We recently visited the
Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford and loved the dinosaur footprint trail in the grounds of the museum. They are sunken casts of fossilised
Megalosaurus footprints discovered in a nearby quarry.
Dinosaur footprint casts at the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
We made our own dinosaur footprint casts using plaster of Paris which we then buried in our garden.
Our homemade version
: 15 minutes plus 24 hours to set
Age: Any age
Level: Medium
Materials
Old play dough or modelling clay
Tubs (same size as you want the casts to be - we recycled some food packaging)
Disposable tub to prepare the plaster
Make dinosaur feet out of old play dough or modelling clay. They should fit into your casting tubs.
Press a modelling clay foot into each tub.
Prepare the plaster of Paris in a disposable tub (you won't want to wash any left overs down the sink). We used 2 parts plaster to 1 part water.
Pour the plaster into the casting tubs over the dinosaur feet, covering them completely.
Allow to harden for 24 hours.
When set, pop the cast out of the tub.
Set castings
Pull the modelling clay foot out of the plaster casting. You might need to use a spoon to dig it out a bit but it shouldn't stick to the set plaster.
Your dinosaur footprints casts are complete! Sink them into some soil for some garden fun.
Categories
#Plaster
#Plaster of Paris
#Dinosaur
#Footprint
#Mould
#Medium
#Any age
