Kids Can Make Plaster Molds of Animal Tracks

Looking for wildlife tracks can be so much fun and it is also a great learning experience for kids, an excellent way to document and preserve animal tracks is by making plaster molds of the wildlife tracks.

Kids can easily make plaster molds of animal tracks with the help of an adult, if a student is older, he or she can make the plaster moldings themselves of the animal tracks.

Here you will find step-by-step instructions on how kids can capture animal tracks by making plaster molds.

The materials needed before begin the process are: plaster of Paris, some type of old containers to be used for mixing, water, spray shellac, Vaseline, cardboard, cutting utensils such as a knife, sandpaper and paint.

Instructions:

Take a walk in a nature preserve area and near water is a great place to start as many animals head to rivers, lakes and streams to get drinks of water.If a child has never looked for tracks previously, adult guidance on what animal tracks look like would be very beneficial for the child. Bringing along a book that shows photos or pictures of animal tracks can also be very helpful for identification purposes.

When an animal track is found, clean the area by removing stones, leaves or any type of debris that may be on or in the animal track.

Spray the track area with the shellac, make sure to cover the area well with the shellac.

Make a cardboard ring around the animal track area and gently push into the ground, the cardboard should be a total of about 5-6 inches tall pushing approximately 2-3 inches in the ground.

Mix approximately 2 cups of the plaster of Paris in an old container and slowly add water until it is about the consistency of thick cream. Pour the plaster carefully and gently into the cardboard ring about 2 inches tall. Allow time for the plaster to harden, approximately 20 minutes, although amount of time depends on weather conditions and ground temperature.

When plaster hardens, lift the plaster mold up, take off the cardboard ring, scrape excess dirt off with a knife and rinse cast gently with water. This will be the only time that you will be making this plaster mold, you use this mold over and over again to make the animal track plaster cast.

When you are back at home or in the classroom, have kids apply a thin layer of Vaseline on the animal track mold and the flat area around the animal track mold. Lay the plaster mold on a flat surface with the animal track facing up and again surround the plaster mold with a cardboard ring. Using the same process as earlier for mixing the plaster of Paris, and gently pour into the cardboard ring on top of the plaster mold, approximately 2 inches tall. Allow time for the plaster to dry.

Once dry, gently remove the plaster mold and remove cardboard ring, separate the two layers, the plaster mold and plaster cast, wipe Vaseline from both sides. Use sandpaper to smooth out the plaster cast and wash with water.

When the animal track plaster cast is dry, paint the inside of the animal track with black paint.

A great follow up activity is to have kids draw pictures of animal tracks and label them in a journal type book, kids could even add photos or pictures of the animal that the wildlife track came from!

Sources:

Self-experiences in the classroom