Excavating & Examining Dino Eggs

One of the things Dirty D wanted to do while we were learning more about dinosaurs this summer was to get an idea of what a real dinosaur dig was like.  They had been able to do this when we visited my family on the East coast when Dirty D was 2 and we visited the awesome Academy of Natural Sciences in Philly.

They were so little!

Of course, Dirty D doesn't remember it at all, and there really isn't anything that offers this sort of thing nearby, so I did a little research online so I could go about setting up a dig site that would be somewhat realistic. 

First, I found about fifteen little dinosaur toys from the kids toy bins.  Then I made this simple dirt dough to mold around the dinosaurs.  We tore off several palm sized chunks of dough and rolled them into balls.  Then we stuck our mini dinosaurs in the middle and molded the dough around them.

After all the dinosaurs were encased in their fossil eggs, we put them on a plastic bag out in the sun to dry for a day or two.  When they were all dry, I fashioned a dinosaur nesting area in our backyard "garden" (I have the thumb of death; plants shrivel up and die just from my walking past them) and covered the area with dirt and dead plants.  I threw in a few replica T-Rex tooth fossils nearby just to see what the kids would do when they found them.

Later that day, when it was time for us to do the days theme activity, I let the kids know we were going to do a dinosaur dig similar to what real paleontologists do.  So we got some sticks and string to stake out our excavation site.  I explained to the kids that when paleontologists find a place where they are going to dig, the separate it in to quadrants, then draw and label as they find fossils while they dig.  That way they can use the diagram later to learn more about the fossils.  So the kids made their own diagrams, and were excited to start digging!

Brushing off the T-Rex tooth

The first 'fossil' egg

Teamwork!

During their dig, the kids worked great as a team, taking turns digging, brushing, and diagramming.

The haul of fossils the kids found, & a football helmet Dirty D discovered!

After excavating all the fossils, the children moved to the work table and grabbed their paleontologist's tools to examine their finds further (and break those dinos out of their eggs!).

The kids versions of a paleontologist's toolkit

 

Breaking the fossil eggs!

 Brushing away the surrounding dirt.

 

That's a free baby dino!

The kids really enjoyed the whole excavation and examination process. Dirty D was being a helpful scientist, naming the dinosaurs as they were broken out of their eggs, and even going so far as to tell us whether they were herbivores, omnivores, or carnivores. The girls had a great time too, with both of them explaining how they had not been very interested in dinosaurs before, but that they were now really excited to see what the rest of the weeks dinosaur activities involved! (*Proud smiles*) That is what I call some summer learning success!


Here's where I linked up:

http://www.icanteachmychild.com