The weather has been scorching the past couple of days. I’m talking temperatures in the 90’s, and it seems like there’s no end in sight. I recently checked the weather report and saw that the next few days, it’s going to be a few more days of 90-degree weather upon us. While I don’t mind the heat, and this is a dry heat, not one filled with humidity, I still prefer temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s. Spring is just right, but my allergies detest spring, so summer it is, and it’s easy to stay cool. Just take off a layer or two.
However, a few months ago, Madison and I took a trip to the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center here in Colorado, and Madison decided that she wanted to become a paleontologist. While we know that kids change their minds a lot faster than they change their clothing in the summer, I decided to oblige her and get her a few mini dinosaurs when we visited the gift shop. She has been playing with them, but with the heat, I decided to do something different. I decided to fossilized her dinos, after all, what better way to cool down and do a bit of paleontology work at the same time.
DIY Fossilized Dinos
Materials Needed:
Toy dinos or animals of choice
Balloons
Ziploc bags
Water
Hammer
Safety Goggles
(while I purchased our dinos at the dino center, you can buy small toys and the balloons/Ziploc bags at your local dollar store)
Instructions:
Now the instructions are so simple that I don’t feel there’s a need to actually share pictures, but some of my readers are visual learners, and there are children who might be googling this, so here goes.
Step 1: Add your toy animals to your balloon or Ziploc bags, whichever you prefer to use. We decided to use them both.
Step 2: Fill your balloon and/or Ziploc bags with water and tie and seal. For the balloons, I simply placed the opening of the balloon over the tap and opened to fill. I also did this outdoors because this is a very wet process, obviously.
Step 3: Once you’ve sealed off your balloons and/or Ziploc bags, place them in the freezer for a few hours or overnight until frozen solid.
NOW THE FUN BEGINS!
Step 4: Remove your frozen fossil (ice) from their protective covering. In this case, your balloons and/or Ziploc bags. Since this is ice, it’s going to be cold, so be prepared to have frozen hands. It might be recommended to wear gloves, but I didn’t.
Step 5: Have your kids put on their protected goggles to protect their eyes from the ice, and give them a hammer. With younger children, you’re going to want to be careful and guide them in the proper use of a hammer. For very young children, you can break it for them and then place your frozen fossil in the sun so they can see it melt away. Bigger kids, however, will have a blast chipping the ice away to reveal their fossil.
That’s it! Super easy!
You can have your children identify their dinosaurs that they’ve excavated from the ice, this is a great way to learn your dinosaurs. It’s also a great way to cool down in the summer heat.
Let’s discuss: What other ways can you think of to learn about dinosaurs?
