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Calling all dinosaur lovers! Sensory bin activities are always a hit and a super fun way to practice important math and literacy skills. This free Dinosaur Dig Number and Letter Sort will add an engaging sensory element to your lessons and make working on number and letter recognition feel like playtime!
*Pair with our Alphabet Centers and Activities for Pre-K & Kindergarten!
I still have a lot to learn when it comes to dinosaurs. I never really understood how fossil excavation works. How do scientists know where to dig? Then what happens? And how on earth do they classify and reconstruct all the bits and pieces?
I do know that paleontologists find most dinosaur fossils in desert areas that have outcroppings of sedimentary rock. When they find fossils, they protect them with plaster, and then transport them back to a laboratory to carefully clean and analyze them.
This sensory bin imitates that laboratory (I didn’t want to mess with plaster though). To get the look of desert sand I used whole wheat flour made into a crumbly salt dough. It clung together just enough to form a covering for each “fossil.”
Prep for this Dino Dig Number and Letter Sort activity begins with gathering our materials to make the dough. This recipe makes enough dough for one round of play. If you use a large cookie sheet you could double the batch.
Also, it’s possible to use the dough over and over. Once the kids remove all the fossils, you can add water back to the dough and repeat the process.
Supplies Needed:
1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Then add the water and mix well. The dough should be dry and crumbly but hold together some when you squeeze it.
3. Pat out half the dough onto a cookie sheet.
4. Lay the laminated “fossils” on top of the dough.
5. Then, spread the rest of the dough on top of the “fossils,” and then press the dough down firmly with your hands.
6. Turn the oven OFF.
7. Bake (if you can call it that) with the oven OFF for at least 2 hours. If you’re forgetful like me, you might want to leave yourself a little note that there’s something in the oven so you don’t forget and turn it on to 400 to preheat for a pizza or something!
8. Remove the pan from the oven and use a spatula to transfer the “fossils” to a sensory bin.
Students will pretend to excavate the fossils, and then classify them as uppercase letters, lowercase letters, or numbers.
They can use the back of a paintbrush or other small plastic tool to crack open the dough and then brush the crumbs away with the brush end.
Once they’ve excavated each fossil, they’ll classify them not into dinosaur species, but instead into letters and numbers.
The print is purposely small so the kids can use a magnifying glass to see them better – just like a real paleontologist.
Ready to have fun with this Dinosaur Dig Number and Letter Sort? Grab your free copy of the printables by clicking the large, yellow download button at the end of the post!
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