Homemade Dinosaur Fossils: A Fun, Family Craft

If your child is heavily into dinosaurs, why not create your own giant fossil together? All you need is some sand, from the beach or sandbox, glue, scissors, toilet paper and cardboard to create the ultimate dino wall hanging.

First, you will need to cut out a large piece of cardboard, 2-3 feet long and 2 feet high. An appliance box works well for this, or you can simply tape two or three pieces together. You will want to cut the edges in an uneven pattern, as though carved out of rock. This project is best done outside, or over a thick layer of newspapers.

The next step is to create your amazing dinosaur. For this, it is a good idea to look up some skeletons online or in a dinosaur book. Copy the skull and leg bones onto cardboard, making them the right size to fit onto your background. Cut them out. You will also need a long curved rectangle to make the ribs. Cut this into strips about 1" wide, stopping just short of the top, which will be the backbone. Now, fold alternating strips over to the other side until you have a fishbone looking piece of cardboard.

Crumple all the bones to give them a bit of form and then tape them loosely down in the right order to form your dinosaur on the background. The next step can take some time, so make sure you have an hour or so or lots of helping hands.

Water the glue down, 2 parts water to one part glue and pour it into a bowl. Now, lay torn pieces of toilet paper or paper towel over the bones and background and paint them with paintbrushes dipped in the glue mixture. Cover the entire fossil in two layers of paper.

When you have finished, do a real fast swipe over the whole thing with the glue mixture, then pour your sand over the entire fossil. Let it dry for 6-12 hours before attempting to move it. Then tip the whole board up slowly and tap it a few times to get rid of all the excess sand (this is why you ought to do this project outside!). And presto! A huge dinosaur fossil wall hanging!

If you don´t have space to do a great big wall hanging, try making little ones. They go a lot faster, but the bones can be fiddly. To give your bones a sun bleached look, try rubbing the side of a white chalk over them.