Build a Dinosaur Fossil
Materials:
- Clay or Dough
- Cleaned chicken or turkey bones
- Shoe polish
- Acrylic sealer
- Paint brush
Instructions:
1. Take your cleaned chicken bones and try to form it into the shape of a dinosaur. Ask your child to do this and let them use their imagination. If you don't want to use chicken bones, you can use other materials that you would like to make an imprint of. Some common items are shells, coins and leaves.
2. Take your clay or dough and shape it into a large rounded flat piece, large enough to fit your intended fossil and about one inch in height. One side of the clay or dough should be smoothened. Do this by flattening it with a plate or rolling pin, and adding just a tiny bit of water.
3. Once the surface is smooth, arrange your chicken bones onto the clay or dough's smooth surface. Press the bones in gently, making an imprint on the clay. Once the bones are embedded into the clay, let it sit for a while, making sure the clay hardens a bit.
4. Next, gently lift the bones away, leaving the imprint behind. Put some shoe polish and acrylic sealer onto the imprint, brushing it on with the paint brush. This will preserve your fossil imprint for a long time.
Explain to your children how what you just did really happens in real life, but in a much slower process. The chicken bones represent the object that leaves an imprint on sediments or clay. Often, dinosaur bones remain preserved in sediment, but they can leave imprints as well. This activity will help your child understand how some objects fossilize and can leave a bit of themselves on earth forever.
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