Sand Cast Plaster Fossils

Making things with plaster of Paris is surprisingly easy and not as messy as you might think. At just a few dollars for a big bag, it's also quite a cheap material. These sand cast fossils are really fun to make for kids of all ages. You can press just about anything into the sand to make a mold so let your imagingation go wild.

Time: 30 minutes plus 24 hours drying time
Age: Any Age
Level: Medium

Materials



Method


























The grainy sand finish looks great to give an ancient fossil appearance. If you want to get a smooth finish you could try using modelling clay instead of sand for the mold.

Notes
Mixing the plaster of Paris up in a disposable container means you can just throw away the container after the activity. As plaster can harden in pipe work you won't want to pour any wet plaster down the sink. The tub and tin we used for the sand casting were not damaged after we had removed the dried casts. Try not to touch the plaster dust or wet plaster and be careful not to inhale any plaster dust.

Categories
#under_5s
#5_to_10s
#over_10s
#any_age
#plaster_of_paris
#sand
#fossil
#footprint
#fish
#dinosaur

%mykidcraft