Playdough offers so many opportunities for great sensory play. Create dinosaur fossils in playdough to accompany a dinosaur unit study or just for fun.
This simple activity which also gives fine motor skill practise is great for preschools or home. For older kids, it can be a good way to involve sensory into a unit study.
Dinosaur Fossil Playdough Activity:
Supplies needed:
- dinosaur skull fossils
- playdough (store bought or homemade)
- toy rolling pin or if you don’t have one, a regular rolling pin (in a pinch, you can use the empty playdough can!)
- optional: other playdough tools
Directions:
- Invite your child to roll out the playdough.
- Set out the dinosaur fossils.
- Encourage your child to press the Dino skulls into the playdough and carefully remove them. This will create a fossil impression.
- Another way to use this activity is to have the kids create the impressions and then match the dinosaur skulls up like a puzzle.
Sensory and Learning Opportunities:
Kids get proprioceptive feedback by pressing into the dough and from rolling it out. They also get input from the visual and tactile systems with this activity. If using scented playdough, the olfactory system will also be engaged.
If you are doing a unit study on fossils or dinosaurs, this is an easy and relevant hands-on activity to accompany that.
Are you looking for other easy to create sensory play ideas? Join us for a five day email series on Sensory Activities and Solutions and get a free sample of our Sensory Play Recipes eBook.
Other great hands-on activities for a dinosaur unit study:
Gross Motor Action Cube (dinosaur theme)
Dinosaur Sensory Bottle