We’ve been digging for fossils today in our fossil dig sensory tray. This tray was super easy to set up and Elijah spent so long playing with it.
The sensory base was made up of taste safe soil which was a mixture of 1 cup of cocoa powder, 3 cups of flour, water, and a tiny bit of vegetable oil. Be sure to bake the flour for 5 minutes on 180 degrees to kill bacteria before combining the ingredients.
As well as the soil base, I added fossils which were from Poundland, mini pebbles, dinosaur bones made out of paper, and strawberry laces for the worms. The Poundland dinosaur fossils came with a plastic hammer, a plastic chisel, and a brush which was just perfect for this activity and we will be reusing them for our future activities too.
Elijah loved using the hammer to smash the rocks and find the dinosaur bones, as well as shovelling the mud and wiggly worms. He spent so long with this activity tray, I was so surprised with how much he loved it! I showed him how to use the hammer and that was it, everything was being whacked.
To extend play, we paired the sensory tray with one of Elijah’s favourite books, ‘George and the dinosaur’. He loved flipping the pages and pointing at all of the characters!
What are the benefits of this tray?
• Develops fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination by hitting, shovelling, and picking.
• Hiding the fossils and bones within the soil prompts problem solving skills and kickstarts memory making.
• Teaches the concept of object permanence, “Things can still exist even when they cannot see them” when hiding objects under the soil.
• Encourages sensory exploration, inquisitiveness, and mark making.
If you recreate this tray please tag me @brummymummydiaries! I’d love to see your creations 😍