turmeric powder before making imprints on the dough.
In the end, they decided to leave the dinos as is, looked more realistic!
I think these turned out beautifully!
Looking for more dino fun for your child?
Grab my Free Dinosaur Coloring Pages!
This pdf file is sized 8.5″ x 11″ and includes 5 free dinosaur coloring pages.
How cute are these dinosaur coloring pages?
If your child enjoyed these coloring pages,
grab the 25-page DINOSAUR COLORING PAGES pack from my Fun Faith Printables store.
Here are a few more fun dinosaur activities for your kids to enjoy:
These dinosaur activities are perfect for any dinosaur lover. From dinosaur coloring pages and recipes, to crafts and more!More FUN Dinosaur Activities for Dinosaur Lovers
Dinosaur Bones Craft Inspired by JURASSIC WORLD! - Fun Learning Life
Looking for dino books to add to your child’s library?
Usborne Books & More have an incredible collection of dinosaur books. And if you’ve never held an Usborne book in hand, I ask you to order a single book and see just why I love Usborne’s quality and overall content!
Have you done any fun, dinosaur-themed, child-friendly crafts, recipes, or activities with your child/children?
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
What a fun idea! My kids would love those.
Deb@SimplePlate says
Oh goodness I’m loving all the dino crafts! And these! The twins can help make these! Thanks for the post!
Jeanine says
How fun and creative! My two boys who are 4 and 6 are in a HUGE dinosaur phase right now so this is something I could really see us doing and enjoying. They would LOVE IT.
Megan @ C'mon Get Crafty says
This is such a cute and creative idea! You can do so many things with this, make necklaces or ornaments or what have you!
Robin (Masshole Mommy) says
I like the idea of making ornaments out of these! How fun.
melisasource says
Oh wow these are so cute!! I know my kids would love to make these!
Stacie @ Divine Lifestyle says
That is such a fun idea! My kids have been obsessed with dinosaurs forever, and now that Jurassic World has come out, they’ve gone into overdrive. I’ll have to do this project with them.
Demetra says
Thee are such cute dinosaur inspired ideas. We saw the movie and while I really enjoyed it I agree it would be too intense for a 5 year old.
Crystal says
How fun and a great way to repurpose all those toy dinosaurs. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I really want to!
Rachel Ferrucci says
This looks like a fun craft and there’s some awesome tips. My grandson loves dinosaurs so I can’t wait to do this with him.
Tracey says
How fun! This is such a creative craft for kids that love dinos!
Myrah - Coupon Mamacita says
That is such a cute idea! This is the perfect project for any little dinosaur lover.
Dawn says
I wish I’d done something like this with my son when he was little. He would have loved it! He was all dinosaurs all the time.
Jay - Dude of the House says
That’s a great idea for one of the upcoming school-free days. My boys will love this!
Rachelle says
What a fun looking craft!! I will have to show my daughter, she would love it!
Catherine S says
This is such a neat and creative idea. I will have to do this with my nephew he will love it.
jen temcio says
This is a great craft and learning activity for kids! There are so many senses involved and it would be a great accompaniment to a dinosaur learning theme for home schooling!
Valerie says
That is so fun! This would be a great summer craft idea to do with kiddos. It would be perfect for any other dino learning lessons!
Liz Mays says
That is such a clever idea. The ridges on the figurines work so well with this project. They look so fossil-like!
Marcie W. says
I always enjoy finding fun activities to make the excitement of a movie last beyond the theater. These are all excellent suggestions and my kids are quite anxious to see Jurassic World.
Amy Desrosiers says
These are such great ideas! My kids are really into dinos now too!
Pam says
Too bad he didn’t get to see the movie. Making fossils at home seems like a great way to make up for it though.
Tess says
That is a cute project to do. Well, all of them are . Lol
Kristi says
My nephew loves Dinosaurs and I bet he would love to help make those! Will bookmark for the next time he comes for a visit!
