I’m excited to share with you a fun project perfect for your budding paleontologist, or for your next dino party. These dino dig excavation kits are simple to make, and so much fun!
Dino Dig Excavation Kit Supplies:
- Plaster
- Play Sand
- Dinosaur Toys
- Plastic containers with lids (mine came from Dollar Tree)
- Magnifying Glasses
- Paintbrushes
- Plastic Spoons and Knives (if kids are old enough to use the knives)
- Burlap
- Jute
Dino Dig Kit Directions:
First decide how hard you would like the finished dino dig product to be. For older kids and harder “dirt”, mix 8 cups sand with 1 cup plaster, then add 1 cup of water. Mix well. To make a softer “dirt” for younger kids, mix 8 cups sand with 1/2 cup plaster, then add 1/2 cup water. Mix well. Feel free to experiment with a consistency that works for the age of children you are making this dino dig for.
Fill a plastic container a little less than halfway with the sand mixture. Press down on the mixture to flatten it. Add two dinosaur toys to the mixture, then cover the dinosaurs up with more sand mixture and press down firmly to pack it in.
Let dry in the sun without the lid.
Add lid when the mixture has dried and hardened. Repeat this process for every kit that you are making.
To decorate the container, wrap a piece of burlap (or burlap ribbon) around the container, and secure with hot glue or a safety pin. Tie a magnifying glass to the top by wrapping thick jute around the magnifying glass and the container, and tying in a knot on the top.
Wrap a thin piece of jute around a green plastic knife, spoon, and two different sizes of paintbrushes. Tie a knot around them, then place the tools underneath the big knotted piece of jute.
You can also create your own custom tags for your dino dig kits if you are making these as party favors, and attach to the thin jute.
Aren’t they fun? These cute dino dig kits are guaranteed to keep your kids busy, and they’ll love being rewarded at the end of their search with two toy dinosaurs!
About Laura
Laura is a wife, mom of four, and the owner and creator of Make Life Lovely, a creative blog filled with creative craft tutorials, DIY projects, party tips, holiday ideas, home decor, and more. A former elementary school teacher, Laura loves getting crafty, planning parties, going on adventures with her family, and eating frozen yogurt.
Excellent. Have made a few times for my 4 yr old and friends. Ratio 8 play sand to 1/2 plaster of paris and 1 part water works perfectly. Add turmeric to make it look more like rock. Make the layers in batches with different amount of turmeric to give a real excavation look. Keep all the mess and just add water again to re-use!!
Thanks so much for the tips!
Thanks for the tutorial! I want to make these for a family gathering this coming weekend. I wondered if the plaster + sand mixture will release from the mould/container, after it dries? Or will they need to be left in the containers for digging?
Thank you so much!
Hi Katie, You should be able to pop out the sand plaster mixture once it dries if you’ve made it is a pliable plastic container. We do recommend leaving the mixture in the container so each kid has a contained digging space which helps with messes!
Hello there what is the dry time. I’m wanting to make these for tomorrow will they dry in 12 hrs
Hi Brittany, Laura didn’t really say how long to let these dry but I think the 11 hours would be plenty of time. She said she let hers dry in the sun, so if you can do that it should speed along the drying time.
What kind of sand?
Any kind of play sand will work for this project. (Like what you would use in a sand box.)
Where did you get the card stock you put underneath?
Hi Hanka, Are you talking about the patterned leaf paper used as a background in the photos? We’re not sure where Laura got that paper but I’d check your local craft store for something similar. You can also check out the scrapbooking paper we offer: https://www.darice.com/store/browse/catalog/wholesale-memory-scrapbooking-paper
Hello, do you have the template for the wording on the tags? thank you
Hi Laura,
Thanks for sharing this cute craft! Do you remember what size plastic tub you used? I can’t wait to make these for my son’s birthday party.
Thanks, Sharon
Hi Sharon, Laura got her containers at the Dollar Tree. They look to be the size of individual lunch containers, probably a little deeper than a sandwich size container.
Is there a link to the tags? They are adorable!
Hi Tracy, Laura created those tags herself. Here is a link to our plain tags that can be printed on and customized.
Hi Darice,
I wasn’t able to get a link for the plain tags. Is that still available. Thank you. I love this idea and we’re doing it for my son’s birthday party! 🙂
Carrie
So sorry Carrie! Here is a link to all the unfinished tags Darice offers: https://www.darice.com/store/browse/catalog/wholesale-memory-paper-core-tags. And if you’d like to purchase online, most of the tags can be found here: https://www.consumercrafts.com/store/browse/catalog/scrapbooking-paper-tags. Thanks!
Can you use a different kind of plaster. ..like plaster of Paris?
Hi Grace, For this specific tutorial we’ve only used the stone casting plaster. So we can only speak to the successful results using that supply. We did find another similar project online that uses Plaster of Paris. Here’s the link: http://www.funathomewithkids.com/2015/01/reusable-diy-dinosaur-dig-excavation.html. Have fun with this project!
I used plaster of paris and it works great. 🙂
Love these! Do you know how far they could be made in advance? My son’s party is in two weeks and I’d love to get these out of the way now but I don’t want them to be too hard. Thanks!
Do you remember how long it took for these to harden?
Wondering how many kits can be made with the one container of plaster…did anyone get a reply?
Great question Kate! It’s been a year since I made these and I don’t remember exactly, because I made quite a bit of these for my son’s birthday party. It also depends on the size of the container you use, so the smaller the container and the less you fill it up with the mixture, the further the plaster will go. 😉 Hope that helps! The kids had so much fun with these!
Do you have a link for the “tag” on the kits? I love this idea!
Gigi
Hi! I just tried to make the ‘softer’ dirt mixture and I believe there is a typo. I am going to guess that it should be 8 cups of ‘SAND’ instead of ‘water’. Sadly I live in an area without any real stores so this idea is going to be a bust for my son as I did the shopping yesterday 🙁 guess we will have to do this as an activity sometime! Thanks for the idea
Hi Delina, Oh no, it was a typo, and I’m so sorry about that! I just edited the post. I’m so sorry that my mistake threw you off. If you get a chance to try it again, it really is a lot of fun!
laura… Love this. So cute. Will be doing this for my sons birthday party. Approx how many kits does 1 batch make? And would you be able to share the tag template? So cute. Thanks!
Thanks so much Emily! I made these a year ago and I made a few batches to get about 15 or 16 of these, so if I had to guess, I would say one container would make at least 6-8? That’s just a guess though, and it also varies depending on the size of the container that you use and how high you fill the container with the mixture.
How many does it make the 8 cup recipe you give?
It will make a few, but it really is dependent on the size of the container and how high you fill each container. I used pretty large containers and I filled them quite full, so you can definitely get more from the recipe by using smaller containers and not filling them quite as high. Good luck! These were a hit with the kids at our party!
What do you use for the plaster? Did you just use flour?
Thanks!
Hi Nicole, If you click on the word “plaster” in the supplies in the beginning, it will take you directly to what I used for the plaster. I used Precious Impressions Casting Plaster. Flour won’t work, because it doesn’t harden and set like plaster does. Good luck!
Laura this is too cute! I’m pinning it for a party favor idea for my son’s next birthday!
Awesome, I’m so glad you like it Crystal! The kids at our party had so much fun with digging for their dinosaurs.