Dinosaur Eggs and Fossil Hunting – Dinosaur Sensory Table Activities

Did you know that June 1st is Dinosaur Day? We have been doing dinosaur-themed activities all month, not that AJ and I need an excuse to do so. AJ loves dinosaurs and can name nearly all of them in English. So now I’m in the process of teaching him their names in Cantonese.

To kick-off the dinosaur festivities, I’ve got a couple of sensory table activities for you. If you are unsure what a sensory table is, they are based on Montessori teachings and consist of tubs/bins for learning through sorting games, sculpting, and exploring new textures. Sensory table activities can help the development of fine motor skills, creativity, problem-solving skills and concentration.

And the really cool thing is you don’t need buy a fancy sensory table to get stuck in. You can use oven/baking trays, storage boxes or even a table top that you aren’t precious about. I used this clever IKEA hack I saw on instagram @ohhappyplayday so my whole set up cost £36 (compared to the £85 sensory tabe IKEA sells).

Activity 1 – Fossil Hunting

In this activity, your toddler will search for fossils and then match them up to the correct flashcard. They will practice their fine motor skills as they carefully use a brush to reveal the buried fossils just like a real archaeologist.

To set up this activity, I recommend the following items:

• Play sand
• Fossils – I made ones from salt dough (instructions below) but alternatively, you could my artwork (page 2 of the printable) or you could buy a toy set (like this one and this one).
• Archaeology tools e.g. a paintbrush and magnifying glass

For AJ, I used my pictures of fossils alongside flashcards to make matching easier. For older children you can instead use pictures as the buried fossils, make it more challenging. Better yet, get your older children to make their own salt dough fossils.

To make your own salt dough, mix together 1 cup salt, 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cups water until it forms a dough. I then rolled it out and pressed some of AJ’s toy dinosaurs into the dough to create the different shapes, though you can use the blunt end of a pencil to draw your own designs. Finally, cut out your fossils and leave to air dry for a few days.

Activity 2 – Dinosaur Eggs

In this activity, we crack open dinosaur eggs to reveal baby dinosaurs inside. Your little one will then match the babies up to corresponding flashcard and learn their names.

To make the dinosaur eggs, you need to mix the following ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup salt
• 1/2 cup coffee grinds
• 1 cup sand
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup water (just enough to make the mixture clump together

Once the mixture is ready, start forming it around small plastic dinosaurs. You should have enough for 6 figurines.

Sensory Bin Tips

My sensory ‘table’ has two bins so I set up both activities at the same time and just uncovered one at a time for AJ to explore. Afterwards, AJ had tried both activities and practiced the vocabulary, I opened both bins up so he could have open-ended play.

Also, I recommend using blue tac to attach all the cards to the bin lids, otherwise they will go everywhere! For clean-up, I use a big plastic zip folder to store the flashcards and fossils in so we can play with it all again on a different day.

I hope you enjoyed my printables. If your children give these activities a go, please share photos of the fun to me. You can find me on instagram @mamabearcantonese or you can email mamabearcantonese@gmail.com. I will be back next week for two more dinosaur-themed activities!

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