Shauna says
Oh what total fun. I could see doing all of these with my kids, especially little man. He loves everything dinosaur… Thanks so much for sharing.
Stefanie says
What a fun activity! Those dino eggs look cool too!
Aubrey says
What a fun summer activity to do with the kids. I bet mine would enjoy this. Especially after seeing Jurassic Park.
Ann Bacciaglia says
These are such fun ideas. I will have to share this with my friends with little ones. I am sure they would love to try it.
Debbie Denny says
Oh what fun. Looks like a blast for kids.
Shelley Zurek says
I am truly sorry he missed out on the movie but I am proud you guys researched it and did the right thing. Movies like this can haunt kids “Not the right age” for a long time. I love the craft you chose as a replacement and I am sure he did too!
Amber Edwards says
Oh those little Dinosaur fossils are so cute! And it would be an awesome activity with the kids. Fun, artsy and educational all at once!
Sarah Marturano says
These look so cute! What an awesome idea! Perfect for an educational lesson too!
Kiwi says
How innovative is this! This would be fun for a little boy who wants to make his own fossil…perfect timing for the Jurassic Park movie!
Sabrina @ Dinner, then Dessert says
I’ve made a similar dough before for Christmas ornaments! This is such a creative use!
Toni | BoulderLocavore says
This is the cutest idea ever! I have not seen the movie yet but know the original intention was that the film would be rated R. These days I sometimes leave theaters feeling there is a thin line between PG13 and R! No doubt you made a good call about keeping your son home and making these fun ‘fossils’ instead!
Nancy @ Whispered Inspirations says
These are so cute! I know that my daughters will love to do this. Bookmarked!
Chrystal M says
Those are so cool. We have some tiny dino’s. They hang out in our fairy garden from time to time. This would be a fun little project to do.
Latoicha says
This is such a cool activity for kids. My 7 year old daughter loves dinosaurs and would love to do this with her friends.
Donna says
When my son was younger he was obsessed with dinosaurs. We had dinosaurs everywhere. 🙂 I wish I had done this with him back then. My husband took him to see Jurassic World last weekend and it brought up all those memories of him playing with and learning all about dinosaurs.
Crystal says
Your fossils are so cute! I know my little paleontologists would get a kick out of making those with me this summer.
Penelope says
How cute is that! My kindergartener would just adore this diy project.
Karen says
How cute! You could use any thing to make an imprint and make special ornaments or necklaces out of them.
The Mid-Atlantic Foodie says
Oh my gosh, my nephew would love these! I can’t wait to do this with him when we visit in a few weeks!
Debbie Welchert says
What a great idea. My grandson loves dinosaurs too. He would have so much fun doing something like this.
Christie says
I love this dinosaur project! My kids would really enjoy making their own fossils!
Camesha | Mama Motivator says
These are all such fun ideas. My son really likes dinosaurs. We can do these over the summer.
Amanda Todaro says
Oh this is the perfect craft for my kiddos today! It’s raining and quite nasty outside! They’d enjoy this!! Thanks for sharing!!
Heather lawrence says
What a fun activity!!
Snagging this to share with my day home friends.
They would get a kick out of matching them with the plastic figure.
Janet W. says
These fossils are such a great idea! My grandsons certainly have plenty of plastic dinosaurs to make fossil with!
nicole dziedzic says
Wonder if the dinosaur figures would stick into the dough if you left them in it. Think that would look cool as well. And great tip about the wax paper.
Libby's Library says
I have a 6 year old grandson coming to visit. These will be a perfect craft for us to do together!
Julie Wood says
What a very fun craft idea to do and make our own Dinosaur fossils. I know that my niece and I would have so much fun making these!
Robin W says
My great-= niece is 5 years old and loves dinosaurs too. I am so glad that I read this before my nephew had a chance to take her to the movies to see Jurassic World!! These “fossils” are genius and a craft I know she will just love. The messier the better! The other crafts you have shared look cute too, esp the eggs!