Dinosaur fossils 🦕

If you have a toddler who loves dinosaurs this salt dough craft is sure to be a big hit. Plus you can make your own dinosaur fossil dig after.

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What you’ll need:

• Plain flour (250g)
• Table salt (125g)
• Dinosaur toys
• Paints (optional)
• Mixing bowl, rolling pin and greaseproof paper

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What to do:

1. Mix 250g plain flour with 125g table salt in a large bowl.
2. Add about 125ml of warm water until the ingredients come together in a ball.
3. Knead the mixture on a floured work surface.
4. Break into 5-6 balls and roll out each salt dough ball on a floured work surface till about a centimetre thick (see comment below).
5. Make your dinosaur toys walk over the salt dough (or mud from a very very long time ago). You could also lie some of them down in the ‘mud’.
6. Transfer to a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.
7. Bake in oven at a low temperature (around 100 degrees) for 3 hours or until the salt dough is hard. This represents the time it takes for the mud to form rocks.
8. Let the fossils cool then paint (optional).

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Hints and tips:

– Try keep the salt dough reasonably thin as it will dry out faster, but not too thin so that it will break or you can’t see the imprints.

– If the dough is too brittle add water and if it’s too sticky add more flour and knead well.

– If the oven is too hot then just the outside of the salt dough will harden and inside will be squishy.

– Have fun experimenting with different types and sizes of dinosaur toys. You could also make fern imprints or use bugs (see here).